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Tag: Trai

  • Eight of top ten across genres channels from 4 major networks

    Eight of top ten across genres channels from 4 major networks

    BENGALURU: Week 48 of 2019(Saturday, 23 November 2019 to Friday, 29 November 2019, week or period under review) saw two each channels from four major networks amongst Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms. Star India, Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) had one channel from the Hindi GEC genre and one channel each from three South Indian genre language in BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list for the week under review. Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) had two channels from the Hindi GEC genre during the period.

    Nine of the channels in BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list for week 48 were the same as in week 47 with a slight tweak in the ranks. The Network18/Viacom18 associated ETV Telugu reentered BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list  at the cost of Zeel’s Tamil GEC Zee Tamil during week 48 of 2019. The combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels across genres on all platforms were slightly lower because viewership of the 9 persisting channels declined slightly in week 48 of 2019 as compared to the previous week.

    As has become a norm, Enterr 10 Television’s free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC Dangal headed BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list on all platforms in week 48 of 2019, followed by the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV. As mentioned above, the other 8 channels were from 4 major networks.  Six Hindi GEC’s, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kannada and Tamil genres made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms. Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly list if top 10 channels on all platforms across genres were on the pay TV platform while one was FTA.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay channels across genres saw one change – Network18/Viacom18’s Telugu GEC ETV entered the list at the cost of the same network’s kids channel Nick. 

    BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres had three channels from Zeel, two channels each from SPN, Star and Viacom18 and one channel from the Sun Tv Network in week 48 of 2019. There were five channels from the Hindi GEC genre, two channels each from the Tamil  and Telugu genres and one channel from the Kannada, genre in  BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform in week 48 of 2019.

    As has been the case over the past few weeks, the most watched pay channels were not Hindi GEC – they were Tamil and Telugu GECs’ at ranks one and two respectively in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres was the same  in rank and file in week 48 of 2019 as in the previous two weeks. Four channels from Enterr 10 Television, three channels from the B4U Network, two channels from Zeel and one channel from SkyStar made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 48 of 2019. Four of the channels were from the Hindi Movies genre, three were from the Bhojpuri genre, two were Hindi GECs’ and one channel was from the Marathi genre in week 48 of 2019.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Though TV viewership seems to have remained stagnant in week 48 of 2019 as compared to the previous week at 14 billion impressions, OTT viewership seems to have doubled according to BARC data. Please refer to the figure below:


     

  • VBS 2019 to focus on post NTO environment, relevance of cable and rise of internet

    VBS 2019 to focus on post NTO environment, relevance of cable and rise of internet

    MUMBAI: The year 2019 has fundamentally changed Indian TV broadcast industry. The long-awaited New Tariff Order (NTO) was finally greenlit in February, forcing broadcast networks, DTH players and cable operators to move to a new tariff regime. However, even as TV broadcasters and distribution platforms were adjusting to the NTO, TRAI floated a new consultation paper on tariffs in August, causing further uncertainty and disruption in the already volatile market.

    Amidst this flux and all-around uncertainty, Indiantelevision.com is bringing together stalwarts from the industry on a platform that dissects the various issues at the heart of the NTO, how it’s impacting broadcasters and distributors, changes proposed to it and why broadcasters are unhappy with TRAI for floating a new consultation paper within six months of NTO.

    The initiative is called Video and Broadband Summit (IDOS in its earlier avatar) to be held at Mumbai on 11 December. Leaders from DTH, cable and broadband, broadcast, regulatory bodies, and technology segments will discuss the state of the industry, address issues and find solutions.

    After a keynote address by Anil Wanvari, founder Indiantelevision.com, doyens of broadcast industry and distribution platforms like IndiaCast Media Distribution President Amit Arora, Star India Distribution President Gurjeev Singh Kapoor, IndusInd Media and Communications CEO Vynsley Fernandes, GTPL Hathway VP Yatin Gupta, The Remediation Company founder Shyamala Venkatachalam and Bhima Riddhi Digital Services promoter Nagesh Narayandas Chhabria will discuss the TRAI consultation paper on tariffs in a panel discussion to be moderated by Elara Capital VP Karan Taurani.

