ITV

Tag: Sun Group

  • Red FM to participate in mock auctions; Delhi HC to hear case on 24 July

    Red FM to participate in mock auctions; Delhi HC to hear case on 24 July

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has allowed Red FM owned by Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd, which is part of the Sun Group, to take part in mock auctions for the third phase of FM auctions to be held on 22 and 23 July.

     

    Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the Government and said it would hear the matter on 24 July.

     

    The order came after Government counsel Sanjeev Narula told the Court that it was not possible for the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to postpone the main FM auctions. He said the entire process had been lined and any postponement will have a cascading effect.

     

    The Court had yesterday (21 July) asked the Centre to consider deferring the auctions as it heard a plea by Digital Radio Broadcasting against the government’s decision.

     

    Meanwhile, the Madras High Court said it would announce its orders on 23 July. The court had reserved its orders after prolonged hearing yesterday and had initially said that the orders would be pronounced today (22 July).

     

    Red FM is among the prime bidders in the phase III of FM auctions covering 135 radio channels in 69 cities.

     

    The Ministry had last week issued a list of 21 bidders, which did not include the Sun Group’s Red FM, and then sent a formal communication to the Group on 15 July that it had been denied permission.

     

    The Court has been asked to direct the Centre to permit Sun Group to migrate to the Phase-III regime by allowing it to resubmit the application dated 20 March, 2015 to participate in the auction.

     

    The petitions also said the company was not involved in any dispute with the nation’s security, nor had it broadcast anything that affected the security of the nation.

     

    The petition alleges that the order denying permission had been issued “carelessly, with total non-application of mind and in a cavalier fashion, totally unmindful of its consequences and repercussions not only on Sun TV but also on the entire broadcasting and media industry.”

     

    Apart from the denial to participate in Phase III FM auctions, the order also implied that the sister companies of the Sun Group would be compelled to close down FM radio stations, totalling 45 across the nation, the petitioners said.

     

    “Non-inclusion of the company’s name on the list is nothing but closing the entire FM stations run by it for extraneous, illegal and mala fide reasons,” the petitions said.

     

    It has pointed out that the Indian Telegraph Act does not make any mention of security clearance, and licence can be terminated or denied only if there is violation of the terms of the agreement including any defaults in payment.

     

    Clause 2.2(b) of the Information Memorandum and Clause 3.2(b) of the Notice Inviting Application says only a company controlled by a person convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude or money laundering or drug trafficking or terrorist activities or is declared as insolvent will not be eligible to apply. The petitioners said there was nothing in the rules to deny permission to the Sun Group, which is controlled by the Maran brothers. 

  • Sun Group’s entry order in FM Phase III auctions expected on 22 July in Delhi & Chennai HC

    Sun Group’s entry order in FM Phase III auctions expected on 22 July in Delhi & Chennai HC

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today (21 July) asked counsel for the Union of India to get instructions on whether the auctions for FM Phase III will be postponed or whether the Sun Group will be permitted to take part.

     

    The Court adjourned the hearing of the main case and the application for stay to tomorrow to allow government counsel to get instructions. Senior Counsel Kapil Sibal presented the case for Sun Group.

     

    The Group has sought a stay on the order of the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry in this regard. The Ministry had last week issued a list of 21 bidders, which did not include the Group’s Red FM, and then sent a formal communication to the Group on 15 July that it had been denied permission.

     

    In Chennai, the Madras High Court reserved its orders on the interim application for stay and is expected to pronounce its verdict tomorrow (22 July). 

     

    The Court has been asked to direct the Centre to permit Sun Group to migrate to the Phase-III regime by allowing it to resubmit the application dated 20 March, 2015 to participate in the auction.

     

    The petitions also said the company was not involved in any dispute with the nation’s security, nor had it broadcast anything that affected the security of the nation.

     

    The petition alleges that the order denying permission had been issued “carelessly, with total non-application of mind and in a cavalier fashion, totally unmindful of its consequences and repercussions not only on Sun TV but also on the entire broadcasting and media industry.”

     

    Apart from the denial to participate in Phase III FM auctions, the order also implied that the sister companies of the Sun Group would be compelled to close down FM radio stations, totalling 45 across the nation, the petitioners said.

     

    “Non-inclusion of the company’s name on the list is nothing but closing the entire FM stations run by it for extraneous, illegal and mala fide reasons,” the petitions said.

