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Tag: Trai

  • Trai reviews ad time policy for TV channels

    Trai reviews ad time policy for TV channels

    NEW DELHI: In what can possibly upset business models of TV networks and negatively impact genres like news, movies and sports, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is reviewing the advertisement duration policy for television channels.

    The sector regulator has sought the views of stakeholders on prescribing an upper limit for the duration of advertisements on clock hour basis and defining time gaps between consecutive ad breaks during telecast of movies and other programmes.

    In a consultation paper on “Issues Related to Advertisements in TV Channels”, Trai has also sought views on different maximum limits for the duration of ads in free-to-air (FTA) and pay channels in a clock hour bais.

    The paper has been issued suo motu with the primary objective of striking a balance between giving consumers a good TV viewing experience, and protecting the interests of all the stakeholders of the television industry.

    Trai proposes to limit the duration of the ads on a clock hour basis. No FTA channel should carry ads exceeding 12 minutes in an hour. For pay channels, this limit should be six minutes, according to Trai‘s proposition for which it wants to take the views of the stakeholders before framing out its recommendations.

    The 12 minutes of ads should not be in more than 4 sessions in one hour, Trai feels. In other words, there should be continuous airing of the TV show for at least 12 minutes each. Not more than three ad breaks should be allowed during telecast of a movie with the minimum gap of 30 minutes between consecutive ad breaks.

    In case of sporting events being telecast live, the regulator feels the ads should only be carried during the interruptions in the sporting action – for example, half time in football or hockey match, lunch/ drinks break in cricket matches, game/set change in case of lawn tennis etc.

    What can adversely affect the sports genre most is that Trai is also in favour of allowing only full screen ads. In its view, part screen ads should not be permitted. Drop down ads should also not be permitted, Trai feels.

    As far as News and Current Affairs channels are concerned, they should be allowed to run not more than two scrolls at the bottom of the screen and occupying not more than 10 per cent of the screen space for carrying non-commercial scrolls, tickers etc.

    The audio level of the ads should not be higher than the audio level of the programme.

    At the outset, Trai has said that ad income contributes substantially to the overall TV revenue pie. This had led to the tendency of pushing more and more ads on pay and FTA channels.

    The increasing duration and distracting formats of ads has, however, adversely affected the consumers’ viewing experience. This has been reflected in numerous consumer complaints and opinions being expressed at various forums.

    Written comments on the issues raised in this consultation paper are invited from the stakeholders by 27 March and counter-comments by 2 April. Based on that, Trai will come out with its recommendations.

  • Marketers to up email marketing spends by over 11% in 2012

    Marketers to up email marketing spends by over 11% in 2012

    NEW DELHI: Following the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) directive on usage of SMS for promotional messages, marketers plan to increase their budgets towards email marketing by more than 11 per cent in 2012.

    According to ‘Gearing up for Growth’, India e-marketing outlook for 2012 conducted by Octane Marketing, as many as 35 per cent of those interviewed wanted to increase their email marketing.

    The study showed that the top five industry verticals in India in terms of e-Marketing investment are Retail and Distribution (including online retail and ecommerce) – 32 per cent, Media and Entertainment – 17 per cent, IT and ITES – 11 per cent, Services and Consulting (including marketing agencies) – 9 per cent and Education – 8 per cent.

    Customer Acquisition continues to be the primary goal for marketing initiatives over the last two years.

    Social media initiatives are gaining momentum and email continues to be the most effective marketing channel. Social Media (68.8 per cent) and email Marketing (53.1 per cent) emerge as the top two online marketing initiatives that will see an increase in marketing investments in 2012, as compared to 2011.

    A majority of India marketers (36 per cent) want a code of conduct by an industry body like the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), while 31.5 per cent of participants believe stronger anti-spam laws like CAN-SPAM would curb SPAM campaigns in India.

    There is a remarkable increase of 18 per cent in the number of India marketers who see the importance of integrating email and social media campaigns in 2012.

    A high number of India marketers (62 per cent) feel that the email and SMS marketing programmes are effective in meeting agreed goals.

    Comparative analysis of data revealed that more that 80 per cent of the respondents agree that integrated (email and SMS) campaigns influence conversion rates.

    Reaching the Inbox (and not the Junk/Spam folder), increasing ROI and building subscribers list are seen to be the top three challenges for the last two successive years.

    In 2011, an increased dependence was seen on email service providers or ESPs (like Octane) to provide assured inbox delivery of email messages (25.5 per cent respondents in 2011 V/s 19.2 per cent in 2010). There was a decline in the role of IT in ensuring inbox deliverability over the last year.

    At The outset, the report says e-Marketing in India has seen unprecedented growth in recent years as an efficient distribution channel to reach out to the consumers, offering a unique value generating proposition for all stakeholders. This has been largely because of the high adoption growth of online and mobile technologies in India.

    Internet usage in India has almost tripled over the last three years and there are approx. 100 million Internet users and 800 million mobile connections in the country. According to IMRB estimates, out of the 35 million claimed mobile Internet users, 26.3 million (75 per cent) are active mobile Internet users.

    IAMAI says lower subscription rentals, availability of feature-rich cell phones at cheaper prices, increased PC and digital Literacy, greater awareness of the Internet medium are some of the reasons why mobile Internet penetration has risen in India. With the double digit rise in shipments of Smartphones in India in 2012, more and more users in India will have access to mobile Internet at a price point lower than ever before.

    The Annual India e-Marketing Research 2012 is based on surveys conducted with reputed market leaders. The primary objective of this research report is to provide insights to marketers on the trends and technologies impacting e-Marketing in India in the last two years.