    While TRAI has faced a barrage of criticism from industry players for the new consultation paper, it’s important to note that distributors (DTH, LCOs and MSOs) and broadcasters, both have very different grievances from TRAI. While broadcasters are nearly unanimous that TRAI should not disallow them from creating bouquets, nor impose a discount cap on these bouquets – two of the key issues discussed in the TRAI consultation paper – among the cable distributors there is a general consensus that broadcast networks have indeed misused their freedom to create bouquets by offering unlimited discounts on these packs. Distributors are also unhappy with the discounting cap imposed for them but not for the broadcasters.

    Even the recent Open House Discussion, organised by TRAI at Delhi in October, failed to resolve the issue or bring together broadcast networks and distributors on the same page. VBS 2019 provides yet another opportunity for broadcasters and distributors, two of the key constituents of the media and entertainment industry, to deliberate on these issues in a rapidly changing regulatory framework.

    To oversee and participate in these deliberations, there will be TRAI Advisor Arvind Kumar, who will also address the gathering and will bring some much-needed clarity on TRAI future course of action on the consultation paper for which it received nearly 300 comments from broadcast networks, DTH, LCOs and MSOs, as well as from ordinary consumers.

    To give the perspective of distributors on how the NTO, and the expected amendments to it, affected their businesses, there will be a panel discussion in which SITI Networks CEO Anil Malhotra, GC member of SCTE India Shaji Mathews, Fastway Transmissions Consultant Peeush Mahajan and Bhima Riddhi Digital Services Promoter Nagesh Narayandas Chhabria will participate.

    Advertising industry is at the other end of the spectrum, the other big sector that had to adjust to post NTO environment. To discuss the advertisers' view and their take on the dynamic pay-TV landscape, there will be Godrej head media services Subha Sreenivasan Iyer, ITC PR and media head Jaikishin Chhaproo and Havas Media Group managing partner West & South Kunal Jamaur. They will participate in a panel discussion to be moderated by Castle Media CEO Ru Ediriwira.

    There will also be a presentation from Broadpeak business development manager Hervé Creff, on "Keeping control of HDMI1 with Android TV Operator Tier – the "super-aggregator" approach."

    This will be followed by a panel discussion on how to transform the TV broadcast sector to fuel growth – what are the key issues facing the industry and how can more transparency and discipline be injected into it? PwC partner and leader Raman Kalra, Elara Capital VP – research analyst (media) Karan Taurani, KPMG India partner, head-media and entertainment Girish Menon and BBC News head of distribution – South Asia Sunil Joshi will participate in a panel discussion to be moderated by SBICAP Securities head of equity research Rajiv Sharma.

    Local cable operators also constitute an important link in the TV broadcast value chain in India. Despite the presence of strong DTH players like Tata and Bharti Airtel and the rise of OTT, as much as 65 per cent of TV homes in India are still connected through these local cable operators, as per TRAI estimates. Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) president Arvind Ramesh Prabhoo and IndusInd Media and Communication COO Rouse Koshy will participate in a panel discussion on how has the role of the LCO changed under the new regulatory framework and its significance going forward.

    The rise of some of the Free to Air (FTA) channels in the post NTO environment has been another prominent feature of 2019. To discuss the roadmap ahead for FTA channels, there will be a panel discussion in which SAB Group CEO Manav Dhanda, Enterr10 TV MD – Fakt Marathi Shirish Pattanshetty, Republic Media Group CEO Vikas Khanchandani, 9X Media chief revenue officer Pawan Jailkhani and Shemaroo Entertainment COO Kranti Gada will participate.

    There will also be a presentation by Romil Ramgarhia, COO, BARC India will also do a presentation on ‘TV viewership trends in post NTO era,’ and will share with the audience the changing dynamics of TV industry since the NTO. Has TV viewership declined post NTO, are people subscribing to more or less channels post NTO, has the NTO benefitted FTA channels will be some of the themes Romil will take in his presentation.

    Internet has emerged as another prominent distributor in the broadcast industry. Not only have OTT players emerged as challengers to broadcast networks, but also Reliance Jio Fiber is partnering with LCOs and MSOs to deliver video broadcast services. A string of channels are now also available on OTT platforms.

