ITV

Tag: Trai

  • I&B ministry’s ad cap succor for broadcasters

    I&B ministry’s ad cap succor for broadcasters

    MUMBAI: On the one hand, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is putting the squeeze on broadcasters. On the other, the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) is proving to be an angel in disguise all ready to provide it with some succor. At least in the area of the 12 minute cap on advertising per hour allowed on television which TRAI activated earlier this year, and which is to be implemented next month.

    Reports are that the ministry is collecting data from broadcasters to ascertain the loss that they would incur on account of the TRAI-mandated ad cap.  It is then expected to prepare a consultation paper within the next 10 days, say these reports.

     
    Broadcasters – especially news broadcasters – have been yelping about how any reduction in air time would lead to a shriveling of revenues for them; in fact it might make it unviable for them to sustain their operations. Their constant wailing caught the attention of I&B minister Manish Tewari who last month requested the TRAI to post-pone the ad cap to end-2014 to coincide with the inflow of subscription revenues which are expected to accrue to broadcasters post the completion of cable TV digitisation.

    The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) concurred with the news broadcasters’ appeal and put a freeze on the applicability of the ad cap, till their plea was heard on 11 November 2013. General entertainment channels have, however, agreed to comply with TRAI’s directions and have even gone ahead and reduced their commercial advertising air time.

    Says a media observer: “All the players – TRAI, I&B, broadcasters – need to get together to have a road map for the reduction of the ad cap gradually and periodically over time and not in one fell swoop as TRAI has been suggesting. It’s good that the I&B ministry and TDSAT have been supporting the broadcasting sector as far as the ad cap is concerned. It is imperative for its survival.”

  • Ten Golf changes course

    Ten Golf changes course

    MUMBAI: It is teeing once again and it surely is good news for golf lovers and players. 24 hour Zeel group golf channel Ten Golf, will now be available in India on both DTH and cable TV as part of  high end packages. It is close to announcing deals with three DTH players and some MSOs. The channel which is available at an a la carte subscription fee of Rs 200 per month for subscribers will now see a significant shift in pricing on both DTH and cable TV.

    The first among the three DTH operators is Airtel Digital TV which now has Ten Golf as part of its Ultra pack. “We are now a part of a package for which the DTH platform charges anywhere between Rs 400- Rs 500 a month,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi. Close to half a million viewers on Airtel Digital have signed on to the service, he says.

    There’s a shift in pricing strategy on the anvil he reveals. “On 1 September we have made a filing with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for price revision. We are looking at a reduction in rates to both promote golf and make it available to larger viewership base,” says Sethi. “I am looking at reaching out to 1.4 million subscribers once we get on the high end offerings like magnum, platinum packs etc on the other two DTH platforms. This should happen by October,” informs Sethi.

    Ten Golf was initially targeted at avid golf players, and hopes to address  aspirational golfers with its expansion in distribution and price lowering. “Aspirational golf players are mostly corporate executives and they are huge in number. Also Ten Golf today is seen as a lifestyle channel. People not only watch the channel for the sport, but also for the beautiful landscape it offers. All this called for a bigger reach and lower subscription fee,” he adds.

    Sethi is also hopeful to get advertisers to use the channel as an advertising platform.   “The positioning will help us with more advertisers. The channel has its own unique niche value and there are partners and corporates who want to advertise.”

    Ten Golf will in the next six to eight weeks be also clubbed together in high end packages offered by major MSOs like DEN, Hathway and Siticable, reveal industry sources.  “The subscription fee for the channel on the package provided by the MSOs will be much lower as compared to the DTH players. All this will take traction in next six to eight weeks,” informs Sethi.

    Shall we say fore?

  • Kolkata based MSOs, LCOs receive summons from service tax department

    Kolkata based MSOs, LCOs receive summons from service tax department

    KOLKATA: The Kolkata based Multi System Operators (MSOs) and local cable TV operators (LCOs) had uninvited guests last week. They were taken by surprise when the service tax officials conducted two raids to probe into their alleged financial irregularities. And, this in a digital addressable system (DAS) cable TV ecosystem which reveals the business and operations of these players at length.

