Direct to Home (DTH) operators could be asked to provide inter-operable set-top boxes to their customers with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) seeing prima facie merit in a complaint filed by a consumer organisation that it is in violation of competition laws.
This is significant because the ministry of information and broadcasting is actively looking at making a policy announcement for the third-phase roll out of FM radio as part of its action plan for the first 100-days of the United Progressive Alliance government. A final recommendation to this effect has already been made by the sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
At least a dozen advertisers, including Reliance Communications, Nokia, Pepsi, Hero Honda, Maruti and Visa among others, and host broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports may find themselves on a sticky wicket with India's exit from the current world Twenty20 cricket tournament.
Even as Bollywood copes with its worst financial turmoil, with no film having been released for over two months, its award shows are raking in big moolah.
It will be the second FM radio operator to have listed on the BSE, after Entertainment Networks India Ltd that operates its radio business under the Radio Mirchi brand.
Ambika Soni, the new I&B minister, called for a full-presentation on Tuesday on both these issues from senior I&B officials, a day after she took charge of the ministry.
Channels like STAR Plus, Zee TV, Colors, NDTV Imagine and 9X, among others, hope to generate Rs 250 crore of advertising revenue from these shows over the next three months. Together, the broadcasters will churn out over 170 hours of fresh TV content in the form of soaps, reality shows, comedy shows and other genres. The average cost per episode of these 25 new shows is pegged at Rs 2.5-3 lakh.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to see a 30 to 40 per cent jump in revenues from the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament over the first edition held in India last year. Profits, however, are expected to increase marginally.
A slew of pending policy initiatives and important directions for the cable, radio and broadcast sector awaits the new Information and Broadcasting minister, likely to be announced early next week.
A near-decisive victory for the United Progessive Alliance (UPA) in the 15th Lok Sabha may have been unexpected for everyone, but not so the viewer turnout for television channels on May 16, the day the results were declared.
From June onwards, millions of Bollywood buffs may now have to watch the new Hindi films at the 8,000-plus single-screen theatres across the country and not in multiplexes. This is because the talks between Bollywood producers and multiplex owners have broken down over sharp differences in the terms and conditions of the proposed revenue sharing agreements.
After initial hiccups, viewership of the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL-2) has picked up pace with the cricket carnival having reached midway.
To expand its services in the five-player private direct-to-home market, Reliance Big TV Ltd, the promoter of Big TV DTH services of the Reliance ADA Group, plans to sell up to 49 per cent to foreign private equity companies and global DTH players.
Contrary to perception that TV viewership of IPL's second season (IPL-2) has been less than the inaugural season in 2008 (IPL1), SET Max got at least 2 million more viewers for the first eight matches (seven were played, one was rained out) of IPL-2 this year, compared with last year.
The latest Media Partners Asia analysis on India says TV advertising will grow only 6.5 per cent in 2009, as against 15.6 per cent in 2008. However, MPA expects TV advertising to rebound to 8.7 per cent growth in 2010. Of the Rs 20,000 crore-plus advertising industry, television advertising alone accounts for 45-47 per cent. Overall, MPA predicts that advertising growth may drop to 5.4 per cent in 2009, after a 20 per cent-plus growth in 2006 and 2007.
The decision to relocate the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament to South Africa has prompted several key advertisers such as Hyundai, Havell's and Reebok, among others, to consider cutting back budgets or pulling out.
The funds are needed to meet losses for the next two years, sources said. The channel, which was launched in April 2008, earns around Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) a month and incurs an operating monthly cost of Rs 7.25 crore (Rs 72.5 million). As a result, its monthly loss is about Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million), translating into an annual loss of around Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million), sources said.
Nripendra Misra's three-year stint as chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will be remembered for a host of recommendations and a number of controversies. Controversial issues like the conditional access system, non-CAS pricing kept Misra, who retires as Trai chairman on March 22, 2009, in the news.
Indi Media had bought NewsX in January from INX News, reportedly for Rs 50 crore. INX was promoted by ex-Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea and his wife, Indrani Mukerjea, both of whom quit the company with the sale. Indi Media is said to be owned by a clutch of investors led by Vinay Chhajlani, CEO of Webdunia.com India, and promoter of the Hindi daily, Nai Duniya, and by Jehangir S Pocha, former editor of the weekly, Business World.
With this deal, Jaipuria's RJ Corp will own over 10 bottling plants, controlling 25 per cent of PepsiCo's bottling capacity in the country (earlier he was PepsiCo's largest bottler together with his family). Confirming the development, Jaipuria said the deal would be complete in a day or two. "The West Bengal operations will contribute 10 to 15 per cent to our turnover," he said.
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