ITV

Tag: Star India

  • Ten Sports to bring MotoGP to India; introduce new racing league

    Ten Sports to bring MotoGP to India; introduce new racing league

    MUMBAI: The avenue for non-cricket sports properties like kabaddi, tennis, wrestling, and football, which saw a great start last year is set to grow bigger. The newest entrant is the niche sport Moto Grand Prix popularly known as Moto GP.  

     

    According to sources, Ten Sports has inked a five year deal with the sports property. Previously, Moto GP was a non exclusive property shared by three sports networks; Star India, Neo Sports and Ten Sports. But with the new deal coming in place and the two partners reaching a fine print, Ten Sports has gained an exclusive deal with Moto GP beginning from 1 February 2015.

     

    If multiple sources are to be believed, there will also be a set of new programming and races wrapped around it including studio produced shows to propel the sport’s popularity in India. What’s more, the network is also looking to foray into introducing a new racing league in the country.

     

    When contacted, Ten Sports officials denied the development. 

     

    On the other hand, the network is in a celebratory mood with the success of another property-World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). “The response has been fantastic as we have reached out to a mass audience via Facebook, Twitter Google Hangouts etc. When India was playing against Australia in Oz and we declaring we were going live with RAW, we were trending much above India playing with Australia on Twitter,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi. Ten Sports had decided to go live with flagship properties like RAW and specials like Royal Rumble during the early morning slot at 6:30 am. 

     

    “We thought we were not going to do well but received more than 900 emails with regards to it. I am happy the way our ad revenues are shaping too,” adds Sethi.

     

    The network is also looking at the prospect of airing WWE in regional languages. Besides, with the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the network having the rights of Pakistan cricket, it is busy promoting the mega event in the neighbouring country and will be announcing its plans soon.

  • Raaj Gupta joins Sab, Sony Pal as commercial head

    Raaj Gupta joins Sab, Sony Pal as commercial head

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television’s (SET) sister channels Sab and Sony Pal have appointed a new commercial head in Raaj Gupta.

     

    Gupta was earlier with Star India as its AVP-commercial and procurement, where he worked from November 2012 to December 2014.

     

    He started his career at Cinevistaas as senior supervising producer in February 2003 and then moved to Applause Entertainment as head-productions and operations in 2008. 

     

    Gupta was also with Mahuaa Media from May 2011 to November 2012 and with Shashi Sumeet Productions as vice president from March 2009 to April 2011.

     

  • Star India’s hotstar.com to premier Star Guild Awards 2015

    Star India’s hotstar.com to premier Star Guild Awards 2015

    MUMBAI: In the US, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have taken the lead by streaming original series like House of Cards, Transparent, Orange is the New Black, Arrested Development, The Hot Wives of Orlando to their subscribers.

     

    Indian over the top services (OTTs) like BigFlix, Spuul, BoxTV, Sony Liv, ErosNow, DittoTV have been serving as aggregation models to stream linear channels or programmes to subscribers simultaneously or after they have been aired on TV.

    Now stealing a march on them is the Star India promoted online streaming services hotstar.com. In a first for India, Indya Interactive Services (which runs hotstar.com) announced that it will be premiering the Star Guild Awards 2015 on the video on demand service on 17 January from 7 pm onwards. The awards will be aired on Star Plus a day later on 18 January.

     

    A source close to the development says that this is the next big step towards change in the way content will be delivered to viewers and consumed by them.

    The Star India network, however, is going easy on the promotion of the VoD premiere:  ads were released today in leading dailies, even as 92.7 Big FM and YouTube had promos and commercials airing.  “The platform is still in the testing stage,” revealed the source. “Hence, it is just seeding the service to potential subscribers.”

     

    But at first glance, the hotstar.com service seems interesting as it offers a vast programming catalogue on mobile and the web. With everything found under one roof, the platform has all the genres that the network dabbles in – from popular dailies to live sporting events.

     

    In all it has around 20,000 hours content spread across seven languages, which include 120+ full length TV shows, 500+ movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabbadi.

     

    A media planner labelled the Star Guild Awards VoD premier an experiment. Said he: “I believe it is just an initiative to kick start hotstar.com.  It is just for their internal learning process as the platform is still in its beta version. The Star Guild Awards will allow them to try and test whether the platform can manage the traffic and whether it can deliver a good experience to viewers. It also allows them to correct any errors if they do crop up.”