    To discuss the role of the internet in the broadcast industry, there will be a fireside chat between Anil Wanvari and Jio Fiber president Anuj Jain. The summit will end with a panel discussion on the role of the internet in video distribution in which Google Industry head media and entertainment Sandeep Ramesh, Jio VP – advertising and strategy Mohit Kapoor, COAI director General Rajan S Mathews, ZEE5 chief revenue officer and business head Taranjeet Singh and MediaKind head of marketing – APAC Chiranjeev Singh will participate. 

  • BARC week 47: English news ratings plunge to a new low

    BARC week 47: English news ratings plunge to a new low

    BENGALURU: After the previous week’s uptick, due to the Ayodhya and other Supreme Court of India verdicts, English News viewership plunged to a new nadir in 2019 in week 47. The combined weekly impressions of the Top 5 English News channels in week 47 of 2019 (Saturday, 16 November 2019 to Friday, 22 November 2019, period or week under review) were just 1.780 million weekly impressions according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data. Combined ratings of Top 5 English News channels viewership declined 28 percent during the week under review from the 2.509 million weekly impressions recorded in the previous week (week 46).

    BARC weekly data in this paper is being considered from week 13 of 2019 to week 47. Calendar year 2019 has been an eventual year as far as publication in the public domain of Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly viewership data is concerned. First,the ratings  agency stopped publishing data in the public domain from week 6 of 2019 onward after the implementation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India  (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO), ostentatiously to give time for viewership to stabilize and hence prevent ‘misuse’ of data. On coercion from TRAI, BARC started putting up data in the public domain from week 13 of 2019 onward, only to revert to an older version of treating data on the landing pages and outliers from week 23 of 2019. Hence the combined viewership of the Top 5 English News channels has been the lowest yet during the 35 weeks since week 13 of 2019.

    There was no change in the channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 channels in week 47 of 2019 as compared to weeks 45 and 46 of 2019. Even the ranks of the 5 channels were in the same order. Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 5 English News channels in week 47 of 2019

    As mentioned above, there was no change in list of channels in terms of rank and file during week 47 of 2019 as compared to week 46. Though the Arnab Goswami led Republic TV headed the pack at first rank during the period under review, it witnessed the largest fall in viewership among the top 5 English News channels in week 47 of 2019. Republic TV’s viewership declined 0.301 million weekly impressions or 35 percent in week 47 of 2019 to 0.558 million weekly impressions  from 0.859 million weekly impressions in week 46.

    Ranked second, Times Now witnessed the third steepest fall in percentage terms and the second in terms of absolute numbers among the top 5 channels of its genre with a decline of 0.150 million weekly impressions or 26.5 percent at 0.415 million weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 as compared to 0.565 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    PubcasterDoordarshan’s DD India witnessed the second steepest decline in percentage terms at 28 percent or a decline of 0.120 million weekly impressions (third most in absolute numbers) to 0.308 million weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 as compared to 0.428 million weekly impressions in week 46.

    With a decline of 22.4 percent or 0.08 million weekly impressions, the India Today group’s India Today Television saw the least decline in percentage terms and the fourth lowest in absolute numbers with a fall of 0.080 million weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 as compared to week 46. India Today Television scored 0.281 million weekly impressions during the period under review as compared to 0.361 million weekly impressions in week 46 of 2019.

    Mukesh Ambani’s Network18 associated CNN News18 saw ratings decline by 0.077 million weekly impressions or a fall of 26.1 percent in week 47 of 2019 to 0.218 million weekly impressions from 0.295 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    Please refer to the figure below:


     

  • BARC week 47: Few changes in Top 10 channels across genres; entertainment viewership falls

    BARC week 47: Few changes in Top 10 channels across genres; entertainment viewership falls

    BENGALURU: There was not too much change in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s (BARC) weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms for week 47 of 2019 (Saturday, 16 November 2019 to Friday, 22 November 2019, week or period under review) as nine of the channels were same as in week 46. Even the ranks of the first eight channels in week 47 of 2019 were the same as in the previous week. One channel – Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (Zeel) free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC Big Magic exited the list in week 47 of 2019 to be replaced by Zeel’s Tamil GEC Zee Tamil as compared to the previous week.