  • Trai relaxes rules for telemarketing messages

    Trai relaxes rules for telemarketing messages

    NEW DELHI: Registered telemarketers can send more than 100 text messages a day on each SIM, however, they will have to pay an additional five paisa per message to the network operators.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has also lifted the cap on banks and insurers providing information to customers, and companies communicating with employees about the delivery of goods and services.

    “The limit of 100 SMS per day per SIM shall not apply to a telemarketer or entity sending transactional messages,” Trai said in ‘The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2011’. 

    A charge on telemarketers would increase network operators’ revenues from 0.5-1 paisa per SMS to 5.5-6 paisa, according to the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI). But the charge would not affect contracts agreed previously between operators and agencies sending commercial messages.

    Trai had issued “The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2010” on 1 December 2010. All the provisions of these regulations came into force from 27 September 2011. 

    In these regulations, the Authority specified a number of deterrent measures to stop commercial SMSs to telecom consumers who have registered themselves with the National Customer Preference Register. But the charge of 0.5 paisa has been prescribed as a promotional charge to deter the sending of SMSs.

    The Authority has also allowed transactional message sending entities to send transactional messages without registering as telemarketer with Trai. The Authority has also mandated that these entities will have to enter into a standard agreement with their access providers for obtaining any telecom resources and has exempted the transactional message sending entities from the limit of 100 SMS per day per SIM.

  • Government’s humps and bumps in 2010

    Government’s humps and bumps in 2010

    The year 2010 ended on a more positive note – at least as far as the private television channels were concerned.

    The commencement of the year 2011 also marked a new start from the television audience evaluation point of view with the Government accepting a report on TRP which itself gave the much-awaited approval to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) launched by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation.
     
    And for radio – which had drawn a blank in 2009 – the start of 2011 came with the Government approving the e-auction for the long awaited Phase III of private FM Radio.

    The year 2009 had ended on a somewhat damp note with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry refusing to accept any more applications for the burgeoning television industry in the country and asking the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to study the issue with regard to availability of spectrum and related issues.

    But soon after the year began, I&B Minister Ambika Soni decided to accept new applications and not wait for the Trai report, which came later and decided against any cap on the number of channels in the country – which are already over 500.

    In its report in July 2010, Trai said there should not be any cap on total number of satellite based TV channels meant for downlinking and uplinking from India, but the eligibility criteria for registration of a TV channel should be revised to include experience in media sector.

    It also said the period of permission for uplinking/downlinking permission should be made uniform for 10 years. The permission fee should be revised and charged annually.

    The networth requirements should be revised for news and non-news TV channels and teleports and India should be developed as a teleport hub, it further said.

    The Ministry had requested Trai on 8 October 2009 to furnish its recommendations on review of policy on uplinking and downlinking of TV channels in India in view of the growing number of channels and in view of the fact that the Ministry had given permission to around 550 TV channels and a number of applications were pending consideration.

    The Authority recommended that the applications seeking permission for uplinking/downlinking of TV channels should be processed quickly and the decision on the application should be finalised within three months from the date of submission of fully compliant and eligible application. For this purpose, the I&B Ministry should explore the feasibility of setting up a single-window clearance mechanism. The Authority also gave recommendations relating to the fee structure.

    A total of around 260 applications for new television channels were still pending with the Ministry by the end of 2010.

    The Ministry introduced a ‘Satellite TV Channels Application Tracking System’ (STATS) to bring complete transparency in the entire system of approvals for new channels. This first-ever initiative allows applicants to get updates on the status of their applications online. Software developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) will enable companies to log on to an especially designed programme to know the status of their applications.

    Meanwhile, the first major step towards nation-wide audience research was taken with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation getting the BARC registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956, and a high-level TRP Committee in its report approving this body.

    The BARC was set up as a joint venture between the IBF and the Indian Society of Advertisers on a 60:40 ratio and initial investment of Rs 300 million.
    Subsequently, every channel which wants to receive the ratings would have to subscribe to the BARC, the format of which would be decided by an eight-member Technical Committee headed by the ISA and having an equal representation from both the IBF and the ISA.

    BARC will not conduct audience measurement directly and instead will commission independent specialist research vendors.

    Almost two years after the news television channels came up with their own code, the general entertainment channels through the IBF also agreed on a “Self Regulatory Guidelines and Complaints Redressal Mechanism” for all non-news channels.

    With the introduction of these norms, and its adherence by all members of the IBF, the vast majority of all channels licensed by the Government will comply. This will include general entertainment, children and special interest channels.

    The redressal mechanism will be a three tier process: to first complain at the Broadcaster/Channel level; a seven-member Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (“BCCC”) at the industry (IBF) level; and finally a Content Appellate Board (“CAB”) of three distinguished members chaired by a jurist including a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Courts.

    However, it waits to be seen whether the Government will accept this process in full, as indications say the Ministry wants a Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India manned by civil society representatives and experts in various fields, and headed by a retired judge.

    The IBF recommended that the Self-regulatory Content Guidelines be notified immediately for all Non-News channels under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995, replacing the present Programme Code which had been drawn up for Prasar Bharati and then extended to other channels.

    Soni reiterated in September 2010 that the government was committed to self-regulation of broadcasting content, but there was need to find a mechanism to make this functional. She said a task force headed by I&B Secretary Raghu Menon was finalising a report in this connection and action would be taken thereon once the recommendations are available. It had held discussions with all stakeholders before working to finalise its report.