    Apart from service tax, the income tax department also searched the premises of one of the big MSOs. And if sources are to be believed, the MSO made an upfront payment of around Rs 50 lakh – Rs 75 lakh to the income tax authorities.

    More than 350 cable operators have been issued summons for evading service tax payments for the past five years, sources said. “As per market reports two MSOs were raided last week, who then had to cough up huge amounts to the service tax authorities. The officials questioned the accountant of the MSOs on the financial details,” said a cable TV industry insider.

    It is also learnt that another MSO who had evaded service tax amounting to Rs 15 crore – Rs 20 crore spanning over four years, had to cover up the case by paying a huge amount to the authorities. “It is learnt that the company deposited a huge amount, though I am unsure of the exact amount,” the source added.

    Though the second MSO, whose office was raided on Thursday paid Rs 2.5 crore (approximately) to the service tax department officials. “Another Rs 50 lakh – Rs 75 lakh was given to the income tax department,” he informed.

    “The raid was part of a probe into financial transactions for suspected alleged tax evasion by the cable TV operators in Kolkata,” he said.

    A cable operator under Gujarat Telelink, an MSO, informed that as per the summons, the operator has to furnish details of the number of set top boxes installed and also the account details for the past five years. “If we don’t furnish it, we might be in trouble,” he said.

    Cable industry sources inform that cable TV operators are liable to pay 12.36 per cent as service tax to the authorities from the subscription amount collected every month from the customers.

    Kolkata based operators are treading in troubled waters. First it was the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which planned to take strict action against the MSOs and LCOs for not collecting and feeding the CAF details into the system for DAS implementation and now they face the wrath of tax inspectors.

    Seems like it is time for operators to buck up and clear all past payments to avert any embarrassing situation in the DAS environment.

  • TDSAT stays TRAIs action against ad cap

    TDSAT stays TRAIs action against ad cap

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been left toothless by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). In an order passed today, the regulator has been forbidden from taking any ‘coercive action’ against news channels for not abiding by the agreement relating to ad cap.

    The petition filed by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) challenges the constitutional validity of the regulations of TRAI enforcing the ad cap. The petition has been listed for a hearing on 11 November and will be presided by TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member Kuldip Singh.

    The tribunal added that while the news channels will maintain weekly records of the advertising time per hour on a weekly basis, they will not be required to submit this to the regulator. Unlike the current practice, the records will only be submitted to TDSAT at the time of the hearing of the case.

    Counsel A J Bhambani for the NBA said that a delegation of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) had submitted a formula to the regulator but that did not preclude the broadcasters from challenging the validity of the regulations.

    He also said that this was only a compromise reached between the broadcasters and the regulator and could not form the basis of penal action since it was not a regulation or legal provision.

    Speaking after TRAI Counsel Saket Singh had presented his arguments, Bhambani said there were many members who were common to both the IBF and the NBA, and therefore the IBF had submitted a ‘proposal’ on 29 May 2013, which the TRAI accepted. But this could not be construed as a regulation.

    But TRAI had begun prosecutions on the basis of this proposal and not on the basis of any law, he stressed.  He said that TRAI had in fact submitted on 11 June before TDSAT that no action would be taken.

    Even otherwise, he said that TRAI was only empowered by its own act to make ‘recommendations’ on issues like advertisements and not bring about or enforce regulations and resort to prosecution.

    When Singh sought to interrupt to say that 20 of the 24 members of NBA were following the formula, Bhambani pointed out that one news channel had recently been forced to retrench a large number of staff.

    Earlier, Singh stressed that the proposal submitted by IBF had been worked out by a group that had the NBA president as one of its members.

    He also stressed that action had been taken only against those broadcasters who had violated the agreed formula more than 20 times.

    He said the proposal had made it clear that with effect from 29 May, the ad time per hour would not be more than 30 minutes. From 1 July, this would be reduced to 20 minutes per hour while GECs will cut this down to 16 minutes. This will be in force until 30 September, following which the 12-minute rule will be enforced from 1 October. TRAI had agreed as it felt this was the best way forward, Singh added.