     

    It has pointed out that the Indian Telegraph Act does not make any mention of security clearance, and licence can be terminated or denied only if there is violation of the terms of the agreement including any defaults in payment.

     

    Clause 2.2(b) of the Information Memorandum and Clause 3.2(b) of the Notice Inviting Application says only a company controlled by a person convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude or money laundering or drug trafficking or terrorist activities or is declared as insolvent will not be eligible to apply. The petitioners said there was nothing in the rules to deny permission to the Sun Group, which is controlled by the Maran brothers.

  • Kal Cables breathes a sigh of relief

    Kal Cables breathes a sigh of relief

    MUMBAI: Sun Group owned Kal Cables has finally won the battle it had set out for, after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) cancelled the licence of the multi system operator (MSO).

     

    Quashing the cancellation of provisional licence, Justice V Ramasubramanian said that the I&B had not issued any show-cause notice, before cancelling the permit. He also said that the MSO should be given another chance to respond, post which the I&B Ministry can take suitable action.

     

    The Kalanidhi Maran owned Kal Cables had opposed the 20 August order, saying that it is just a MSO and not a channel. And if the I&B had issued a notice, it would have cleared the doubts.

     

    The court has agreed that Kal Cables is not a broadcaster, but a distributor. And so any cancellation based on security reasons, is applicable on the broadcaster and not the MSO.

     

    It was on 20 August, that the I&B ordered cancellation of the provisional licence, giving the MSO, 15 days to wind up its business. After this, Kal Cables approached the court to first put a stay on the order and finally quashing it and also directing the Centre to give a permanent registration to continue its operations.

     

    The MSO was given a permanent licence to operate in Chennai in June 2012, while a provisional licence was given to operate in DAS notified areas in phase II cities in March 2013.  

  • Spicejet to continue with Grey as creative AoR; JWT to work on project basis

    MUMBAI: Spicejet, the low-cost airline company from the Sun Group, has decided to continue with Grey as its creative agency of record.

    Contrary to media reports, WPP‘s JWT has not replaced Grey as the creative agency. It will, however, be working with Spicejet on a project basis.

    A source close to the development informed indiantelevision.com, “The airline has decided to continue with Grey as its main creative agency. JWT has been roped in to work on a specific project. From a proximity point of view, the agency‘s Delhi office has been asked to handle the project.”

    Grey had won the Spicejet creative account in April 2012 following a multi agency pitch. Before Grey, Contract Advertising handled the account from 2009 to March 2012 when the terms of the contract expired.

  • Hungama Digital Services to manage SunRisers’ digital activities

    MUMBAI: Hungama Digital Services (HDS) will be working on the complete online and social media content for SunRisers, an IPL team owned by Sun Group.

    Incidentally, JWT, which won the creative duties of the new team, earlier this year acquired HDS and works with them to offer digital marketing and social media solutions to its clients.

    Sun Group, the owner of the Hyderabad IPL franchisee, unveiled the name and logo of its Hyderabad IPL team, designed and conceptualized by JWT. The Sun Group named its IPL team, ‘SunRisers‘ symbolizing birth of a new life.

    JWT India has designed the Hyderbad team‘s logo, team identity and will be working on the entire 360 communication for Team SunRisers. The jersey launch will be closer to the IPL season.

    JWT Chennai VP and general manager M L Raghavan said, “The brief to the agency was simple. ‘The name and logo of the team is being revealed on the 20th at Hyderabad. How best can you bring this alive?‘ Senthil and his team came up with the wonderful idea of using silhouettes to bring alive the power of the sun and the soaring eagle. Once the idea was cracked, the film was completed in a record four days along with digital initiatives like getting the website up and running, creating the Facebook page and a Twitter account.”

    According to the agency, the ‘SunRisers‘ logo depicts an eagle soaring high, looking into the core of a rising sun, absorbing the colors of the bright star to become ‘one with the sun‘. “The new identity encapsulates the valor, chivalry, endurance, independence and fearlessness of the eagle synthesising with energy and radiance obtained from sun,” the agency said.

    Sharing his thoughts on the conceptualisation and execution of ‘chanthem‘, the first brand film for SunRisers JWT India NCD Senthil Kumar, said: “The chanthem, is a visual idea amplified by a rocking chant created by Swarathma The Band. “Shooting in the morning magic light hours only i.e. shoot only when the sun is rising between 5am and 7am for a few days until we got the right shots but since time was limited we captured a combination of natural light and studio light and put this film together with some intense post production. It was a step up moment for the production team as well.”