    Towards the end of the year, however, the urgency for bringing a Content Code into effect was highlighted when the government clamped down on two controversial reality shows, Bigg Boss and Rakhi Ka Insaaf, pushing them from peak primetime viewing hours to an ‘adult‘ time zone that could have an adverse impact on their ratings and revenues. The former on Colors managed to go to Court and get an injunction, while the latter followed the directive.

    Pulled up for their raunchy content, the government allowed these shows to run only between 11 pm and 5 am. Big Boss 4 was then airing daily at 9 pm on Colors and Rakhi Ka Insaaf at 10 pm (Friday-Saturday) on Imagine TV, time slots that are popular among TV viewers and advertisers.

    A ban was also put on repeat on any other time band for these two shows, and even news channels were barred from carrying content from these shows before 11 pm.

    The government also banned SS Music, a multi-lingual music channel, for seven days for allegedly showing nudity, following a recommendation by the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) comprising representatives of the ministries of Information and Broadcasting, and various child rights and women’s rights organisations.

    Twenty-four out of the total 118 warnings and show cause notices issued to various private television channels for programmes or advertisemets related to indecent representation of or denigrating women.

    According to official figures, the matter is pending in only three of the 24 cases, in which the final order is being issued shortly in two cases (TV 5 and Jai Hind TV) and the reply is being examined in the third (SS Music). These three are among the five cases of 2010, the other two being those of UTV Bindass and MTV.

    There were eight notices each in 2007 and 2008, and three in 2009 relating to depiction of women. While the matter was closed after receiving replies in some of the cases, the concerned advertisement/programme was modified in others, and warnings issued in some others.

    Interestingly, the news channels got a major relief from the Delhi High Court during 2010 which said sting operations are not unethical and ‘citizens can act as agent provocateurs to bring out and expose and uproot corruption’.

    “I consider that it is built-in fundamental duties that every citizen must strive for a corruption-free society and must expose the corruption whenever it comes to his or her knowledge and try to remove corruption at all levels more so at higher levels of management of the State,” it added.

    However earlier in the year, the Central Bureau of Investigation had told the Supreme Court that journalists can be prosecuted on corruption charges for conducting sting operations to expose corruption in public life. A party to a sting operation, allegedly undertaken to expose corruption by public servants, can be liable for prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, if he/she does not inform the law enforcing agency before or immediately after the sting, it said.
     

  • HITS a gain but government mum on FDI hike in 2009

    HITS a gain but government mum on FDI hike in 2009

    With India having touched the monumental figure of 512 in terms of television channels including 249 news channels, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry pushed the panic button towards the end of 2009, asking the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to study how many channels can be permitted in the country.

    As a follow-up, the Government has with immediate effect suspended receipt of new applications for permission to uplink television channels from India and downlink channels to India until the regulator submits its report on spectrum availability.

    In an order of 18 January, the Ministry said “it has been observed that although improved technologies have resulted in better utilization of the available spectrum and transponder capacities, the spectrum and transponder capacities for satellite TV channels are not unlimited. A need is felt to revisit the present policy for uplinking and downlinking with respect to the approach towards grant of permission including the eligibility criteria and the terms and conditions of the permission.”

    Early in October 2009, I&B Minister Ambika Soni had written to Trai Chairman J S Sarma to examine issues relating to expansion of private television channels in the country. The Minister asked the Authority to examine ways of checking the financial viability of parties that apply for setting up news channels in the country.

    However, Soni on 7 December denied in Parliament that the directive to Trai to examine the status of television channels in the country implied any plans to curb the growth of the sector. She said the study to examine the maximum number of channels that could be telecast was being carried out in view of spectrum constraints.

    “The government is surely not going to shut the door on the growth of TV channels in India. But there is a logistic problem and the government has to sort it out. Some of our growth plans may be temporarily upset,” says the head of a broadcasting company on request of anonymity.

    Meanwhile, the I&B Ministry is also keen that the Broadcast Services Regulation Bill that is pending finalization for about three years should sail through and provide for an independent regulator and a Content Code.

    A senior Ministry official told indiantelevision.com that a task force had been set up under the chairmanship of the Secretary in the Ministry, Mr Raghu Menon, and had already held a few internal meetings, The task force – which comprises representatives from the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the Broadcast Editors Association, and the News Broadcasters Association among others – would now meet stakeholders including consumers, representatives of the print media, civil societies, and editors “to understand their concerns.”

    “Self-regulation has some limitations,” the official added without elaborating, while referring to the Content Code and the Regulatory Body formed by the News Broadcasters Association.

    It was expected that this task force would complete its work by March this year. The official said the issues under discussion were not merely content, but also quality of service, carriage fee, service charges and so on. Thus, the entire responsibilities that the independent regulator would have to bear would be finalised.

    However, the Cable Operators Federation of India has challenged the constitution of the Task Force on the ground that those sought to be regulated cannot adjudicate on the kind of regulation the government can impose.

    Meanwhile, six State Monitoring Committees and 67 District level Committees have been constituted to review and deliberate on the litany of complaints received by authorized officer or take suo motu cognizance of violations transmitted and re-transmitted in the local channels.

    Over 130 Advisories/Warnings/Orders were issued to various TV channels for violation of the Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and rules framed thereunder.

    Interestingly, many of the notices issued during 2009 related to reality shows like Big Boss on Colors, Pati Patni aur woh on NDTV Imagine, and Sach ka Saamna on Star Plus, apart from some for popular series like Bandini on NDTV Imagine and Balika Vadhu and Na aana is des Laado on Colors, and most of the others for the content of commercial advertisements.

    A total of 77 private satellite TV channels were permitted to uplink/downlink under the uplinking and downlinking guidelines, taking the number of general entertainment channels to 263. Permission has been given to set up nearly 75 teleports.