    However, Justice Alam said that the proposal could be treated as a law and acted upon for prosecution of television channels. Furthermore, it could not preclude the channels from challenging the constitutional validity of the regulations.

    Referring to a point made by Singh, Justice Alam also said it would be unfair to ask for commitments from the channels when they were challenging the validity of the law and TRAI’s status quo in the matter. “This is arm-twisting,” he observed.

    When Singh sought to stress that the channels were violating their own agreement, Justice Alam said “We feel we will test the constitutional validity of your order.”

    He added that TDSAT felt that before taking any action against the channels, TRAI would have either informed the tribunal or at least given a warning to the channels.

    Referring to Singh stressing that the GECs were abiding by the agreement, Justice Alam said there was need to draw a line between news channels and GECs.

    Singh also proposed that TRAI would withdraw the complaints if the channels gave an undertaking before the tribunal about adherence.

    Meanwhile, in its order yesterday on a mention by the NBA counsel, TDSAT said, “Even while the appeals are pending, 14 complaints have been filed by the TRAI against different broadcasters for violation of the standards of quality service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 that came into force on 22 March 2013.”

    TDSAT further noted that Singh had admitted that “Not only the complaints have been filed but as a matter of fact, cognizance was taken in those complaints at 2 p.m. today.”

    TDSAT had listed the matter for today and observed, “In view of the fact that the validity of the regulation is under consideration before the tribunal and having regard to the manner in which the matter has been proceeding, we are somewhat surprised at the sudden and drastic action taken by the TRAI.”

    “When we expressed our displeasure over the way the matter has been sought to be precipitated, Singh requested that the matter be taken up tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. so that he may get proper instructions in the matter.  We suggest that Singh should get instructions as to whether the TRAI is willing to withdraw the complaints filed during the pendency of the appeals before the tribunal or at least till an interim order is passed on the issue after hearing both sides.”

    When the law was invoked by the authority in May 2012, it was disputed by television broadcasters which had also challenged the jurisdiction of TRAI in this regard before TDSAT.

    With the news channels having obtained a stay from the TDSAT against any coercive action by TRAI, it remains to be seen how the IBF representing GECs will react and whether it will move TDSAT or any other court for similar stay.

  • Sun TV channels threatens to pull plug on Reliance Big TV

    Sun TV channels threatens to pull plug on Reliance Big TV

    MUMBAI: The sun is likely to set on Reliance Big TV. The south’s leading broadcaster has issued a public notice to the Anil Ambani-owned Big TV that it better pay up money owed to it or it will pull the plug on 18 channels in different languages that are carried on the DTH platform.

    According to Sun Network sources, Reliance Big TV has been given a deadline of three weeks as per TRAI rules to cough up back dues which some say have not been paid for six months.

    According to an industry source, Reliance Big TV had earlier received a notice from another aggregator for non-payment of subscription dues but had made the payment after it was issued.

    The 18 channels which will go off air from Reliance Big TV, if the dues are not cleared are: KTV, Sun Music, Sun News, Gemini TV, Gemini Comedy, Udaya TV, Udaya Comedy, Udaya Movies, Udaya News, Gemini News, Gemini Music, Gemini Movies, Adithya TV, Sun TV, Udaya Music, Chutti TV, Surya TV and Kiran TV.

    The notice comes at a time when there were newspaper reports that Reliance Big TV was close to concluding merger talks with Sun DTH. Obviously things have not moved forward positively and it’s quite likely the deal has been aborted. Reliance Big TV subscribers are hoping things get sorted out on the Sun TV channel carriage front.

  • Kolkata’s cable TV customers feel CAF heat as blackouts spread

    Kolkata’s cable TV customers feel CAF heat as blackouts spread

    KOLKATA: Kolkata is seeing some frenetic activity on the cable TV front. The city’s multisystem operators (MSO) have started switching off signals in several pockets in Kolkata where cable operators have failed to comply with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) norms and not provided them with the KYC or CAF forms of their subscribers. But MSOs have also been prompt in bringing the disconnected customers back online once the CAFs are submitted and fed into their systems.