     

    Media observers believe that premiering the awards show is not going to really ruin the telecast on Star Plus on 18 January in terms of viewership ratings. He said: “People like you and me know about it because we are in the space. But do the millions of people who watch television also know about the VoD premier?  However, as a test, an experiment I think it is good as it could attract some subscribers to try the hotstar.com service.”

     

    That would be music for the Star India management ears. Under the leadership of CEO Uday Shankar it has been making some pioneering moves and initiatives; hotstar.com is another one of them.  

  • Is Star’s VoD ‘hot’ enough?

    Is Star’s VoD ‘hot’ enough?

    MUMBAI: “At Star, we have always focused on dramatically enhancing the overall consumer experience. Smart technology, combined with powerful content, can be disruptive…,” had said Star India CEO Uday Shankar when the network launched its online sports platform starsports.com.

     

    Two years have passed since then and keeping up with the changing times, the giant network is back with a new platform. Christened hotStar, the video on demand (VoD) portal, currently running in beta version, will change the way people view content on television or digitally.

     

    With everything found under one roof, the platform has all the genres the network dabbles in. From popular dailies to live sporting events, a click will please many.

     

    The network labels the platforms as the “most compelling catalogue ever offered over-the-top on mobile and the web, making it the most the most complete video destination for consumers.”

     

    With around 20,000 hours content spread across seven languages, which includes 120+ full length TV shows, 500+ movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabbadi, hotStar caters to a very large and diverse audience.

     

    Available across devices, the VoD is not the first such platform launched by a television network in the country; Ditto TV was launched by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) in 2012. There are many other such platforms like Biscoot and Zenga also available today.

     

    Believes Shotformats Digital Productions CEO and managing director Niyati Shah that though the platform looks nice but the concept of launching the same isn’t clear. “On television there is appointment viewing and in the digital world it is all about snacking. And with only Star content available on the platform, I don’t know what will be the scalability.”

     

    The free to view platform has a simple and easy user interface. However, what stands out is the logo which though is a star but is quite different from that of the networks logo. The tilted star has bright neon green and yellow colours. Its name is another feature that stands out.

     

    “It does sound like a talent show,” says FCB Ulka Digital creative head Sudarshan Sudevan but quickly adds, “But for a site of this sort, it’s not the name that’s critical, it’s the content. And the users will get a hang of it in due course of time.”

     

    Sudevan is excited that Star India is finally into video on demand. “With a good mix of TV shows, movies and sports … I am sure the video friendly population of today is going to have a treat. The network’s idea to enter the space that has been dominated by international players like Netflix and Amazon will be of a pleasure for fans here,” he adds.

     

    Agrees L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India CEO and managing partner Anil Nair that today people want to view content on the move.

     

    However, Shah isn’t convinced. “If I’m a Star TV viewer and miss something, maybe then I would come on the portal. Otherwise I have doubts who would log on,” she states while emphasisng on the fact that through the networks’ strength, the platform might get marketed well but the future will tell the true story.

     

    Nair too points out that today when there are aggregators like Youtube and Apple TV, the lack of genres available on Star’s new platform might become a hurdle. “Hopefully, in the future, the app will add more genres to its bouquet otherwise this can become a reservation for a viewer.”

     

    Highlighting that digitisation will change the mediums in the country, the experts are optimist that with many leaps to take, service providers have a lot to offer.

     

    The network has already started the ground work and a click on any of its current websites (apart from StarSports.com) directly takes the viewer to the new platform. The soft launch has successfully been able to create the buzz and now one just has to wait for the big band launch.

  • Star Utsav to don a new look

    Star Utsav to don a new look

    MUMBAI: After more than a decade of its existence, Star Plus’ sibling channel, Star Utsav, is set for a revamp.

    Launched in mid 2004, the free-to-air channel, showcases reruns of the old and popular shows which first aired on Star Plus.

    Now to engage with the audiences a lot more, the channel will bear a new logo and packaging. Sources within the channel confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com and said, “The new look of the channel will go live on 12 January (Monday) at 7 pm and will be a treat to watch.”

    The channel is currently testing its new logo between 2 am – 3 am. The new identity will be parallel to Star’s other channels. The new logo will break out of the box with Star Utsav being written below the brighter and new Star logo.