    In comparison, there were 417 private channels (357 uplinked from India including 197 news channels) and 33 Doordarshan and Parliamentary channels in 2008.

    Trai had earlier issued a consultation paper on restructuring of the cable sector, and is understood to be working on a deadline since cable operators have not been responding to the questionnaire placed by it on its website.

    After obtaining the Union Cabinet‘s approval to issue policy guidelines for Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) operators, the guidelines were announced on 26 November 2009. Being a digital delivery mode of distribution, HITS would speed up the process of digitalization of cable services located in non-Cas (conditional access system) areas of the country.

    Though the country failed to make much headway in the area of IPTV despite the Ministry having rushed through amendments in the downlinking guidelines for this segment in September 2008, this was attributed to the slow pace of broadband growth and to the strong penetration of cable TV and growth of DTH. IPTV operators also complained that there was very little clarity provided by the government on content issues.

    Media companies are hoping that the government will hike FDI (foreign direct investment) limit and come out with more liberal policies in 2010 to fuel the sector‘s growth.

  • ‘Free sports channels from Trai pricing’-Taj Television COO Peter Hutton

    ‘Free sports channels from Trai pricing’-Taj Television COO Peter Hutton

    MUMBAI: 2009 was the year to be in a different industry. ESPN-Star‘s billion dollar investment in cricket‘s Champions League made the Dubai property market look a safe bet. The IPL riches were diverted into the pockets of South African travel agents. In the ICC‘s showpiece event, India‘s world champion 20-20 team batted so slowly they turned into the No. 1 Test team. India‘s hockey team fell so low, the world rankings needed a second page. The Commonwealth Games promises India Gold medals for bad publicity and even WWE‘s Khali lost whatever it was he‘d won the year before.

    Add that to world economic woes, rampant news channel piracy, illegal websites, Pakistan cricket, rain in the West Indies and having to move house, and you‘ve got my year to forget.

    On the positive side, 2010 is the year of the big event for Indian sports channels. The Hero Honda hockey World Cup, the IPL, the ICC 20-20, the FIFA soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, India‘s tour of South Africa and the Asian Games all tumble after each other.

    The advertising incomes are looking healthier, DTH numbers are growing month on month and the range of big non cricket events can help change the perception that only cricket delivers value.

    2009 was the year when hardly any major new sports deals were done in India. The one exception was Nimbus‘s extension of the BCCI contract, a smart piece of negotiating by the Nimbus team that perhaps signifies a levelling of expectation from the cricket boards. That reality check on price is needed, but the doom and gloom on the value of Test and ODI cricket has been overplayed. The ratings still deliver remarkably consistently for meaningful cricket between well balanced teams in whatever format of the game.

    One of the less heralded legacies of the “Lalit Modi era” has been the quiet removal of the concept of each Test playing side playing each other Test playing side home and away. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh‘s best chance of seeing India these days is by booking a holiday in Goa. The BCCI is happy to travel to the smaller cricketing nations (giving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe the boost of TV and sponsor income), but they‘re not going to waste their precious home games on one-sided matches. It might not suit the ICC, but it works for both the BCCI and the other boards.

    2010 should finally see the unveiling of cricket‘s next six-year plan of fixtures, and what will hopefully see a “flight to quality”. More matches that promise even contests between well matched sides rather than meaningless three-day Tests and ODIs that are won by the toss.

    2009‘s seen plenty of talk of defending Test match cricket. My pet obsession is seeing how many Test matches are being scheduled to play Monday-Friday, as if designed to stop people watching them. The only people these matches suit are the administrators who get home for the weekend. Hopefully 2010 will see success in the pink ball, day night experiments and we will be on the way to Test cricket being played in prime time.

    The best piece of rescheduling I‘ve seen for some time is the Pakistan-Australia Tests in July 2010, which will now happen in England and will make the matches happen in prime time for the sub-continent audience. At a stroke, they become much more valuable for the sport as so many more people will be able to watch them.

    Pakistan‘s varied itinerary also saw the debut of Dubai Sports city as an international stadium. It‘s round the corner from my house, so I am slightly biased, but I believe it‘s the best cricket stadium in Asia for the viewing public. One of my hopes for 2010 is that it gets to see some regular cricket rather than sit as a dusty monument to Dubai‘s dreams.

    Away from cricket in 2009, the world hockey federation (the FIH) have shown faith in India to deliver a hockey World Cup that can revitalise the sport in the country. The evidence so far has been remarkably positive. Investment from sponsors (via the Commune agency) has poured in and the Hero Honda World Cup will be a true opportunity for the Indian game.

    The Indian team are showing signs of progress (third in the champions challenge). Hopefully, home conditions and passionate crowds can work in their favour and the final of the tournament in March will overshadow the start of the IPL on the same day.

    Zee Sports deserves full marks for bravery in their attempt to showcase Indian football. Plenty have tried and failed to turn the undoubted passion for Indian football into a marketable property. The emotion and quality on show at the Nehru Cup in 2009 is an indication that this is not a lost cause. However, the sport needs to learn from the positive qualities of the Nehru Cup. Full crowds, matches to care about, prime time content all come together as part of the equation that can make the sport work.

    International football is certainly gaining ground in some areas of India, even if the viewing figures don‘t really back that statement up. Premium Indian advertisers are beginning to spend on the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the BPL. Wealthy Delhi and Mumbai kids all seem to have an English or Spanish football shirt in their wardrobe, and the FIFA world Cup in South Africa should be a superb event.

    The international football market is licking its lips at the prospect of an Indian audience buying more of those shirts. The research doesn‘t currently support the emotion. Premier league and UEFA Champions League figures are showing no signs of growth, but they are showing signs that people care more.