    Apparently, the consensus amongst the cable TV fratenity is that cable TV subscribers are understanding the gravity of the situation with their cable TV connections being cut. And they have been a hurry to submit their CAFs now. “About 30,000 boxes had been deactivated and then reactivated after we received filled out forms from them,” said Manthan director Sudeep Ghosh.

     “We are in touch with the MSOs and we have been told that nearly two lakh set top boxes have been deactivated across the city and about 1.3 lakh boxes have been downgraded to DD channels only,” says a TRAI official.”And this is working as all the MSOs are saying that they are being flooded with CAFs as compared to earlier when there was lethargy.”

    The phase-wise deactivation of set top boxes had proved to be effective in sending out the intended message to consumers, he said.

    Consumers are confused and are complaining that there had been no intimation to them about the forms.

    A DTH service provider said that its call centres are receiving extra call loads with cable TV subscribers enquiring about the options available to them. “Our callers have expressed that it is better to settle with the seamless connection instead of haggling with the cable operator, who is ill-informed and not up to date with what is expected to be done,” says the DTH executive.

    We will have to simply keep our eyes glued to see if those callers will migrate to DTH. Going by past track records in other cities in phase I and phase II, it probably does not seem likely. Though many have expressed that a paradigm shift is needed.

  • I&B officials: Digitisation drive will accelerate further

    I&B officials: Digitisation drive will accelerate further

    NEW DELHI: For all those who think that there’s going to be a slowdown in cable TV digitisation. It is time to think again. All thanks to the focus of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on the preparations for the upcoming elections next year.

    In fact, the teams at I&B and TRAI, which have been spearheading the drive along with TRAI representatives, has been informed by  new secretary Bimal Jhulka and TRAI chairman Rahul Khullar, to keep the foot on the accelerator pedal and if possible rev the digitisation drive even more.

    Last week, I&B sources told Indiantelevision.com that MSOs and other television ecosystem players are being told to start planning for phase III and phase IV of digitisation from now itself. Phase III and phase IV have been compressed into a single deadline which will end in December 2014.

    “The learnings from phase I and phase II are being put into place,” says an I&B source. “We will be setting up deadlines for import of set top boxes and for rollout of the boxes. There will also be a clear game plan about which channels will be switched off to force the pace of digitisation and CAF forms in the smaller towns and rural areas. We want the transition from analogue to digital to be smoother in the next phase.”

  • Stakeholders have until next week for TRAI consultation paper

    Stakeholders have until next week for TRAI consultation paper

    MUMBAI: It was early this month that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) sent out a consultation paper which if implemented will reduce the aggregators’ importance in a digitised cable TV environment. The stakeholders: broadcasters, aggregators and MSOs, who had been asked to file their responses today, have now been granted an extension till 3 September.

    Confirming the extension, IBF secretary general Shailesh Shah says, “All our members thought that there should be a foolproof plan before going any forward. So we suggested TRAI to extend the date to have thoughtful and insightful responses.”

    The aggregators who are still working on the responses will be sending out the response first through an email. Subsequently, an Open House Discussion (OHD) on the issues dealt with in the consultation paper, will be held at Delhi on12 September. The date, time and venue for the same will be intimated separately.

    The aggregators have welcomed the extension. “We had more or less completed the responses, but the extension will only give us more time to prepare ourselves better,” says The One Alliance president Rajesh Kaul.

    The consultation paper issued on 6 August attempts to regulate the distribution of television channels from broadcaster to platform operators and discipline the distributors (aggregators). The paper involves amendments to the Tariff and Interconnection orders, and Register of Interconnect Regulations.

    The essence of the paper was to clip the immense clout that the four main aggregators MediaPro Enterprises (distributes 75 channels), IndiaCast UTV Media Distribution (distributes 35 channels), Sun Distribution Services and MSM Discovery (distributing 30 channels each) have on the TV ecosystem in India.

    The aggregators who feel that the regulator has been mislead by the MSOs have got one more week to present their case better. Though, IBF stresses on 3 September deadline being the final date with no further extensions, we wonder if this common norm will see another extension.

