ITV

Tag: Telangana

  • NBA condemns Telangana CM for threatening media

    NBA condemns Telangana CM for threatening media

    NEW DELHI: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has expressed shock at the threats made by the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that he would “bury alive television channels that have dared to insult the Telangana assembly, its MLAs, and Telangana self-respect.” and “won’t hesitate to break their neck and then throw them out.”

     

    NBA stated that such remarks by the Chief Minister are a ‘direct attack on the right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined as a fundamental right under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution.’

     

    NBA has appealed to the Chief Minister to desist from making such inflammatory charges against the media and keep the discourse civil and sane.

    NBA also condemned the illegal and arbitrary actions by cable operators in switching off some news channels and urged the government to take cognizance of the same and also take necessary action against such cable operators and individuals.

     

    Blacking out a licensed channel is an anti democratic action that goes against the Constitutional principles of free speech, the NBA said.

     

    Meanwhile, journalists covering functions of the Chief Minister after his remarks covered their mouths with black cloth in a silent protest against the remarks.

  • TV9 ends standoff with MSOs in Telangana

    TV9 ends standoff with MSOs in Telangana

    MUMBAI: It has been two months since multi system operators (MSOs) in Telangana decided to cut of signals from two news channels- TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyoti. Now, one of them has decided to take the initiative and end the ongoing war between MSOs and the channel.

     

    As per a report by the Hindu Business Line, the Associate Broadcasting Company (ABC) that is the majority promoter of TV9 is seeking to have a dialogue with MSOs to get the channel back on air. ABC has reached out to the MSOs to enter into an agreement. It has written to the Telangana State Federation of MSOs.

     

    The company has been on the lookout for a buyer for the channel as it wants to exit the business. However, this standoff between the MSOs and the channel apparently seems to have affected its valuation in the market. As per the report, ABC plans to exit within a month or two. Edelweiss is running the sale process. 

     

    In June, TV9 had allegedly telecast a programme that showed the Telangana government in a bad light due to which MSOs of the newly formed state decided to cut off signals to it. Meanwhile, the MSOs said that they would show the channels only if people asked for them.

     

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had also asked the state government of Telangana to clarify queries regarding the blocking. He said that MSOs cannot censor channels on their own and if they did, the Ministry was empowered to take action against them.

     
  • Telangana MSOs continue to boycott two news channels

    Telangana MSOs continue to boycott two news channels

    MUMBAI: The Telangana Multiple System Operators (MSOs) on 11 August 2014 decided to continue blockade of TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyothi news channels, a mediahouse reported.

     

    Federation of Telangana MSOs’ president M Subhash Reddy, charged the channels of telecasting objectionable content that hurt the sentiments of Telangana people and said, “Even the Telangana state assembly took cognisance of the objectionable content.”

     

    The Federation maintained that they had presented their case to the High Court and responded to a notice served by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). “The TRAI sought explanation on why we had stopped the two channels without the mandatory 15-day notice and we explained the reasons. There was pressure on us from the Telangana people and we had to act,” the president of the federation said.

     

    At a meeting attended by district representatives, the Federation of Telangana MSOs said they are planning to send a delegation to the I&B minister to explain to him the events that led to the cable operators blocking these two news channels.

     

    Reddy also added that since the channels are not doing anything to find a resolution to the problem, the MSOs will stick to their decision of blocking the channels.

  • Work begins on new Vijayawada DD Kendra for Andhra Pradesh

    Work begins on new Vijayawada DD Kendra for Andhra Pradesh

    NEW DELHI: The Government yesterday confirmed that it had received a proposal to create an interim set-up at the regional kendra of Doordarshan in Vijayawada to cater to the cultural and economic identities of Andhra Pradesh following bifurcation of the state.

     

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar informed Parliament yesterday that the proposal had been received from the DD Kendra at Hyderabad to start, on an interim basis, a two hour terrestrial transmission from 5 pm to 7 pm everyday including a 15 minute Telugu news bulletin.

     

    The rest 22 hours will be relayed from DDK Hyderabad, since DDK Vijayawada is currently only a programme generating facility (PGF).

     

    Earlier, DD sources had told indianlevision.com that the aim would be to ultimately turn the Vijayawada Kendra into a 24-hour Kendra because the Hyderabad Kendra would become a part of the new state Telangana.

     

    Consequently, Doordarshan has started planning production and transmission facilities that are similar to its Kendra in Hyderabad.

     

    Doordarshan has already taken an initiative to upgrade the existing facilities of Doordarshan Kendra at Vijayawada which presently has one 150 square metre studio and a teleport satellite uplinking facility.