    Entertainment viewership falls in week 47 of 2019 as compared to the previous week

    Though overall entertainment viewership seemed to have dropped according to BARC’s weekly data for TV+OOH viewership, there was not too much impact on the combined viewership numbers of the Top 10 channels across genres lists on All Platforms, on the Pay TV platform and the FTA platform as is obvious from the charts that follow. TV viewership dropped to 14 billion weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 from 14.4 billion in week 46. An analysis of the rough data furnished by BARC, OTT viewership seems to have fallen by almost 50 percent during the week under review as compared to the previous week. Simple mathematical calculations show that OTT viewership in week 46 was 0.2 billion weekly impressions, which fell to about 0.1 billion weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019.

    Please refer to the figure below for TV and OTT viewership numbers for weeks 46 and 47 of 2019.

    Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms

    Six Hindi GECs, two Tamil channels and one channel each from the Kannada and the Telugu genres made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms for week 47 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were three channels from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel), two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN), Star India and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network and Viacom18.

    One channel – Enterr 10 Television’s Hindi GEC Dangal was FTA, while the other nine channels were Pay TV in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 47 of 2019.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Pay TV channels

    BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres had three channels from Zeel, two channels each from SPN, Star and Viacom18 and one channel from the Sun Tv Network in week 47 of 2019. There were five channels from the Hindi GEC genre, two channels from the Tamil genre and one channel each from the Kannada, Kids and Telugu genres which made up BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform in week 46 of 2019.

    As mentioned above, the first eight channels were same in rank and file in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 47 of 2019 as compared to week 46. There was one change in the list – Star India’s Tamil GEC Star Vijay (ranked 10 in week 46) exited it in week 47 to be replaced by Zee Tamil at rank 9. Viacom18’s kids channel NICK moved down to rank 10 in week 47 from rank 9 in week 46 of 2019.

    Also, as has been the case over the past few weeks, the most watched pay channels were not Hindi GEC – they were Tamil and Telugu GECs at ranks one and two respectively in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below

    Top 10 Free to Air channels

    The weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres was the same in rank and file in week 47 of 2019 as in the previous week.Four channels from Enterr 10 Television, three channels from the B4U Network, two channels from Zeel and one channel from SkyStar made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 47 of 2019. Four of the channels were from the Hindi movies genre, three were from the Bhojpuri genre, two were Hindi GECs and one channel was from the Marathi genre in week 47 of 2019.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • BARC week 46: 3 Zeel channels among top 10 in across genres once again

    BARC week 46: 3 Zeel channels among top 10 in across genres once again

    BENGALURU: Three channels from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel), two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Star India, and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network and Viacom18 were present in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 46 of 2019. Zeel earlier had three channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 42 of 2019. Zeel’s Kannada GEC Zee Kannada joined the acquired Hindi GEC and free to air (FTA) Big Magic and flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV in week 46 of 2019 (Saturday, 9th November 2019 to Friday, 15th November 2019, week or period under review).Over the past few weeks, only one channel from the Zeel stable was present in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms.

    Seven of the channels were Hindi GECs, and there was one channel each from the Kannada, Tamil and Telugu genres in the list in week 46 of 2019. All the channels (including the non-Hindi ones) in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres were general entertainment channels or GECs. Eight of the channels in the list were pay TV, two, both Hindi GECs, were FTA.

    Two channels – Enterr 10 Television’s free to air (Free or FTA) Hindi GEC Dangal and the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV having been vying for the top slot in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly lists of Top 10 Channels across genres as mentioned by us earlier, Ultimately, Dangal retook the numerouno mantle in BARC’s Across Genres on all platforms weekly list. In general, Dangal has been the most watched channel across genres on all platforms also as mentioned by us earlier.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Channels Across Genres on Pay Platform

    Sun TV has been ruling BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform and it continued its dominance at the pole position in week 46 of 2019. BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres had three channels from Star India, two channels each from SPN, Star, Viacom18 and Zeel and one channel from the Sun Tv Network in week 46 of 2019. There were five channels from the Hindi GEC genre, two channels from the Tamil genre and one channel each from the Kannada, Kids and Telugu genres which made up BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform in week 46 of 2019.