  • “We are hoping for a fair share of revenue in a digitised ecosystem” :The One Alliance president Rajesh Kaul

    “We are hoping for a fair share of revenue in a digitised ecosystem” :The One Alliance president Rajesh Kaul

    Cable TV digitisation has forced the entire television ecosystem to come face to face with some gut-wrenching changes. Each one of the players has come under the scathing gaze of either the ministry of information and broadcasting or the telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Some have even got a rap on their knuckles as the powers that be continue to work overtime on evolving a rickety old cable TV landscape into one capable of delivering top of the line world class digital services.

    Earlier this month, it was the aggregators that came under the scanner of TRAI which sent out a consultation paper which tries to reduce their importance in a digitised cable TV India. TRAI has said that aggregators tend to misuse the clout they have and need to have their wings clipped.

    The One Alliance, a  Discovery India-MSM joint venture which distributes 28 channels to the 30,000 or so cable operators nationally is one of the aggregators whose future and existence many are questioning.  But its president Rajesh Kaul, a scarred veteran of many a cable TV battle,  is hopeful things will get sorted out and work out well for him and others of his ilk such as MediaPro and IndiaCast.

    Even as The One Alliance has been celebrating the completion of 11 years of being in business, Kaul was busy preparing his responses to be presented to the regulator before the scheduled 27 August deadline. He still found some time to speak to Indiantelevision.com’s Seema Singh on trends in carriage and placement fees, the TRAI consultation paper and all things cable TV. 

    Excerpts:

    Do you see the aggregators become more relevant or less in the coming years? Why or why not?

    We will be as relevant as we are right now. We are a very important link in the chain of the entire television ecosystem. We just hope that with digitisation we will get a fair share of revenue which we haven’t got for so many years.

    What is your take on the TRAI consultation paper, which if implemented will cut down on the aggregator’s clout?

    We are evaluating the entire paper for which we need to file replies.

    TRAI in all its open houses and interaction with stakeholders has maintained that the era of regulation should go now and that they want to deregulate. So the consultation paper came as a surprise. On one hand they talk of deregulation, while on the other they put us under more regulations.

    May be the regulators need some clarification on the same and we are working on it. I am unsure of the intensity of the complaints put by the MSOs. 

    All through we have been following the TRAI and Information & Broadcasting Ministry (MIB) guidelines, with not a single case of deviation.

    There are close to 700 channels today and this has led to huge competition. The situation is such that no one channel can behave unreasonably with an MSO or with consumers. We all need eyeballs from our consumers. The competition ensures that the channels’ content and rate is good. We have to ensure that everything is as per market dynamics so that they are more liked and watched. This is the age we should be talking of forbearance rather than regulation.

    As per the TRAI regulation we are supposed to offer our channels on a la carte rate as well and this is available to the MSOs. In this country, there is a ‘must provide’ for all broadcasters, according to which not a single channel can say “No”  to an MSO for providing the channel to them.  But the MSO has the option to not subscribe to our channels. Since all the channels are on a la carte rate as well, there is no question of forcing them to subscribe to our bouquet.

    Another point that needs mentioning is that the broadcasters have not been getting a fair share of revenue in subscription. We thought with digitisation things will change. We have been a very good stakeholder in this entire process and done all that the regulator wanted us to do, be it doing quick deals to help MSOs sell the set top boxes or curbing our ambitions to make profits.  We hope that we will bear the fruit of being responsible stakeholders in this entire stretch one day.

    TRAI had even in the past come up with such consultation papers, but always heard us and I am hopeful they will listen to us even in this case. We are going to them to present our thought process. May be some wrong impression and feedback has gone to them, our duty is to explain to the regulator.

    The second phase of DAS will conclude soon. Any problems that you faced in this switch? What is the percentage growth in revenue in phase two as compared to phase one?

    We are still waiting for a transparent system. With digitisation the consumer can chose what they want, and pay for it. This transparency has not come out so far. We are still not getting reports from the MSOs and do not know who is watching what. These are the bottlenecks that we face.

    We were looking at ambitious numbers when digitisation kicked off. We didn’t get that in the first phase. Also as responsible stakeholders we curbed our ambitions then because we knew it would be difficult to expect a huge jump in the beginning. We supported the MSOs, which is what the regulator wanted us to do.

    But with the completion of phase II, we should be inching towards that fair share, which should be around 35 to 40 per cent of the on-ground subscription revenue collected. This should happen by April 2014. Channels cannot survive only on ad sales, subscription money is a very important revenue stream for broadcasters, but unfortunately it hasn’t so far happened in India.

    Another problem that the broadcasters face is the high carriage fees. In an analogue system, due to capacity constraint, broadcasters had to pay huge carriage fees. But now with digitisation there is no question of any capacity constraint, so why have carriage fees?

    How are you playing out the carriage fee market? Will the carriage fees come down? How much has this come down, pre- and post-DAS?

     In the next three years there should be no carriage fees. Though carriage fees  have come down post DAS, we still have been paying some placement fees to support the MSOs as they make their transition. But, with the completion of digitisation, even this should go down.  I expect carriage and placement fees to disappear over the next two to three years. While these were expected to go down further by phase II of digitisation, it has only been to the extent of about 25 per cent.

    Earlier the subscription revenue share we (read: broadcasters) were getting from the cable TV ecosystem was about 10-15 per cent. Now it has gone up to maybe to 20 per cent on the overall. Some broadcasters may have got 25 per cent but others may have got lower amounts of the digital dividend.  Many of the channels don’t get any subscription revenues because in the analogue environment they could not afford to have that as a part of their business model. With digitisation all this could change.

    Do you plan to add more channels in the bouquet? What was your strategy to ensure that you had Times Network in your bouquet, when other news channels were walking out of the bouquet?

    We are not market shopping for channels and we are not desperate. Only if tomorrow we come across something good, we will think of adding it to our bouquet.

    We added Times Television Network to our bouquet this year. It was a mutual decision between the two of us. They fitted in our profile and also they wanted to be a part of our network. They are a premium channel and they deserve suitable revenues considering their performance and we at The One Alliance are working to get them those revenues.

    We are in the process of concluding deals for Times with other MSOs. We have finished with Hathway, GTPL, and some other MSOs. And more are coming.

    You had a dispute with Hathway going on for some time? How is that progressing?

    There were many issues like are bound to happen in the cable TV business and yes one of these issues was the one we had with Hathway. And one of the issues – amongst the many issues – we had with Hathway was The Times network, which we have been distributing. But we amicably resolved all the issues with Hathway this evening. And the One Alliance bouquet of channels should have come back on all of Hathway networks by this evening. (26 August).

    It’s been 11 years in the business, how has the journey been so far?

    The journey has been fantastic. While we started with three or four channels now we have a bouquet of 28 channels, with extremely powerful and premium channels. We have various genres, we have a solid name and repututation. It has a journey which has had  more ups than downs.


    Unfortunately, even with the IPL being the biggest sporting property in this country, we have not been able to monetise it well due to under declaration. But, now we have aggressive plans to monetise it for the next season..

    What are the key pointers that set The One Alliance apart from other aggregators? As compared to others aggregators you have less channels, is that a limitation. How do you see things going ahead?

    We are the most stable joint venture (JV) in the industry. All the other aggregators are just a couple of years old. Our partners are very much involved and keen to ensure that the stability continues. For us the quality of the channel is important. We have never been in the race of having 50-60 channels in our bouquet. 

    We have channels from different genres in our bouquet and most of them are amongst the top two or three ranking in their respective genres. There are many more who want to be a part of One Alliance, because they trust the JV. Also our dealings are very transparent. We can add two to three channels at any given time, but our policy doesn’t allow us to do that. We have always believed in quality and so want to have premium channels in our bouquet.

    Today we are the strongest, despite having 28 channels. Also we are the only one having a sports channel in our bouquet unlike the others. Considering we have most genres covered in the bouquet, I don’t see any limitation. Our revenue is far higher than the others.

    Are you selective about the channels you take in the bouquet? What are the criteria that a channel needs to fulfill to be a part of The One Alliance bouquet?

    The channel and the company backing the channel should have similar kind of values and ambitions like ours. We also look at the channels’ performance, which we understand on the basis of the weekly television viewership ratings.