    The soccer World Cup can only help the process in 2010. I do believe ESPN-Star overpaid with their $48 million bid for three years of Premier League football from 2010-2012, but I remain very happy to watch them every weekend.

    One of the sporting stories of the year for 2009 came in a sport that I care very little about. Formula 1 tends to leave me cold, but I love an underdog. As a result Vijay Mallya‘s Force India perked even my interest with their achievements in 2009. To take a podium place and come so close to a first place was remarkable, particularly when you see the sort of funding that the big teams have. As we move towards an Indian Grand Prix and the new circuit on the edge of Delhi, then there is considerable potential for growth around Indian motorsport and its talented young drivers.

    Indian golf has some passionate supporters in the industry and 2010 promises more Asian tour events in the country as well as more Indian golfers succeeding on a world stage. Again, from a television industry perspective, we don‘t really see the numbers on a weekly basis but the passionate and committed golf viewer certainly wants more, and the current structure of Indian sports channels does not fulfil that need.

    Though sporting prowess on the field has a remarkable effect on the value of what we show, the real test for the Indian market is how quickly television sport is allowed to move away from being an advertising supported industry to a subscriber supported industry.

    The lack of accountability and the issues with collections in the cable industry has frustrated the growth of the Indian television sports business. DTH is a true sign of hope, with a viewer choosing and paying for his channel rather than a cable operator choosing for a viewer, and only occasionally paying. The closer that paying relationship between the end consumer and the sports channel, the more chance we have of justifying varied and stimulating content that people actually want to watch.

    Indian sports television has come a long way in the last 15 years since I sat watching Chinese football on Prime Sports but unable to watch the Premier league. Yet there is still huge amount of quality sport inside and outside India that is not seen on TV by an Indian audience. The World Athletics Championships, the Spanish football league, the Ultimate Fighting Championships, the European hockey league, the American NFL are all events that some people in India want to watch, but currently cannot do so. The rest of the world is now watching in HD, but India is watching in 4:3, not even in widescreen.

    Free the sports channels from the limitations of Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) pricing, and the doors will open to even better experiences. Control the piracy, encourage innovation. Allow variety of sporting experience, encourage quality of production. Filling each hour of live sport programming with advertising, squeezing back the screen every ball of a cricket match does not deliver the quality of viewing experience that an audience deserves.

    Let‘s hope that 2010 allows sports channels the legislative freedoms to offer premium products at premium prices and take Indian sports TV into the 21st century.
     

  • No entry for states, political parties, religious bodies into broadcasting: Trai

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today ruled out the entry of political parties into broadcasting, and also said religious bodies may not be permitted to own their own broadcasting stations and teleports.

    Similarly, state governments, urban and rural local bodies etc should not be allowed entry into broadcasting, noting that their interests can be adequately met by Prasar Bharati by imposing certain public service broadcasting obligations on private broadcasters. Trai has also recommended that the state governments and their organs should stay away from distribution activities.

    Trai also said certain public service broadcasting obligations be imposed on broadcasters in the country. The preparation of content for public service broadcasting may be done by individuals including private broadcasters, NGOs, social action groups, in addition to Prasar Bharati, DAVP, state governments and their organs.

    The Central Government (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) may set up a regular body to approve and certify programmes as being fit for broadcast as part of the public service broadcasting obligation.

    To begin with, every private broadcaster may be mandated to carry such approved programmes at least for a total duration of 30 minutes in a week.

    Trai took this decision after considering the relevant Constitutional provisions, the Constituent Assembly debates, the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission and the judgments of the Supreme Court, and feedback received from the stakeholders.

    These recommendations have been made by Trai in its report on “Issues relating to entry of certain entities into Broadcasting and Distribution activities”. It said in order to provide funds for such public service broadcasting programmes, a Fund known as the Public Service Broadcasting Obligation Fund should be established on lines similar to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund in the telecom sector, and by imposing an annual Public Service Broadcasting Obligation levy on the private broadcasters in the country and a predetermined share from the percentage of gross revenue being paid by the identified stakeholders in the broadcasting sector.

    With reference to political parties, Trai said broadcasting channels provide “reasonable access” to recognized political parties during the run up to elections to Parliament and to the State Legislative Assemblies.

    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting may seek the guidance of the Election Commission and may frame appropriate guidelines in this regard, having regard to the importance of the free flow of information to the public during the electoral process.

    In case permission has earlier been granted to any religious body for a television channel, provisions should be made for “an appropriate exit route within a time limit of three to four years to such religious bodies.”

    Denial of entry to religious bodies would be in conformity with the secular fabric of the Constitution. Trai has recommended that the disqualifications as contained in the relevant provisions of the Broadcasting Bill 1997 (which could not be enacted into law) regarding disqualification of religious bodies may be incorporated in the proposed new legislation on broadcasting.

    However, such disqualification should not be construed to mean that religious contents in the broadcasting channels is to be disallowed. Such religious content should be in conformity with the appropriate content code or programme code as prescribed from time to time by the government.

    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had requested Trai, by its reference dated 27 December, 2007, to examine the matter of allowing certain entities including State Governments, urban and local bodies, 3-tier Panchayati Raj bodies, publicly funded bodies, political bodies and religious bodies to enter into broadcasting activities which may include starting of broadcast channels or entering into distribution platforms such as cable services and DTH.

    Trai released a Consultation Paper on 25 February 2008 on the issues arising out of the reference. The Consultation Paper covered issues as to whether it would be in the interest of the broadcasting sector and in the interest of the public at large to permit the Union government and its organs, the state governments and their organs, urban and rural local bodies, political bodies, religious bodies etc. to enter into broadcasting and distribution activities like cable TV and DTH. The consultation paper also raised the issue whether permitting the state governments and their enterprises to enter into broadcasting sector would have impact on the Centre-State Relationship and the inter-se relationship among the states.

    This was followed by an Open House Discussion (OHD) held in New Delhi on 16 April 2008. The Authority has, after carefully examining several Constitutional and legal issues arising out of the reference and after carefully considering the views of stake-holders and the prevailing international practices, arrived at these final recommendations.

    As far as entry of state governments into distribution platforms such as cable TV, DTH, etc. is concerned, the Authority says the country already has six DTH operators, about 6000 multi-system operators, and nearly 60,000 cable operators. In the interest of fair competition and a level playing field, and considering the need to ensure proper enforcement mechanism equally applicable to all the players in the field, suitable provisions for exit route within three to four years have been provided wherever state governments and their organs have entered such distribution activity.

    For similar reasons and the need to prevent misuse of distribution platforms by any of the players on political or other considerations and also the need to prevent any problems relating to enforcement measures against the service providers involved, Trai has recommended that urban and local bodies, political bodies, religious bodies and other publicly funded bodies may not be permitted into distribution activities like cable television and DTH.

  • ‘Cas is here to stay’ : Nripendra Misra – Trai chairperson

    ‘Cas is here to stay’ : Nripendra Misra – Trai chairperson

    Nripendra Misra is a suave IAS officer with a reputation of being completely above board, and perhaps lacking the ‘guile‘ that puts many others in the topmost slots of the bureaucracy, fellow officials say of him in a positive sense. After the first initial setback for Conditional Access System in 2003, it was during Misra‘s tenure that Cas was enforced in parts of Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. And it was war… MSOs had to be readied, LCOs trained to shift to higher technology, broadcasters‘ resistance to be broken down by assuaging their fears and yet, the court order had to be implemented within the deadline: 31 December 2006.

    It could not have been a pleasant task. Amidst all this, Misra and his dedicated but small team is going about handling one of the noisiest of industries in the country, issuing consultation papers, and ushering in new technologies.

    Misra took his stand on various contentious issues during an interview with indiantelevision.com‘s Sujit Chakraborty.

    Excerpts:

    It has been nine months since Cas was implemented in parts of Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, after Chennai was brought under Cas. Towards the beginning there were uncertainties, and some people even opposed Cas. So today, what is your assessment of Cas? Is it a success or a failure in numerical terms?
    Well, we never had a target in terms of penetration percentages. It was left to the subscriber who wanted to opt for choice, whether he wanted pay channels or FTAs and which are the ones he wanted. The latest numbers tell me that about six lakh (600,000) homes have opted for Cas in the mandated areas.

    That is out of a universe of around 1.6 million cable homes…?
    Yes, so that is about 30 per cent of subscribers. Then you have also a similar facility in DTH, which has also been accepted by many. In Kolkata particularly, the response has been poor because most of the popular channels are FTAs. So if the criterion is in terms of numbers, I think it has been a very satisfactory performance.

    But it is not the number that is important. Unfortunately, we are always missing the true substance when attempting to evaluate Cas.

    What is it we are trying to do? We are trying to set up a mode of digital transmission, which is more efficient and more accommodative. It is the global practice. Analogue is gradually getting out of the scene, and so we have to make a beginning. That was made into a kind of a pilot in these four areas.

    Today you have a choice, you have DTH and you have Cas. Tomorrow you may have HITS… which is another option. You have voluntary Cas. So a beginning has been made, a seed has been sown, which must someday fructify in terms of an all India feature. Success has to be measured in terms of whether it is a trendsetter or not, and not in terms of how many people have opted for it or not.

    So would you say that the target of becoming a trendsetter has been achieved?
    Oh yes! It is perhaps a watershed in that in the broadcasting industry, digital transmission has begun.

    But one main area that remains disturbing is the quality of service, which in many parts of the mandatory Cas zones remains highly dissatisfactory. Lots people are not getting the channels they have opted and paid for.
    Firstly, I do not want to defend the quality of service, and there are problems of channels being discontinued. But it is not just at the level of local cable operator. I think somewhere down the line, the MSO also has to take his role seriously. Unlike in non-Cas areas, the role of the broadcaster and MSO in implementing Cas is far more important than that of the LCO. So, if these things have happened, they have happened because of the inadequacy of the functioning of MSOs.

    When it started in January, we wanted to take a very liberal view. We did not want to enforce all the regulatory provisions in the first four or five months. They wanted time so that the consumer preference could be registered, and we gave them enough time. The subscriber register that has to be maintained was not complete to the extent we wanted. Therefore billing got delayed, payments also got delayed… subscribers have also not made payments. But we have made it clear that come 1st of July, we are not going to forgive anyone.

    But how do you enforce this, as it has clearly not happened in many places till now?
    There are three ways of how to enforce this. First is the awareness of the consumer. There is a quality of service regulation in the Cas area which is operational. Therefore the subscribers must reach to and judge the performance of the MSOs and cable operators. There are great details in the regulation about the kind of rebate that has to be given if the channels are not coming, or how much time it should take which kind of interruption, what should be the response time for the MSOs… these are all standardised and fixed.
    ‘Broadcasters have been cooperative in rolling out Cas, despite serious reservations about the Rs 5 channel price‘

    But that brings us to a moot point…. The consumer is not truly aware and also does not seem to care about implementing his rights?
    It takes time…

    So you are saying that MSOs are primarily responsible for QoS, so where have they failed? Because there are lots of complaints about failure across the board.
    The MSOs initially were perhaps not ready with the level of demand. That has settled down, STBs have been imported and they are in plenty today. The second stage was to get the reference of the subscribers. Now, I know and it is correct to say that the MSO representatives have gone to the homes four or five times, asking the subscribers to fill up the forms. But the gentleman says, you have come at the wrong time, that he will have to consult his family.

    But gradually, that too has ceased to be a problem. Ninety percent of the subscriber registers have been completed and the choice is now there. Now the stage is where the subscribers must know what their right is. That is, the manual of practice of the MSOs must be made available to the subscribers. That manual of practice in most of the cases is not available. The contractual conveyance, that we have between us signed a contract, and this is our right, that message is still not being passed on, which is reflecting in the lack of awareness.

    Broadcasters have been extremely cooperative in rolling out Cas, despite serious reservations about the RS 5 channel price, and all the Reference Interconnect Offers are in place.

    So what have you told the MSOs about this?
    We have conveyed to them that look, we shall view very seriously if there are defaults. We have written to the state governments, because they are the enforcement machinery.

    So what is holding back the extension of Cas in the three metros?
    The Central government wanted us to report back on this, we have sent that report, we have said it will take six to eight months‘ time to implement after notification of the extension. But then the state governments said that it is better to evaluate before extending Cas. We on our own without waiting for such instructions have engaged some outside agency to advice us on the level of implementation.

    Has that audit been completed?
    It will take another two months, we are expecting the reports by the end of October or beginning of November.

    So it will further delay Cas extension by that much time?
    Well this has nothing to do with Cas extension, this is something we are doing independently, and as far as the government goes, they can extend Cas, and we have just said that it would take six months from the day of notification to implement the extension. It is for the government to take a view when they wish to notify.
    Resistance to Cas had been from the broadcasters, but even from the grassroots level, due to privileges of piracy and under declaration, there had been resistance from the cable operators as well, so have the realised that this is the business model of the future?
    I think they have realised this more than anybody else. Today there is demand from many, many parts of India that they be given the permission for implementing voluntary Cas.
    Like Ortel and Sristi in Orissa and West Bengal?
    Ortel is one, then Pune is another, and there is demand from Bangalore, Mumbai and many other places. Some have in fact gone ahead with the implementation of voluntary Cas. So what the LCOs know very well is that the competition from DTH is very strong. The LCOs thus know that of they have to remain in the industry, two or three things are required.

    First, investment is required, which is not come if the industry is so disorganised as it is today. Second, they know that there has to be some regulatory provisions to give stability, which will ensure certain amicable relations between them the broadcasters and the MSOs. So to answer your question as to why they are not implementing voluntary Cas, perhaps for that some regulatory initiative is required.

    Now, for that the expert committee had been set up, and it has suggested that voluntary Cas be rolled out in 55 cities and towns. But they have also said that you have got to have a regulatory regime for at least one year. Even for voluntary Cas, certain things are important, like Standard Interconnection Offer, what should be the connectivity, what should be the revenue sharing formula. So these are the issues we are looking at, and we are going to put up the paper on voluntary Cas.

    “Fixing of channel pricing in non-Cas is a challenge, but we shall come out with something that meets the expectations of both the high and low income groups”
    When is that likely?
    Oh any day, we are working on HITS and next is the paper on voluntary Cas.
    The consultancy paper on HITS is already out?
    Yes, but we have to now recommend the terms and conditions of licensing provisions to the ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Even the voluntary Cas paper is also in the pubic domain, and so we have to now concretise our views. And then specifics like what are the regulatory issues, what are the areas in which facilitation is required… perhaps some technical training is required, and the go ahead.
    But voluntary Cas would mean that channel prices will be dictated by the broadcasters and subscribers may suffer?
    Let‘s see. Voluntary Cas does not mean it cannot be regulated, and as such I do not have any views on the subject now.
    It follows that even in voluntary Cas you could regulate prices?
    If it requires so in the case of DTH I can regulate prices. In fact, there has been some judicial expectations on this, when TDSAT in one of its judgments asked that if channel price is regulated in Cas, why it is not there in DTH? We had our reasons, it is an infant industry, we wanted DTH to grow.
    But then Cas is also an infant system?
    The difference is that DTH is a new initiative, and I am of the view that there should be minimal regulation. Cas was a shift from the old cable industry.
    The cable industry has been insisting on a level playing field and they are pointing out to the IPTV and DTH consultation papers as proof that Trai is not creating that level playing field. And in Trai‘s own meetings on Cas in Kolkata and other places, LCOs and MSOs have accuse Trai of siding with broadcasters?
    There was never such an accusation. You may have been told so, but never, never has a single cable operator said that Trai is favouring broadcasters. It is all a matter of which platform you are utilising. You fix the price at RS 5, and someone will say, it is against broadcasters. If you do not do that, they will say you are favouring the broadcasters. There is a bogey being raised that in many of the countries channel prices are fixed. The truth of the matter is channel prices have not been fixed in a majority of the countries. And majority means, more than 90 per cent of the countries.
    So there, prices have panned out according to market pull and push?
    Of course.
    So how much time do you think we will need for market forces to create prices that are compatible with the pockets of the average consumer, who are the vast majority, that is, when would deregulation start and prices shape up as per market forces?
    It is already there, because in non-Cas it is already there according to the market forces. I haven‘t regulated prices there. The prices have been fixed by the cable operators and the subscribers. In 2004 when there was such a noise, there was an order on freezing the prices. You know that order was an interim measure. The ideal situation, which is there in our consultation paper, is it should go to forbearance. And I think that the day is not very far. The moment there is healthy competition and prices should be put on forbearance.