    One channel, at rank 10, was replaced in BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on Pay Platform in week 46 of 2019. Star Vijay re-entered the list at the cost of SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max. The other nine channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 46 of 2019 were the same as in week 45, with some reshuffling of ranks.

    As has been the case over the past few weeks, the most watched pay channels were not Hindi GEC – they were Tamil and Telugu GECs at ranks one and two respectively in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres

    Four channels from Enterr 10 Television, three channels from the B4U Network, two channels from Zeel and one channel from SkyStar made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 46 of 2019. Four of the channels were from the Hindi Movies genre, three were from the Bhojpuri genre, two were Hindi GECs and one channel was from the Marathi genre in week 46 of 2019. The FTA channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Free channels during week 46 of 2019 were the same as in the previous week with a slight shuffling in ranks.

    Please refer to the figure below:


     

  • BARC week 46: Uptick in English news channel viewership

    BARC week 46: Uptick in English news channel viewership

    BENGALURU: Recent events in the country resulted in the increase in viewership of news channels. Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data for Top 5 English news channels in week 46 of 2019 (Saturday, 9 November 2019 to Friday, 15 November 2019, week or period under review) shows a sharp increase in ratings as compared to the previous week. Among the major news events that took place during the week under review was the Supreme Court’s verdict for the Ayodhya dispute. 

    Over the past few weeks, combined viewership of the top 5 English news channels had stabilised to some extent and then witnessed a slight dip in week 45, which was followed by an increase of 0.696 million or 38.4 percent in week 46 of 2019. The combined weekly impressions of the top 5 English news channels were 1.813 million in week 45 and 2.509 million in week 46 of 2019.

    A slight digression here. It must be noted that since week 13 until week 46 of 2019, the channels have been the same in BARC’s weekly list of Top 5 English news channels, except for tweaking of ranks. BARC has stopped publishing data in the public domain after week 5 of 2019 to allow ratings of channels to stabilize after the implementation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) mandated New Tariff Order (NTO). BARC recommenced publishing data in the public domain in week 13 of 2019 on urging by TRAI.

    Please refer to the figure below: 

    Top 5 English news channels in week 46 of 2019

    As mentioned above the Top 5 English news channels in week 46 have been the same since week 13 of 2019. In the case of week 46 of 2019, even the ranks of the channels were the same as in the previous week (week 45). 

    Please refer to the figure below for ranks of the top 5 channels:

    In absolute numbers, the Arnab Goswami-headed Republic TV saw the maximum increase in viewership with an uptick of 0.263 million impressions (44 percent increase), while India Today Television saw the ratings increase by just 86,000 (31.2 percent increase) in week 46 as compared to week 45 of 2019. In terms of percentage, pubcaster Doordarshan’s English news channel DD India saw viewership increase of 52.9 percent (0.148 million weekly impressions),while Times Now saw an increase of just 32.4 percent (0.152 million weekly impressions) in week 46 as compared to week 45 of 2019.

    Over the past few weeks, combined viewership of the top 5 English news channels had stabilised to some extent and then witnessed a slight dip in week 45, which was followed by an increase of 0.696 million or 38.4 percent in week 46 of 2019.

    Republic TV scored 0.859 million weekly impressions in week 46 as compared to 0.596 million weekly impressions in week 45 of 2019. At second rank, Times Now scores 0.565 million weekly impressions during the period under review as compared to 0.454 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    Ranked three in week 46 of 2019, DD India scored 0.428 million weekly impressions as compared to 0.280 million weekly impressions in week 45. India Today Television garnered 0.362 million weekly impressions in week 46 at rank 4 as compared to 0.276 million weekly impressions in week 45 of 2019. Completing the quintet at rank 5 was Network18’s CNN News18 which saw viewership increase of 88,000 weekly impressions in week 46 of 2019 to 0.295 million weekly impressions from 0.207 million weekly impressions in the previous week.
    Please refer to the figure below:


     

  • TRAI recommends DTH platform services be capped to 3% of carrying capacity

    TRAI recommends DTH platform services be capped to 3% of carrying capacity

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out with its recommendations on platform services (PS) offered by DTH operators. It suggests capping the total number of permitted PS for a DTH operator to 3 per cent of the total channel carrying capacity of the DTH operator platform and subject to a maximum of 15 platform services channels.