    What is the reach of the bouquet and which is the largest channel in the bouquet?  

    We currently have 28 channels from different genres in our bouquet. Sony Entertainment has the largest reach and, during IPL, Sony Max gets the largest reach.
    IPL is the biggest sporting property that we have. What is interesting is that though most sporting properties are a simulcast with Doordarshan, IPL is the one property which is exclusive on Max. This makes it the most important property in the sporting channel world and we have it.

    We are present almost across the country. We would be there in around 90 per cent of the towns, which have cable and satellite, but through DTH our reach is 100 per cent. Close to some 6,000 cable networks across the country carry our channels. 

    What is the current strength of the organisation?

    One Alliance employs 125 people with offices in Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Indore and Mumbai. Apart from this, we also have a strong distribution network with distributors in Rajkot,  Pune, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Patna, Ranchi and Lucknow among others. Like this we have offices in 60 cities. The distributors have their own employees. So, if we take a cumulative strength, we have around 350 people working for us.

    The major revenue for The One Alliance is dependent on IPL. So till how long will IPL be with Sony Max? How do you maintain subscription post IPL and also with so many controversies surrounding IPL, how will you deal with it?

     Unfortunately, even with IPL being the biggest sporting property in this country, we have not been able to monetise it well due to under declaration. But, now we have aggressive plans to monetise it for the next season.

    What are the future plans for The One Alliance?

    We have to lead the change and ensure that everybody gets their fair share.

  • Around 1.80 lakh defaulters in Kolkata face TV blackout as of 26 August

    Around 1.80 lakh defaulters in Kolkata face TV blackout as of 26 August

    KOLKATA: With the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) pressuring service providers in Kolkata to disconnect the television connections of customers for not submitting the subscriber application forms, multiple system operators, more than 1.80 lakh customers have experienced a black out till Monday evening.

    While talking about the snapping of the connection which started from Saturday morning, Den Networks, Hathway Cable and Datacom and Manthan Broadband Services snapped the maximum number of cable connections, out of 80,000 which were disconnected on August 24.

    Also, with just around 45 days remaining for the grand festival of Durga Puja, some cable operators are relaxed and have assured the customers that they can send the details after the festival is over, said a customer, using the service of one of the players, which has maximum penetration in KM area.

    Industry sources said: “The consumer application forms (CAF) of these MSOs were not ready as compared to other players like SitiCable. As a result, the three MSOs had to switch off the connection,” adding that the MSO will continue to switch-off few connections at a time in the coming days to guard against law-and-order problem.

    As per the TRAI mandate, the MSOs were supposed to switch-off the cable connections of those customers, who had not filled-up the CAFs in Kolkata post midnight of 23 August.

    Committee of the Association of Cable Operators, Cable Operators Digitalisation convener Swapan Chowdhury said the MSOs have been asked by the TRAI to provide details of TV connections running illegally in the KM area.

    Siticable that has disconnected more than 90,000 subscribers till Monday evening, has seen a good response from customers. “We are not switching off the connections of CAF non compliance customers at a go. We are doing it in small numbers – say 15,000,” expounded Siticable director (Kolkata) Suresh Sethia.

    Manthan Broadband Services which has installed 6.5 lakh to seven lakh set top boxes, had alone disconnected around 30,000 connections on Saturday, said Manthan Broadband Services director Sudip Ghosh.

    “Our purpose is not to switch-off the connection. But after snapping say four connections, more than 100 customers have approached from the vicinity,” he added.

    Seeing the fast response from the customers, it can be easily assumed that in the KM DAS area, CAFs rate is likely to be 70 per cent to 80 per cent in next six days – seven days, Ghosh predicted.

    Den Networks and Hathway Cable and Datacom could not be asked specifically about the connections snapped by them in KM area.

    Cable Shilpa Bachao Committee convener Mrinal Chatterjee said instead of disconnecting the TV sets, TRAI should penalise the MSOs and not the customers by asking MSOs to switch off the connection; as the CAFs were not given to the customers on time.

    With no official extension notice from the regulatory body, will Kolkata see deactivation of set-top boxes of more and more defaulters at this juncture? Watch this space for the latest updates.