    Another source close to the development revealed that a lot of research was done before finalising the new logo. “The channel went to smaller cities and towns to get an understanding on what the core TG wanted,” said the source.

    Sources further reveal that the revamp was in the pipeline for almost a year. “It has been in the planning stage since the channel got former Life OK marketing head Pratik Seal as its business head. But Seal’s stint did not last long with the channel as he decided to move on…” highlighted a source.  Seal was replaced by former Star India VP Jyotsna Viriyala as reported first by Indiantelevision.com.

    It can be recalled that in 2004, Star Plus was a paid channel and a number of cable operators did not run pay channels in smaller cities. Thus, with an aim to reach out to its desired TG in smaller cities and towns where audiences were not exposed to Star Plus, the network had launched Utsav.

    In the week 1 of TAM TV ratings, it delivered 90 million GVTs.

     

  • Liverpool FC’s – DSK Shivajians – gets shot in the arm with investment of Rs 50 crore

    Liverpool FC’s – DSK Shivajians – gets shot in the arm with investment of Rs 50 crore

    MUMBAI: With football fever reaching a crescendo with the recently concluded Hero Indian Super League (ISL), the country seems to have fallen in love with the game once again. It definitely has more to do with the rugged game itself rather than its celebrity owners. While foreign clubs have a fair fan share in India right from Man U to Real Madrid and AC Milan, many of them have spotted opportunities and carried out various initiatives in India to further build on this huge supporter base for the game. A case in point is Manchester United and Chelsea, with both conducting clinics in India.

     Not only this, Arsenal too has had multiple training centres in New Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Liverpool, on the other hand, has a tie-up with DSK Shivajians, and has formed India’s first internationally-branded residential football academy, called the Liverpool International Football Academy- DSK Shivajians. “With a total investment of over Rs 50 crore, we are confident that India will experience the international flavour of football,” says LFC International Football Academy, DSK-Shivajians CEO Ardeshir Jeejeebhoy.

    The Academy located at Pune, promises to provide aspiring young talent with the right platform to get trained under expert supervision and world-class infrastructure. It has a state-of-the-art 4G pitch, along with a natural turf, self-contained accommodation, gym and swimming pool and a cafeteria serving varied dietary requirements. The Academy thus far has enrolled 64 players from all across India in the Under 17 and Under 19 age groups. They will also be provided group tutorials for core subjects, which aggregate over 660 hours of classes over the year. When asked about the long-term objective of the Academy, Jeejeebhoy informs, “The aim is to give a platform to aspiring talented footballers to train and get direct supervision from two full-time talented coaches from Liverpool FC. We look at it as an opportunity for taking Indian football to international standards.”

    About the players and franchise owners, he opines that the League is an excellent platform for Indian talent to get noticed on the international arena and a great opportunity for stakeholders in football across the country to engage with the youth.

    “Sponsors get more visibility for their brand due to the sheer magnitude and uniqueness of the event and with the use of modern methods of advertising and marketing in the digital space. The new format does not have a clutter of brands, which ensures the brands that have partnered with the ISL get valuable presence and recall,” he says.

    “One of the many ways that the League could be looked at to bring in-stadia spectators closer to the game, would be to invest in refurbishing existing infrastructure and building stadia, where its sheer design and layout allows spectators to be closer to the pitch. This will establish a better connect with the game,” the executive goes on.

    Moving on to  Star India, a promoter of the League,  Jeejeebhoy feels the commitment from the Network with prime time spots and live HD telecast, added to the quality of the product. “Over the past couple of years, audiences have shown a growing interest and acceptance in sports as varied as football, motorsports, kabbadi and tennis among others. Boxing also has true potential going forward,” says Jeejeebhoy.

    The growing TV viewership for FIFA World Cup and football leagues such as UEFA Europa League from Europe, have shown the increasing popularity of football as a viewership sport in India. The game has always been followed at a regional level and one would hope with the ISL, that the game is accepted across the country.

    Concluding on a high note, he is of the opinion that, “with the advent of the ISL and the country hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017, it has created a lot of positive buzz around football.”

    “It’s the very first time that something of this magnitude has been attempted for football in the country, and has generated interest not only from football followers, but also neutrals, who have flocked in large numbers to the stadia. Fans, who erstwhile did not have such an opportunity to watch live matches, have turned up in huge swarms,” he concludes.