    It also has a new definition for platform services as: “Platform services (PS) are programs transmitted by Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs) exclusively to their own subscribers and does not include Doordarshan channels and registered TV channels. PS shall not include foreign TV channels that are not registered in India."

    The programme transmitted by the DTH operator as a platform service shall be exclusive and the same shall not be permitted to be shared directly or indirectly with any other DPO. DTH operators shall ensure and provide an undertaking to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) that the programme transmitted is exclusive to their platform and not shared directly or indirectly with any other DPO.

    In case the same programme is found available on the PS of any other DPO, MIB/TRAI may issue a direction to immediately stop the transmission of such programme. MIB also reserves the right for cancellation of registration of such PS of the DTH operator.

    Programme transmitted by the DTH operator as a platform service shall not directly or indirectly include any registered TV channel or Doordarshan channel or foreign TV channel. Time-shift feed of registered TV channels (such as +1 services) shall not be allowed as a platform service.

    A one-time non-refundable registration fee of Rs 10,000 per PS channel shall be charged from a DTH operator.

    The platform services channels shall be categorised under the genre 'Platform Services' in the Electronic Programmable Guide (EPG. The respective maximum retail price (MRP) of the platform service shall be displayed In the EPG against each platform service.

    A provision for putting a caption as 'Platform Services' may be required to distinguish the platform services from the linear channels. The government may decide the caption in a size which is visually readable by the consumers.

    TRAI sought suggestions from stakeholders in a notice on 2 July 2019. After which it issued a consultation paper on 28 August 2019. 

  • TRAI releases consultation paper on Interoperable Set Top Box

    TRAI releases consultation paper on Interoperable Set Top Box

    MUMBAI: – The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on interoperable Set Top Box (STB) for digital TV broadcasting services. A consultation paper is now issued with a view to elicit response from all the stakeholders for suggesting the best solution to implement the interoperability of STB.

    The consultation paper provides brief overview of various available options and technical solutions for achieving interoperability of STB. The paper seeks response with detailed justifications for suggesting most optimal and cost-effective solution.TRAI has requested stakeholders to provide their written comments on the proposed solution architecture for technical interoperable STB by Monday, December 9, 2019. Counter-comments can be submitted upto Monday, December 23, 2019

    The digital TV broadcasting services are received by subscriber using a Set Top Box (STB), connected with the TV set. The STB receives TV signals from distribution network and decodes them into viewable form for TV set. STB enables the subscriber to view only those TV channels which he has subscribed.

    Presently the STBs deployed in the network are non-interoperable, i.e. the same STB cannot be used interchangeably across the different service providers. As far as STBs deployed by Direct to Home (DTH) players are concerned, STBs comply with the license conditions to support Common Interface (CI) module based interoperability.

    The lack of interoperability of STBs between different service providers has not only compromised the competition in the Pay-TV market but also a major hindrance to technological innovation, improvement in service quality, and sector growth.

    TRAI had issued a pre-consultation paper on set top box interoperability during April 2016. Thereafter, a consultation note on solution architecture developed by C-DoT for technical interoperable set top box was issued during August 2017. The smart card-based solution has been successfully tested in lab conditions using separate instances of CAS developed by C-DoT. However, the field testing with third party CAS solution is still to be conducted with different industry stakeholders. 5. TRAI has been taking vanous measures to achieve the set top box interoperability including the stakeholders' meetings/ discussions.

    The Authority also engaged with various technology companies in the broadcasting technology space for information exchange. A consultation paper is now issued with a view to elicit response from all the stakeholders for suggesting the best solution to implement the interoperability of STB.

  • TRAI releases telecommunication services DAS audit manual

    TRAI releases telecommunication services DAS audit manual

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual. The new regulatory framework endeavours to provide a level playing field to all the service providers, effective choice to consumers, and orderly growth of the sector. It envisages a must-carry and must-provide regime where interconnection agreements are based on transparent Reference Interconnect Offer.