     

    Doordarshan director general Tripurari Sharan and additional director general VK Jain recently visited the Vijayawada Kendra and discussed widespread plan for its upgradation with engineering and programme officers. Sharan asked officers to fast-track its upgradation plan and complete it in a time bound manner, directing Jain to personally monitor the progress.

     

    The DD Saptagiri channel running from Hyderabad will be renamed DD Telangana and the DD Saptagiri channel will be retained for residual state of Andhra Pradesh.

  • Andhra Pradesh: A chaotic news market

    Andhra Pradesh: A chaotic news market

    According to the Ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB), there are nearly 800 satellite channels in India, of which about half are news channels. With an already crowded market, an increasingly loud general election has added to the number of news channels mushrooming across the country.

     

    Andhra Pradesh, which till recently was in turmoil because of the imminent bifurcation into Telangana and Seemandhra, is no exception. Counted as the state with the highest number of satellite TV channels, the last one year has seen newer additions (V6 News, Express News, 10TV and ETV3) to the existing list (ETV2, TV9, TV5, NTV, Mahaa News, HMTV, Studio N, Raj News Telugu, I News, 4TV, Sakshi TV, Gemini News, 4TV, Vanita TV, ETV Urdu, CVR News, ABN Andhra Jyoti, the now shut Zee 24 Gantalu).

     

    It is not as if the number of TV viewing homes is on the rise but that doesn’t deter these newbies from popping up. Indeed, AP has the highest number of cable TV homes in India at 15 per cent. At a national level, channels are deploying cost-cutting measures but in AP, newer channels are being spawned. So, what is the survival strategy of these channels? Apparently, they are all backed by political muscle though no politician will openly come out in support of them. More than anything, it is about party views being propagated through the media, sometimes openly sometimes subtly.

     

    Only two of the 20-odd channels – TV9 and TV5 – have major market share, followed by the likes of ETV, NTV and Sakshi TV. According to local people, YSR Congress funds Sakshi TV, NTV and TV5, while V6 is backed by six politicians affiliated to Congress.  Rumours are that ideologically, HMTV seems pro-Telangana though may not be backed by any party while ABN Andhra Jyoti is pro-Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Let’s not forget Gemini News of the Sun group under Kalanidhi Maran who has the backing of DMK leader M Karunanidhi. The office of Telangana News channel is actually located within the headquarters of the party office in Hyderabad. Now that’s called risk! According to the public, only TV9, Raj News Telugu, CVR News and the newly launched Express TV are apparently among the channels without political bias.

     

    Again, owning a channel may be a power trip but running it is an altogether different ballgame. Approximately Rs 1.2 to Rs 1.5 crore per month is required to run a channel in the state and this includes cost of infrastructure and technology and staff salaries. On the other hand, revenues don’t exceed Rs 70 lakh and typically, a channel takes nearly three years to break even (under good financial condition), which means an initial investment of Rs 40 crore is required.

     

    25 per cent of the Rs 1,000 crore advertisement market is from news channels. Of which, the top five news channels make up for Rs 200 crore while the smaller channels scramble for the left over Rs 50 crore. The ones with high viewership such as TV9, sources say, command up to Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 for a 10 sec slot. On the other hand, the not-so-high-on-viewership channels get just about Rs 600 for every 10 sec. Channels with political backing rarely have to bother about ad revenue since money will flow in anyway…

     

    In such a scenario, it is not surprising that rumours of channels unable to pay their employees have been doing the rounds. While Raj News Telugu has been stuck in revamp for months, ETV has already launched its Telangana-specific channel, ETV3.

     

    With 80 per cent of the state being dominated by Hathway Cable and Datacom, distribution woes are not unheard of. And yet, channels keep growing year on year.

     

    To add to it, soon, many new Telangana centric channels will crop up to add to the existing chaos. The existing channels will be rearranging their distribution and editorial strategies to suit the needs of two states.

     

     It’s time channels realised that the market is oversaturated before it’s too late. Surely the MIB can look into the state of news broadcasters in the state and rethink before giving out licences like freebies.

  • Telecast blacked out even as Telangana formation gets Lok Sabha clearance

    Telecast blacked out even as Telangana formation gets Lok Sabha clearance

    NEW DELHI: And suddenly the screens went dark at 3:03 pm. Yesterday’s black out of the telecast of the Lok Sabha proceedings on the passage of the Andhra Paradesh Reorganisation Bill 2014 has opened a hornet’s nest politically. The allegation is that democratic norms have been dustbinned  and the Congress (I)-led UPA government’s move is reminiscent of the Emergency days of 1975 when the nation’s media was put on a leash and muzzled.