     

  • Pratik Seal quits Star India, joins Housing.com

    Pratik Seal quits Star India, joins Housing.com

    MUMBAI: It was in December 2013 when Star India management got on board a business head to bring alive its ‘dead’ general entertainment channel (GEC), Star Utsav.

    The channel launched in 2004, saw for the first time, a business head in Pratik Seal (former Life OK marketing head) in December 2013. However, the stint didn’t last for long as Seal decided to move on and join an e-commerce start-up, Housing.com, as chief marketing officer (CMO).

    When contacted, Seal confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com. “It’s been two months since I joined the new company.”

    Replacing him is former Star India vice president Jyotsna Viriyala, who has been elevated to the business head of the channel. She has over 15 years of work experience spanning advertising, marketing and broadcast in the areas of media planning and buying, research, marketing, business strategy, operations and general management.

    When asked about his decision of joining an e-commerce space, Seal answered, “I hail from a marketing background. Be it Micromax where I helped set up the brand or jumping into Life OK which was again a start-up channel and now an e-commerce start-up. I like to build brands right from the scratch.”

    His agenda for Housing.com is to be the number one in the e-commerce and m-commerce space in the next year and a half and then expand it further to take it to the next level.

    Armed with 14 years of experience, he started his career in 1998 as an account executive with Basic4 Advertising. After spending two years with the company, he moved to Ties2Family.com as assistant manager, marketing and then to FCB Ulka as senior account executive.

    After spending about two years with the agency, Seal joined Lowe as senior brand services manager and within three years, went on to become senior brand services director.

    Viriyala, a student from Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), has worked in companies like Mindshare Fulcrum, JWT and Traveljini.com for the span of six years. She then moved to Star News as associate vice-president for the duration of two years. Her last stint before joining Star Utsav was as vice-president of Star India.

  • 2014: The roller-coaster year for West Bengal media

    2014: The roller-coaster year for West Bengal media

    A trip down memory lane in 2014 has seldom been a tempest in a teapot; but, a year fraught with a bumpy roller-coaster ride, at least for the media in West Bengal… almost as unpredictable and enigmatic as its leader. West Bengal, centre staged and witnessed many ups and downs on the news channels. Many bled during the year, with a slowdown in the second half, but only one channel triumphed and reigned supreme. It was none other than ABP Ananda, which was rated highest week after week.

    City-based ABP Ananda emerged as a great opinion maker, backed by concrete facts and figures, and powerful, impact reporting. “In fact, its viewership increased after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s diktat not to watch the channel,” quoted a media analyst.

    The channel has built a strong presence in the Bengal and Maharashtra markets and has firmed up plans in Punjab as well. ABP Group, in the year 2014, said that it aims to launch 3 – 4 regional news channels in the next 2 – 3 years in the western region, followed by northern India.

    Worthy of note, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), which has a major stake in the news share in the north and western India, gained control in the east through its 24×7 Bengali news channel – 24 Ghanta. The channel inducted veteran journalist and Hindustan Times deputy resident editor Anirban Choudhury as the new face on its board and saw a turn for the better in the programme content and style.

    TV18 Broadcast too launched a 24-hour Bengali news channel called ETV News Bangla in March 2014, in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The channel aims to redefine regional channels in Bengal. ETV News Bangla has caught the attention of various localities in Kolkata.

    Star India too hinted that it plans to start a Bengali sports channel. The Indian unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp empire, Star India aims to expand beyond cricket coverage into sports such as hockey, football and even, kabaddi.

    There was excitement in the air! News of non-operational Mahua Bangla, a Bengali general entertainment channel and Mahua Khabor, a 24-hour Bengali news channel, spread like wild fire that they were to go live again in the year 2014! This sparked renewed vigour among job seekers as the parent company, Mahuaa Media Private Limited (MMPL), which closed down the two channels in 2013 in Kolkata, was “exploring all possibilities” to arrange funds in the range of Rs 150 – Rs 200 crore to breathe life into the sick channels.