    There is the issue of price freeze versus price cap?
    That I won‘t answer because we have not issued the regulation on that so far.

    It is important for the cable industry to grow and I am not a great votary for centralised economic activity, or vertical integration, so franchise should be the mode.
    Is it in the offing?
    Yes, the next thing for the non-Cas areas.
    In recent meetings the ministry of broadcasting has said that content control in IPTV is not in their domain because that platform is under the ministry of telecom. Despite that Trai has said that it is I&B which should control content in IPTV, so do you think you have usurped some of the government‘s prerogatives?
    No, not all. It is a viewpoint. I can‘t say anything on content regulation, who will or who will not do. It is not within my powers. It is simply this, that we are of the view that the control of all content of all broadcasting and on all technological platform is best done by the broadcasting ministry. It is just a view point.
    So what are the forthcoming issues in the cable or rather the video-related industry?
    Well after introducing digitisation in non-Cas, there will be the issue of pricing. Then the other issue will be also of the structure of the cable operators. Can we contribute to their organisational strength? This comes from the understanding that there is the issue of investment, because we know there is an opportunity.
    But that investment with such small players would not be possible, so what does one do to ensure investment?
    In some manner it has to be there. Whether in the franchise mode, or through takeovers, or vertical integration. But I think that in countries such as India, perhaps there will be a role for everybody. I am not a great votary for a centralised form of economic activity. So it is better that we perhaps have a relationship in which franchise is the mode and there is mutually shared revenue principles.
  • Trai takes on new member

    Trai takes on new member

    NEW DELHI: RN Prabhakar, who retired from the Indian Telecommunication Service a year ago, has joined as a whole-time member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today.

    His last posting before retiring in January last year was as Advisor (Production) and Ex-officio Additional Secretary in the Department of Telecommunications. He also looked after the charge of the Member (Production), Telecom Commission.

    Prabhakar has about 36 years of technical, administrative and financial experience in the telecom sector and has held various posts in the DoT. He has also served on the Boards of BSNL and Instrumentation Ltd Kota.

    He has participated in several international seminars and workshops and has presented technical papers related to network security, regulation and public policy etc. He was deputed for a period of three years to Nigeria for imparting training to their telecom officers.

  • TDSAT upholds Rs 5 tariff by Trai, imposes costs on ESPN Star and Set Discovery

    TDSAT upholds Rs 5 tariff by Trai, imposes costs on ESPN Star and Set Discovery

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) today upheld the tariff of Rs 5 per channel fixed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) against which three broadcasters had appealed. It also imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 for each of the broadcasters in favour of the sector regulator.

    In its pronouncement on the appeal filed by Set Discovery, ESPN Star Sports (Singapore) and ESPN Software India, TDSAT held that the case was devoid of merit, and thus the appellants are liable to pay costs, totaling Rs 150,000, to Trai, which had proved its case.

    In a related development, some of the respondents in the case that includes Trai, Indus Ind Media and Communications Limited, and Hathway Cable & Datacom Private Limited, have filed a Caveat in the Supreme Court, since the broadcasters are most likely to appeal against the TDSAT order in the apex court.

    While giving its ruling, TDSAT said that the broadcasters had themselves said that 70 to 80 per cent of their revenues come from advertisements, and the bench noted that “at various fora”, it has been argued by the broadcasters that they also generate revenue through sub-licensing and through fees paid by consumers in sending SMSs to the channels.

    It held that the same broadcasters had said that due to underdeclaration by LCOs and MSOs, they get only 20 per cent of the subscription revenue actually generated.

    The tribunal noted that under the Cas regime, wherever Cas has been implemented, there is no longer a question of underdeclaration, and therefore, data on subscription revenue is 100 per cent.

    In this situation, whereas the broadcasters were – as they themselves said – earning only 20 per cent from subscription, the Trai order on Interconnection gave them 45 per cent, which is a sea change.

    Hence, going by the arguments of the broadcasters themselves, the case is devoid of merit and liable for dismissal, with a cost of Rs 50,000 per appellant.

    The tribunal, comprising the full bench of chairperson Arun Kumar, and members DP Sehgal and Vinod Vaish, made the following observations:

    “We have carefully considered the procedure undertaken by Trai for conducting the exercise. We have also considered the justification for the regulation. We find that the approach of Trai in regulating the CAS regime at its introductory stage in the notified areas is fully justified.

    “We find nothing wrong in the process undertaken by the Authority. In this connection we note that the Trai was conscious of its difficulties and the problems which it had to face while conducting the exercise.

    “It was a virgin field and the Chennai model could not serve as a good guide. The exercise was complex and it was made all the more difficult by the non-cooperative attitude of the broadcasters. In the given circumstances, Trai, in our view, has acted fairly by balancing the competing interests.

    “The Authority has promised to revisit the issue, including consideration of deregulation if the circumstances so warrant. The experience to be gained after introduction of CAS would enable it to reconsider everything.

    “This being a transitory phase, the appellants ought to have had patience and ought to have waited till Trai was able to revisit the issue. The hurry on their part to raise the issue before this Tribunal was not necessary.

    “We also cannot help observing that the broadcasters are either unmindful of the fact that they stand to gain in the CAS regime or they are intentionally feigning lack of knowledge of this fact.

    “To say the least, they have not been fair in placing their case before us. We find no merit in these appeals. They are liable to be dismissed. We order accordingly. Appellants will bear the costs of the Respondent, Trai which we quantify at Rs 50,000/- for each appeal. Costs are awarded only in favour of Trai,” the TDSAT order concluded.