     

    There was no clarity at the time of writing on who took the decision to black out the telecast of vote by voice of the controversial bill – which envisages the creation of the 29th Indian state of Telangana – from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. Early reports were that the speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar ordered the switching off of the cameras and the transmission. But the speaker was silent on this issue. What muddied the waters further was a statement later in the evening by the Lok Sabha secretary general S. Bal Shekar that the switchoff happened on account of a technical glitch and that an investigation had been ordered.

     

    Lok Sabha TV put out a message that the telecast would resume, which did not come to pass. TV news channels – which normally carry LS TV signals – instead chose to carry the proceedings in parliament on their tickers.

     

    Almost every political party lambasted the disruption of the telecast. Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj called it a tactical glitch, even as TMC leader Mamta Banerjee said it smelled of hanky-panky. Telangana opponents called it the death of democracy.

     

    But Telangana leaders said that the blackout was necessitated to prevent the unruly protests which have marred the proceedings over the past few days, and they  did not want  them to be retelecast worldwide as they were when pepper spray  rained on members of parliament and knives were flashed on 13 February. Additionally, they stated that the Andhra Pradesh media are known to be sensationalist and that the footage could have been misused by the close to 20-odd Telugu news channels, which could have led to law and order problems there.

  • Have talent, will become animation hub

    Have talent, will become animation hub

    MUMBAI: The state-wide agitation over Telangana notwithstanding, the Andhra Pradesh government is pulling out all stops to make Hyderabad a media, animation and gaming hub.

    And not without reason, for, of the approximately $70 billion worth global animation industry, India’s contribution is around $ 900 million, with Hyderabad alone accounting for nearly $ 550 million.

    The Rs 350-crore GAME City project is in the last leg of finalising tenders, informs Madani

    So, after sponsoring the participation of Hyderabad-based animation companies at the recently concluded MIPCOM 2013, Information Technology and Communications Department deputy director (promotion) Syed Shawket Hussain Madani also made a pitch about how Hyderabad has a large talent pool that just needs the right push.

    Enlisting the challenges facing the animation industry, Madani said: “Infrastructure, which is dedicated to the media pool, is one challenge. The second important thing is to nurture the talent pool that specialises in 2D and 3D. The third challenge is to make gaming a part of the curriculum while the fourth is the policies relating to the animation industry,” and added that the AP government is coming up with a Gaming Animation Media Entertainment (GAME) City to tackle these obstacles.

    About the Rs 350-crore GAME City project funded by the state government, Madani informed: “We are in fact in the last leg of finalising tenders, which will be out by this month end.”

    Spanning more than 38 acre, GAME City will have an incubation space constructed over 8 lakh sq ft and various other facilities including a sound and acoustic studio, auditorium and shade studio. “We will give free bandwidth to the occupants for the first three years. Also considering that the software required for making animation series is expensive, the government has decided to buy the software and load it on the common server, which can be used by various companies located within GAME City,” said Madani.

    With plans to complete the 27,000 square feet incubation centre in the next two months, “Tenders for this are already out,” said Madani. The AP government is looking at big names to be part of the GAME City project. “Though Electronic Arts and Walt Disney already have their presence in Hyderabad, we want more such names to be part of this GAME city,” he said.

     

    As part of the larger project, a delegation was recently formed, comprising members from the AP government, industry and associations as well as architects and teachers from various institutes. “The team went to Dubai, Manchester, Amsterdam and South Korea to understand the needs of the animation industry and ensure that GAME City is well equipped,” said Madani.

    Additionally, the government is in the process of holding meetings with BBC and Al Jazeera among a host of other channels to set up businesses in Hyderabad. “We are negotiating with the University of Manchester for its specific programme that promotes animation in 2D and 3D. We have already signed a memorandum of understanding with Netherlands to set up an educational joint venture for making available its educational content to universities in Hyderabad,” informed Madani.

    Not only Hyderabad’s animation industry but also the work force stands to gain from these measures, which are expected to generate jobs for nearly 40,000 people. “This GAME city will complement the existing media and entertainment industry of Hyderabad,” concluded Madani.

    This is all very well but naysayers peg the fortunes (or otherwise) of the project on the upcoming elections. “The project sounds interesting and will be helpful to us. But, everything depends on the upcoming elections. If there is change in power, I am unsure if the project will see the light of the day,” said a Hyderabad-based CEO of an animation company who did not wish to be named.