    The most interesting development was that production company Channel Eight, which was earlier compelled to disassociate itself from the Bengali GEC Aakash Aath, after it didn’t get the 51 per cent stake in the channel as promised, within a month joined the channel again after it got its stake. The GEC said that though the focus of the channel has changed, it intends to keep news in the mixed bag. It also launched a couple of new shows such as comedy serial – Ghhente Gha directed by Manish Ghosh and scripted by Padmanabha Dasgupta.

    Focus Bangla, a 24×7 Bengali news channel, is bullish about its growth in the regional market. It had introduced many new slots for programmes featuring one-to-one interviews with experts from various fields.

    Narsingha Broadcasting also aimed to foray into television media business. The company was to launch a Bengali satellite news channel in 2014 but its plans were deferred to the early part of next year!

    On the whole, West Bengal, has a small market size with a few 24-hour satellite channels owned by big corporates, which makes it difficult for others to survive in the market place. In the past one and half years, the advertising pie in Bengal has also gone down. On top of that, the money market companies made their exit, further putting a severe fund crunch in the media market. The Saradha chit fund scam was a golden egg for most news channels.

    Bengali GECs, news, and other television channels which generated around 35 – 40 per cent of the advertisement revenue from Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) till last fiscal year were all bleeding as the NBFC players understood that even after spending a huge amount, they were not being able to make an impression on the minds of people to invest in deceptive schemes, thanks to the Saradha Group’s chit fund business, which went bust in the beginning of the financial year 2013-14.

    Many other companies, which are engaged in money marketing have reduced their ad spend, firstly to stay away from the authorities’ watchful eye and secondly, they seem to think that even after spending a huge amount on ads, investors are not gullible enough to put in their hard-earned money into the chit fund schemes.

    In 2014, Bengal saw careful media coverage of Lok Sabha elections by the regional television channels. These included 24×7 Bengali news channels like ABP Ananda, 24 Ghanta, ETV News Bangla, Focus TV, Kolkata TV, Tara Newz, and infotainment channels like Aakash Bangla, which had three news slots for all the election coverage. 

    The 2014 elections were notable for the vast array of outlets that an interested consumer could avail to create his own media experience on multiple screens. However, a continuous simmering political situation called for more political debates, phone-in shows in 2014.

    On the other hand, the entertainment channels saw phenomenal growth as the regional market is growing. The advertising market is also growing day by day. The viewer bouquet is fast growing too.  Changes in programme structure have been incorporated in 2014. Serials, reality shows, films are given extra weightage.

    Each channel has grown in terms of viewership. The viewers just want consistent performances and channels, which can give them quality content and programmes; and hence, no one gets to lose their market share.

    Bengali viewers are natural lovers of football. Many of them have been losing interest; but, with the advent of Indian Super League (ISL), with daily exciting coverage, celebrity owners and great sponsors, it ensured more new viewers from all demographics. Not to mention that Sourav Ganguly’s Atlético de Kolkata, finally won the coveted Cup.

    The GECs continue to dominate the Kolkata advertisement market, with high production values and a robust content bank based on local programming.

    Overall, the Bengali media is surging ahead in leaps and bounds with more channels in the foray, new programmes on view and a bunch of creative minds behind them!

    With this change in tide, which is nothing but technology-driven, the media groups had taken the route of social networking sites and web as tools for promoting their programmes and started getting live viewership ratings and responses.

    The face of media is fast changing, where the media once uni-directional in its approach is now becoming bi-directional in communication and the future looks bright!

  • Hero ISL reports viewership of 429 million across the nation

    Hero ISL reports viewership of 429 million across the nation

    MUMBAI: Hero Indian Super League (ISL), a joint venture by IMG-Reliance and Star India has created history in India with a record- breaking reach on television, in stadia and digital.  

    As per the TAM data, an aggregate of 429 million viewers from across the nation tuned in to watch the inaugural season of Hero ISL live on their televisions screens, making it the second most-watched sport in the country after cricket. Over 1.5 million fans watched it on ground, in-stadia, making it the fourth most attended football league in the world. Stadia were packed close to full capacity with attendance averaging about 26,000 fans per match. 

    The league cut across demographic boundaries and captured the imagination of a diverse fanbase, with women and children accounting for 57 per cent of the 429 million viewers.

    The Hero ISL was telecast live on eight channels in five different languages cross the Star India network. The league was also aired on starsports.com which had more than 32 million visits recorded during the tournament, surpassing the online audience even for the FIFA World Cup 2014. Across web, mobile and app, starsports.com recorded over 17 million online video views through the course of the tournament. The final match played between Kerala Blasters FC & Atletico de Kolkata recorded 1.6 million online visits. 

    Talking about the league’s success, Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Launched with the aim of helping football take root among the country’s masses, the Hero ISL was backed by an aggressive broadcast plan to bring an unparalleled football experience to the viewers. Our intent was to awaken the passion of football and create the birth of a footballing nation. The resultant success of the Hero ISL justifies it as the right platform for tapping the passion for the sport that exists in India. As we gear for a bigger and better second edition, I would like to thank our partners IMG- Reliance, AIFF, all the club owners and more than 400 million fans for making this dream a reality.”

    On 20 December 2014, the Hero ISL finale, held at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, had about 37,000 fans in attendance. The crowning of the first Hero ISL league champion was also watched by 57 million viewers, 2.4x of the reach of 2014 FIFA World Cup final, culminating the over two months long league. The final, with an average TVT of 1418 among M 15+ ABC, registered as the highest rated match of the tournament, 11 per cent higher than the opening match of the tournament. In the social media front, Hero ISL created a total of 2.2 million conversations with more than 275,000 unique authors, generating 11 billion potential impressions. #ISLfinal trended at #2 worldwide on Twitter, and Atletico de Kolkata at #1 in India on Facebook on the day of the finale.

     

    According to IMG-Reliance Chairperson Nita M Ambani, the success of Hero ISL is a realisation of the dream of a billion including Indians to experience and embrace the beauty of football. She said, “The beautiful game has successfully captured the imagination of people of India and we have experienced the joy of watching the birth of a footballing nation. Hero ISL has been geared towards one overarching objective— to develop football across the country in a systematic and holistic manner, and its success will spur the development of Indian football. I extend my gratitude to the people of India for their love and support.”

     

  • IMCL introduces prepaid payment options

    IMCL introduces prepaid payment options

    MUMBAI: It was in February 2014, when Tony D’silva took charge as the MD and group CEO of IMCL and laid the vision of adopting a prepaid model. And as the year comes to an end, the dream has been accomplished.

    The multi system operator (MSO) has brought in two important additions in its operations. One, it has introduced prepaid model for all its a-la-carte including Star channels and mini packs for consumers; and two, the MSO has introduced a prepaid system for last mile owners (LMOs) offering packages to their consumers.

     “The prepaid model is applicable for a-la-carte, Star channels and for the mini-packs. So if a consumer wants all the GECs plus sports or English entertainment channels, they can create a mini-pack and can pay for that through our website or by going to the cash counters. We have introduced all the payment modes that are available for recharge of DTH and telecom,” informs D’silva.

    The prepaid model for a-la-carte channels and mini packs was introduced after broadcaster Star India decided to enter into only Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) deals with MSOs.  

    This apart, a prepaid mode of payment for LMOs selling packages to their consumers has also been introduced from 1 December. “The reason behind this is that the same pack is priced differently in different parts of the city by the LMOs. In this case, we, as MSOs have no control over the pricing given by the LMO and so we decided that the LMO should pay for the packs they give to their consumers upfront to us,” he informs.

     “In case the LMO does not pay for the packs that they give to their consumers, we will either downgrade them or remove all pay channels from them,” adds D’silva.

    It can be noted that MSO Siti Cable too is looking at a similar prepaid model, wherein the LMOs would deposit an advance to the MSO to take signals and then collect the same from the consumer. The LMO according to the prepaid model will get the signals from the MSO till his credit balance remains.  The MSO is testing the viability of the model in Delhi first, and has decided to replicate it in other states, at a later stage.

    According to D’silva, prepaid model of payment is the only way by which the process of monetisation of packages can begin. Talking about the response, he says that of the 2.2 million IMCL subscribers, so far 100,000 subscribers have used the prepaid model. “This shows that the market wants a payment mode like this,” he adds.

    Also from the LMO point of view, as per D’silva, the collection is going good. “This is the only way that cable industry can move,” he opines.  

    So will the prepaid model help increase ARPUs? Says D’silva, “Everything is about packaging and bundling. Nobody watches more than 20 channels, so if I can give these 20 channels at a reasonable price and after that add extra channels of the choice of consumers; it wouldn’t pinch the consumer’s pocket.”