Within months of charging the moon, Indian real estate firms are now offering buy-back of properties, free cars and even free apartments to tide over the current slump which has seen sales halve from the beginning of the year.
This means once a DTH consumer buys a set-top box, he will be able to access the service of any service provider with technical changes in the box. The ministry of information and broadcasting has asked the Bureau of Indian Standards to draft norms for advanced DTH set-top box technology, including related to interoperability of the boxes.
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) is all set to begin a price war in the direct-to-home market by offering its connection about 43 per cent lower than any of the existing players. Big TV will offer its DTH service for Rs 1,490, while the lowest-priced connection is currently being offered by Dish TV at Rs 2,190, followed by Tata Sky at Rs 2,400.
The Boston Analytics Consumer Sentiment Index for August fell below the benchmark value of 100 since its inception, signalling a low-key festive season ahead.
All those who joined Prasar Bharati before October 5, 2007, will be treated as government employees on "deemed deputation". At present, the status of these employees is not clear as they are treated as on "deemed deputation" and don't get the benefits of a government job like regular promotions, government housing and bonuses.
Mature markets globally have either become saturated or have slowed down. The emerging markets have therefore become strategically important for these companies. The contribution of Indian operations to the global sales of these multinational behemoths is still small -- 1.5 to 3 per cent -- but this share is bound to grow given the buoyancy in the Indian market.
Encouraged by the success of direct-to-home services in India, Pakistan Television Corporation Ltd, that country's national broadcaster, has invited national and international firms to help it set up its own DTH service with 100 channels. Once operational, this will be the first DTH service in Pakistan.
In a bid to tap the growing demand for premium international spirits in India, global spirits major Bacardi Martini plans to introduce more brands from its international portfolio. Bacardi Martini India is a 76:24 joint venture between the global major and Indian firm Gemini Distilleries.
Trai has submitted 26 recommendations to the government and released 30 consultation papers so far this year, up from seven and 20, respectively, in 2007. Few of its recommendations are actually accepted by the govt.
JWT, Crayons in race for Congress account, BJP calls for a pitch.
HITS is a new cable-distribution platform that is similar to the direct-to-home service. It allows distribution of digital-quality cable channels via satellite to cable operators at one go. For consumers, it means access to quality cable channels via a set-top box at reduced monthly rates, while for the cable industry, it means faster and cost-effective digitalisation.
Estimates and bid amounts available in the public domain show that ESPN Star Sports is now sitting on nearly 1,400 days of international cricket matches over the next ten years for which it has paid nearly Rs 9,380 crore. In other words, the broadcaster will offer viewers roughly 140 days of cricket every year. And it has acquired each match-day at an average cost of Rs 7 crore, which the industry says is cost-effective.
According to sources, the proposal regarding 'grant of approval to the transfer of shares by the FM radio company for the purpose of demerging the radio business has been submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration. Over a dozen private FM radio operators, including Reliance ADAG's Big FM, will stand to benefit from this move, experts say.
While stable raw materials prices have spelt relief for most FMCG companies, they are still having a tough time in defining the future pricing strategy. Most have indicated that input costs have hit their margins, while others maintained that if inflation continued unabated, there would be a further correction in prices. Many FMCG companies have either raised prices or reduced the size of their products to combat the rise in farm commodity prices and packaging costs.
Also plan to charge a premium on advertising.
In what would be a significant boost to the domestic entertainment industry, the United States has been roped in as the partner country for the 2009 Ficci Frames - the annual global convention on the entertainment and media industry that is partly sponsored by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It will be the tenth year of Ficci Frames next year.
These numbers have been submitted to the regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, by various stakeholders in the cable industry, including broadcasters and multi-system operators. These are based on the information collected from the tax departments of various state governments.
Big TV will be the fourth entrant in the 7-million private DTH subscribers market following Dish TV's launch in 2003, Tata Sky (2006) and Sun Direct (2007). Doordarshan's DD Direct Plus is the fifth player (also launched in 2003) but is a free-to-air service.
Dabur's international business stands at around Rs 380 crore (Rs 3.8 billion), out of which Nepal accounts for Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million), while Pakistan contributes around Rs 10-12 crore (Rs 100-120 million). However, the bulk of Dabur's international business comes from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and Africa.
Believe it or not, it is viewers like you who influence these snap decisions taken by broadcasters and programme developers. This has been made possible by new software introduced by Mumbai-based overnight ratings agency Audience Measurement and Analytics (aMap) called Dashboard.
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