    “This manual is the result of the synthesis of all comments, suggestions of BECIL and final analysis by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The audit manual will be a guidance document for the audit process as it specifies step-by-step process in simple language. The manual does not supersede any provision of the extant regulations,” said TRAI in its release.

    In order to ensure that the benefits of digitisation are effectively utilised, TRAI, after due consultation process, brought out a common regulatory framework for digital addressable systems. The 'new regulatory framework' comprises Interconnection Regulations, 2017, Quality of Service Regulations, 2017 and Tariff Order, 2017.

    The full benefits of digitisation can accrue to various stakeholders in the value chain only when the business transactions are transparent and based on objective, measurable and computable parameters.

    Effective and factual audit of the systems of DPO will ensure that the equipment and the software (including configuration of systems) comply with the extant regulatory framework.

    “The new framework envisages that the DPO gets its systems audited every year so as to assure the broadcasters that true subscription numbers are being reported. In cases where a broadcaster is not satisfied with the outcomes of audit undertaken by the DPO, a countervailing provision empowers the broadcaster to initiate an audit. Considering the importance of audit to establish the trust-based regime, industry stakeholders suggested to provide an audit manual,” said TRAI.

    Accordingly, the authority constituted a committee comprising of industry stakeholders to prepare and submit draft audit manual to the authority. Consultation Paper on the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual was issued on 29 March 2019. After receiving the comments, an Open House Discussion (OHD) was held on 20 June 2019 in Delhi to discuss the draft audit manual.

  • BARC week 44: Top 10 pay channels lost & FTA channels gained ratings across genres

    BARC week 44: Top 10 pay channels lost & FTA channels gained ratings across genres

    BENGALURU: Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for week 44 of 2019 (Saturday, 26 October 2019 to Friday, 1 November 2019, week or period under consideration) for Top 10 Channels Across Genres revealsthat the combined ratings of Pay TV were lower as compared to the previous week. At the same time, Free to Air of FTA channels gained viewership in week 44 of 2019 as compared to the previous week in terms of combined weekly ratings of the Top 10 channels of each platform. The channels, genres and rankings in the respective weekly lists were not all the same for both weeks – week 44 and week 43 of 2019 in the case of BARC Across Genres on All Platforms and Across Genres on Pay Platform lists.

    Combined weekly impressions of the Top Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 44 of 2019 at 6,824.793 million were 3.1 percent lower than the 7,043.023  million weekly impressions for week 43. Combined weekly impressions of the Top Pay Channels Across Genres in week 44 of 2019 at 6,322.534 million were 1.8 percent lower than the 6,437.237 million weekly impressions in week 43. Combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Free channels in week 44 of 2019 at 2,594.861 million were 4.1 percent higher than the 2,491.909 million weekly impressions in week 43.

    Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms

    The Network18/Viacom18 associated Telugu GEC re-entered ETV Telugu BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 44 of 2019 while Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) Kannada GEC Zee Kannada exited the list. The rest of the channels in the list for week 44 of 2019 were same as in the previous week with a some shuffling in ranks. 

    Six Hindi GECs’, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kids and Tamil genres made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 44 of 2019. From the network’s perspective there were three channels from Network18/Viacom18, two channels each from Star India and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and one channel each from Enterr10 Television, The Sun Tv Network and Zeel. Nine of the channels in week 44 were on the pay platform, while one was on the Free platform. 

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 44 of 2019 were the same as in the previous week. The one change was the entry of ETV Telugu and the exit of Zeel’s Telugu GEC Zee Telugu. Five Hindi GECs’, two Telugu and one channel each from the Kannada, the kids and the Tamil genre made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 44 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were three channels from Network18/Viacom18, two channels each from SPN, Star India and Zeel and one channel from the Sun Tv Network. As has become almost a norm, the two most watched pay channels were not Hindi GECs’ – they were Tamil (Sun TV) and Telugu (Star Maa).

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres

    The list of channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres during the week under review was the same as in the previous week (week 43 of 2019) with a slight shuffling in ranks. Four Hindi Movies channels, three Bhojpuri channels, two Hindi GECs’ and one channel from the Marathi genre made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 44 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were four channels from Enterr10 Television, three channels from B4U, two channels from Zeel and one channel from Skystar.

    Please refer to the chart below: