ITV

Tag: Taj TV

  • TDSAT accepts GTPL and Taj TV payment schedule; distributor warned of consequences of breach

    TDSAT accepts GTPL and Taj TV payment schedule; distributor warned of consequences of breach

    New Delhi: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has accepted a payment schedule between GTPL and Taj Television for dues for eight months.The dues were for the period 1 August 2015 to 31 March 2016.

    However, Chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava made clear that any breach in payment by GTPL, apart from any other consequences, would make GTPL liable to be proceeded for contempt in terms of section 21 of the TRAI Act. GTPL Counsel Nasir Husain also agreed to give post-dated cheques to Taj TV. The Tribunal said that the application stood disposed off on these terms.

  • SC declines to crush TDSAT order that HITS players be treated at par with pan-India MSOs

    SC declines to crush TDSAT order that HITS players be treated at par with pan-India MSOs

    NEW DELHI: In an order that will not only have far-reaching consequences for broadcasters but may encourage others to take the headend-in-the-sky (HITS) route, the Supreme Court today rejected the challenge to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) view that HITS players should be treated at the same level as pan-India multi-system operators (MSOs). 

    The Tribunal had on 7 December last mandated that the reference interconnect order would be the starting point for negotiations between them and the distribution platforms. 

    The apex court decided the matter after hearing both sides on the issues raised.

    The appeal had been filed by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Star India and Taj TV after a similar appeal had earlier on 22 Januarybeen dismissed in the Delhi High Court as not maintainable on the ground that the broadcaster had an alternative remedy of appealing in the Supreme Court.

    The Tribunal had said, “It is difficult to see a HITS operator as different from a pan-India MSO and in our considered view a HITS operator, in regard to the commercial terms for an interconnect arrangement has to be taken at par with a pan-India MSO and must, therefore, receive the same treatment.” 

    The broadcasters had contended that the Tribunal through its order dated 7 December had completely taken away the freedom of contract. They also contended that the Tribunal had crossed its jurisdiction by passing an order on the TRAI regulation.

    The High Court had said that it did not feel the need to examine whether TDSAT had the jurisdiction to direct broadcasters to treat the HITS operator Noida Software Technology Park Ltd (NSTPL) at the same level as pan-India MSOs.

    That Court had heard arguments presented by Star India and NSTPL, whose petition had been accepted on 7 December by the Tribunal, which had asked Star India and Taj TV to execute fresh agreements with NSTPL. However, TDSAT had kept the operation of the judgment pending till 31 March this year.

    It had said that on past occasions as well similar suggestions were made with the hope of nudging the TRAI to take proactive steps to reduce the scope of disputes arising out of the regulations. “At the same time, the fact that regulatory intervention may be the ideal way forward cannot and should not be an excuse for this Tribunal to shirk the interpretative issues that have come before us. This is particularly so when there appears to be regulatory inertia,” TDSAT had said.

    The Tribunal had, on 18 December, impleaded Zee Turner and others in another petition by Star India against NSTPL and asked the broadcasters to produce the agreements between the broadcasters and major MSOs. It opined that some agreements have to be suspended by Star and Taj TV. 

    Though the TDSAT petition had been filed by NSTPL, it will also help Hinduja Group’s HITS platform NXT Digital, which entered into the fray last year. 

    TDSAT had directed Star and Taj, as well as the other broadcasters who had joined the proceedings as intervenors, to issue fresh RIOs in compliance with the Interconnect Regulations, as explained in the judgment within one month from the date this order becomes operational and effective. It will be then open to NSTPL to execute fresh interconnect agreements with Star and Taj, and with any other broadcasters on the basis of their respective RIOs or on negotiated terms within the limits.

  • SC declines to crush TDSAT order that HITS players be treated at par with pan-India MSOs

    SC declines to crush TDSAT order that HITS players be treated at par with pan-India MSOs

    NEW DELHI: In an order that will not only have far-reaching consequences for broadcasters but may encourage others to take the headend-in-the-sky (HITS) route, the Supreme Court today rejected the challenge to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) view that HITS players should be treated at the same level as pan-India multi-system operators (MSOs). 

    The Tribunal had on 7 December last mandated that the reference interconnect order would be the starting point for negotiations between them and the distribution platforms. 

    The apex court decided the matter after hearing both sides on the issues raised.

    The appeal had been filed by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Star India and Taj TV after a similar appeal had earlier on 22 Januarybeen dismissed in the Delhi High Court as not maintainable on the ground that the broadcaster had an alternative remedy of appealing in the Supreme Court.

    The Tribunal had said, “It is difficult to see a HITS operator as different from a pan-India MSO and in our considered view a HITS operator, in regard to the commercial terms for an interconnect arrangement has to be taken at par with a pan-India MSO and must, therefore, receive the same treatment.” 

    The broadcasters had contended that the Tribunal through its order dated 7 December had completely taken away the freedom of contract. They also contended that the Tribunal had crossed its jurisdiction by passing an order on the TRAI regulation.

    The High Court had said that it did not feel the need to examine whether TDSAT had the jurisdiction to direct broadcasters to treat the HITS operator Noida Software Technology Park Ltd (NSTPL) at the same level as pan-India MSOs.

    That Court had heard arguments presented by Star India and NSTPL, whose petition had been accepted on 7 December by the Tribunal, which had asked Star India and Taj TV to execute fresh agreements with NSTPL. However, TDSAT had kept the operation of the judgment pending till 31 March this year.

    It had said that on past occasions as well similar suggestions were made with the hope of nudging the TRAI to take proactive steps to reduce the scope of disputes arising out of the regulations. “At the same time, the fact that regulatory intervention may be the ideal way forward cannot and should not be an excuse for this Tribunal to shirk the interpretative issues that have come before us. This is particularly so when there appears to be regulatory inertia,” TDSAT had said.

    The Tribunal had, on 18 December, impleaded Zee Turner and others in another petition by Star India against NSTPL and asked the broadcasters to produce the agreements between the broadcasters and major MSOs. It opined that some agreements have to be suspended by Star and Taj TV. 

    Though the TDSAT petition had been filed by NSTPL, it will also help Hinduja Group’s HITS platform NXT Digital, which entered into the fray last year. 

    TDSAT had directed Star and Taj, as well as the other broadcasters who had joined the proceedings as intervenors, to issue fresh RIOs in compliance with the Interconnect Regulations, as explained in the judgment within one month from the date this order becomes operational and effective. It will be then open to NSTPL to execute fresh interconnect agreements with Star and Taj, and with any other broadcasters on the basis of their respective RIOs or on negotiated terms within the limits.

  • TDSAT directs four broadcasters to sign pact & give signals to Chirala LCO

    TDSAT directs four broadcasters to sign pact & give signals to Chirala LCO

    NEW DELHI: Four broadcasters namely Eenadu Television, Maa TV, Sun Distribution Services and Taj TV have been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to enter into interconnect agreements with Chirala Cable Network for retransmission of their respective signals in 14 panchayats.

     

    TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava gave the directive after examining a survey report submitted by the Advocate Commissioner Tushar Singh who had been appointed on 1 December last by the Tribunal to go to the rural areas around Chirala town and conduct a survey.

     

    According to the survey, the cable network has 2150 households in the area, the Advocate Commissioner had visited 10 houses in each of the rural areas listed by the network as his subscribers and also 10 others not in the list and found that even among those not in the list, there were four or five of the 150 houses visited by him who were receiving signals from the network as well as other local cable operator. Thus, the Tribunal raised the SLR figure by 2.5 per cent.

       

    The broadcasters were directed to execute the agreement not later than two weeks and to supply their signals to the network immediately thereafter. 

     

    Disposing of the four petitions by Chirala Cable Network, the Tribunal made clear that any variation in the SLR during the period of the agreement may take place only as provided under the Regulations. 

     

    The Tribunal accepted the report of 7 January, which showed that the network had the connectivity of 2081 as claimed by the network, apart from those not listed by it.

     

    The detailed survey report submitted by Singh, which the Tribunal said was made properly and reflects the true position, thus confirms the petitioner’s assertion that it has the connectivity of 2081 connections in the 14 panchayats. 

     

    “If we take into account the five houses not mentioned in the petitioner’s SLR that were receiving the petitioner’s signals, the SLR submitted by the petitioner may be increased by 2.5 per cent. We direct that the petitioner’s SLR be taken as 2150.”

     

    The Advocate Commissioner was directed to give copies of the expense account to the counsel representing four broadcasters who will to make proportionate payments to petitioner’s counsel B S Sai or the client within 10 days.

  • Taj TV to supply signals to Grant Investrade after signing ICA

    Taj TV to supply signals to Grant Investrade after signing ICA

    NEW DELHI: Grant Investrade, which operates the headend-in-the-sky (HITS) brand NXT Digital, and Taj Television have arrived at an agreement.

     

    Taj Television will provide its signals to Grant Investrade as soon as an inter-connect agreement is signed.

     

    Stating this, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) noted however that the agreement will be “without prejudice to Grant’s rights and contentions with regard to those clauses.”

     

    Listing the case for 13 January, TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava made this observation after counsel Salman Khurshid on behalf of Grant Investrade said his client had some reservations on two or three clauses of the agreement.

     

    Both counsels namely Pratibha Singh on behalf of Taj and Khurshid said there was broad agreement for supply of Zee channels as also for Turner channels and this would be signed this week.

     

    Singh accepted that the agreement would be signed “without prejudice to Grant’s rights and contentions with regard to those clauses.”

  • Taj TV to restore signals of Digi Cable Com Services, subscriber base subject to BECIL audit

    Taj TV to restore signals of Digi Cable Com Services, subscriber base subject to BECIL audit

    New Delhi: Taj Television (Taj TV) has agreed to restore its signals to Digi Cable Com Services Pvt. Ltd and its joint ventures in the DAS areas after the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal worked out a formula over the subscriber imbroglio.
     
     
    Both parties had agreed on all issues except the subcriber base, and the Tribunal said this would be subject to an audit by the Broadcast Engineering Consultants (India) Ltd.
     
    Meanwhile on the Tribunal’s suggestion, the parties agreed that with effect from 1 December, the ad hoc subscriber base will be taken as 60000. However, prior to December, the ad hoc subscriber base will be taken as 55000. 
     
    Both these subscribers bases will be subject to the audit by BECIL and will abide by the subscriber base as determined after the audit. The audit of the BECIL will be completed within six weeks.
     
    Digi Cable Com Counsel Jayant Mehta said the subscriber base was 46000 but Taj TV counsel T S Bhatia insisted that it was 70000.
     
    Members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava noted that the subscriber base is purely an ad hoc interim arrangement and has to finally abide by the result of the audit by BECIL. 
     
     
     
  • Arun Kapoor becomes new Dish TV CEO

    Arun Kapoor becomes new Dish TV CEO

    MUMBAI: Dish TV India has informed Bonmbay Stock Exchange that upon the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board, the Board of Directors of the Company at their meeting held on 20 November 2015inter alia, has approved the appointment of Arun Kumar Kapoor as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company with effect from November 23, 2015.

     

    Further, Kapoor, has also been nominated as a ‘Key Managerial Personnel’ of the Company under the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and Listing Agreement. Kapoor was earlier CEO of Taj  TV, the Zeel; groups distribution business subsidiary, a post from which he resigned in April 2015.

     

    Dish TV India CMD Jawahar Goel, while welcoming Arun Kapoor on board said, “Arun  brings a  depth of  business experience that  will  be a perfect  complement to  the expertise of Dish TV in  the DTH industry. His business acumen will enhance our ability  to deliver consumer oriented services while also increasing stake holder’s value.”

     

    Kapoor, on his appointment as the CEO of Dish TV, said, “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead Dish TV at this important stage in its journey and look forward to working with  the Dish TV team to  ensure that  the Company delivers as per its  strategic business objectives.”

     

    It may be recalled that the earlier Dish TV CEO R.C. Venkateish  or RC as he is called had resigned effective October 31, along with a number of personnel at Dish TV following a board meeting on October 27.  The meeting also saw the elevation of managing director Jawahar Goel as Dish TV chairman, and the resignation of non-executive promoter director Subhash Chandra from the board. RC shall however continue to be associated with the company in an advisory role specifically in areas relating to content, legal and regulatory affairs. He shall also continue to represent Dish TV in the DTH Association and before industry and regulatory bodies.

  • WWE Live to make a comeback in India; Ten Sports plans aggressive marketing

    WWE Live to make a comeback in India; Ten Sports plans aggressive marketing

    NEW DELHI: Even as TNA is bringing its Impact Wrestling live event to Mumbai this December, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is gearing up to bring some of the top names in wrestling to perform live in Delhi this coming January.

    The event, which will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on 15 and 16 January, 2016, marks the comeback of WWE Live in India after a span of 13 years. WWE Raw was last held in India in November 2002.

    The legendary Danial Bryan, one of WWE’s brand names, who is temporarily out of action under medical advice, was here along with WWE president international Gerrit Meier and Taj TV and Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi to announce the event.

    Sethi said they were expecting a full house at the stadium, which can seat approximately 20,000 people.

    On the other hand, with its eyes focused on the lucrative Indian market, WWE is also planning to build consumer parks in India in the near future, informed Meier. It may be recalled that the company launched its video streaming service WWE Network in the Indian sub-continent a few days back.

    For the live event in Delhi, WWE and Ten Sports will be aggressively marketing it with a significant amount of investment. While declining to reveal expected revenue figures, Sethi said that around five to seven per cent of the total investment in the live event will go into marketing.

    So far five sponsors have been roped in for the live event, whereas negotiations were on with as many as 15 more brands. However, Sethi refused to divulge any names. 

    The two-day live event, which will feature WWE SmackDown and WWE Raw, will see names like John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Big Show, Sheamus, Cesaro and Ryback. Tickets are priced between Rs 1699 – 7999. While the sale of a limited number of tickets was done today, the rest will be sold from 10 November onwards.

    When queried as to why there were no prominent Indians in WWE, Meier said that this kind of wrestling required a lot of training and some US-based Indians were currently under training and may soon be seen on screen.

    According to Meier, India had been chosen for the live event because of the large number of WWE fans in the country. “WWE holds around 440 events every year and we’ve held events in countries like Japan and Malaysia but India is a major market for us,” he said.

    What’s more, WWE is also expecting fans from neighbouring countries like Pakistan to come to India for this live event.

    On the television front, by offering a compelling storyline each week, WWE was largely skewed towards the family audience and Meier said that they had found the right partners in Ten Sports and Zee Cinema. The telecast on both the channels had gained popularity and was one the major reasons for WWE renewing the telecast agreement with the broadcasters through 2019. WWE and Ten Sports began their association in India in 2003.

    While the WWE telecast on Ten Sports received a lot of traction from viewers, Sethi said that the reason to bring it on Zee Cinema in Hindi was because WWE was now perceived as family entertainment. “We live telecast some WWE events on Ten Sports from the US. Moreover, Zee Cinema has helped take this event to the hinterland and expand the viewer base with the Hindi dubbing. Zee Cinema is one of the five top movie channels in India and reaches 150 million homes. As WWE is now considered as entertainment, it was only justified that it should be on a movie channel,” he added.

  • TDSAT directs Taj TV to not disconnect Indusind signals in DAS & non-DAS areas

    TDSAT directs Taj TV to not disconnect Indusind signals in DAS & non-DAS areas

    NEW DELHI: Taj Television (India) Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai was today directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) not to give effect to the disconnection order in Digital Addressable System (DAS) and non-DAS areas against IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd if the latter makes payment according to formulas drawn up by the Tribunal as an interim arrangement.

     

    Under the order for DAS areas, Indusind counsel Vandana D. Jaisingh handed over to Taj TV counsel Tejveer Singh Bhatia four cheques amounting to Rs 5.42 crore. In addition, Indusind will pay Rs 10 crore by 2 November, Rs 5 crore by 9 November and Rs 10 crore by 30 November, 2015.

     

    Admitting both cases and posting them before the Registrar’s court on 18 December for completion of pleadings, the Tribunal made clear that the directions are towards earlier dues as far as DAS areas are concerned. 

     

    In addition, Indusind must make payments of the invoices raised by Taj TV for the months of October and November this year for DAS areas.

     

    TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava said the payments made in terms of this interim order will be without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties.

     

    In the case relating to non-DAS areas, the Tribunal asked Indusind to make immediate payment of the outstanding dues up to 30 September subject to verification by reconciliation of accounts.

     

    Taj TV had issued the disconnection notice as it claimed that dues amounted to Rs 9.58 crore till 31 October but this was disputed by Indusind, which submitted that it had made already payment of Rs 2.26 crore and was entitled to pay for October by 15 November.

     

    However, Taj said the amount was arrived at after taking the amounting already paid into account.

     

    The Tribunal directed Indusind to go to the respondent’s Mumbai office on 3 November for this purpose.

     

    Following the reconciliation of accounts, the Tribunal said Indusind will pay the dues up to 30 September by6 November. The invoice for the month of October 2015 will be paid by 15 November.

     

    Bhatia accepted notice on behalf of Taj TV for both petitions and was asked to file the reply within three weeks from today (30 October). Rejoinder, if any, may be filed within two weeks thereafter.

     

    The agreement under which Indusind receives its signals from Taj TV came to end on 31 March but the latter continued to supply signals and Indusind continued to receive the signals and re-transmit them to its affiliates without any renewal of agreement and under the pretext that negotiations for the renewal of the agreement is going on between the two sides.  

     

    The matter finally came to a head when Taj TV gave disconnection notices for disconnection of its supply of signals to the petitioner. The disconnection notices are based on grounds of non-payment of dues and non-renewal of the interconnect agreement. In the notice, the dues are quantified at Rs 36.44 crore upto 30 September. The amount of dues mentioned in the disconnection notice relate only to the monthly subscription fees.

     

    Jaisingh disputed the amount mentioned in the disconnection notices. According to her, the admitted dues amount to Rs 24.85 crore. She contended that after the expiry of the agreement, the respondent is unauthorisedly raising invoices increasing the rate by more than 10 per cent from the rate mentioned in the previous agreement. 

     

    Bhatia said the invoices from April 2015 onwards had been raised strictly in terms of the provisions of the agreement. 

     

    The Tribunal felt that the submission of Bhatia “appears to be prima facie correct but we do not wish to make any conclusive pronouncement on that aspect of the matter at this stage.”

  • Ten Sports unveils new logo; targets Rs 20 crore revenue from Ind-Zimbabwe series

    Ten Sports unveils new logo; targets Rs 20 crore revenue from Ind-Zimbabwe series

    MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster Ten Sports, which is airing the India vs Zimbabwe ODI series that kickstarted today (10 July), has also unveiled its new logo on the occasion.

     

    After the dismal performance of the ‘Men in Blue’ in the Bangladesh tour, this India tour of Zimbabwe has become an all-important series for both the audience as well as the broadcaster. What’s more, the broadcaster is targeting ad revenues in excess of Rs 20 crore from the series.

     

    Ten Sports and Taj TV global CEO Rajesh Sethi, “It is a step forward in consolidating all the channels under one uniform network and project the organization value to strive further, break new grounds, surpass our limits and achieve the unattained. The belief is articulated in our new network logo design which is synonymous to all kinds of sports and its belief of genesis to victory and the idents and new design was developed completely by the internal team.”

     

    The network also informed Indianelevision.com that an elongated and extensive research was conducted by the internal team before launching the logo.

     

    Sethi further added, “The interest in this series is very high, which is visible through the fact that around 60 per cent of our inventory has already been sold, this in spite of not having the more sellable names in the team. We are able to command a rate of Rs 3 to 3.5 lakh between ODIs and T20s per 10 second. We expect the revenue for this series to be well over Rs 20 crore with brands like Fogg, Karbonn and Pay You already being associated with the series,” said

     

    What could very well be the beginning of the end for the Dhoni era, this series pitches players who have been on the fringes or are making comebacks under a new captain. Zimbabwe that gave a respectable performance against Pakistan in May can’t be treated as push overs any more.

     

    As official broadcasters of the event, Ten Sports is looking to tap into the vast opportunity that the series brings along.

     

    On the production front, the channel has started its studio show Straight Drive, which will boast of star analysts such as Arun Lal, Atul Wassan and Charu Sharma. The show will see pre, mid and post-match round ups.

     

    To market the series, the channel has tied up with the upcoming movie Drishyam. It is also conducting fan engagement activities like contests and quizzes on various social media platforms.

     

    The channel feels that this could well and truly be the moment of truth for the evolution of cricket in the country and the series presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the ‘New Blues.’