With most private television channels deserting it, DD Direct Plus, the direct-to-home (DTH) company from Prasar Bharati, has become a true pubcaster carrying 34 channels of which 31 are from Doordarshan.These 31 DD-channels include 19 television channels and 12 All India Radio channels. The private channels that were recently disconnected from DD Direct Plus include Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, BBC World, Star Utsav and Akash Bangla, sources said.
BBC is likely to rope in music company Saregama as its partner for the venture. BBC Worldwide holds the DVD rights for all its drama and comedy series including Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister, collections of Shakespeare, the Sherlock Holmes series and several classics and drama series.
Currently, the base price (Rs 5) is also the maximum retail price for pay channels in CAS areas. The biggest impact of price revision will be on the forthcoming 55-city roll out of CAS, as proposed by Trai, and also the extension of CAS in rest of the three metros.
The cost of acquiring direct-to-home subscribers could be 70-80 per cent higher for new players like Sun Direct, Bharti and Reliance Bluemagic than the existing players like Dish TV and Tata Sky due to superior technology and expensive set top boxes
The move is significant as the ministry has announced its intention to set up another committee to evaluate the success of CAS in areas where it has been implemented. The committee is likely to submit its report by December.
Telecom firms like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and MTNL have shown interest to start IPTV services, where television signal is carried to homes through telecom lines and broadband.
Under the new provisions, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has made it mandatory for the broadcasters to offer their channels on a-la-carte basis (individual channels) and bouquets.
The four Left parties that support the United Progressive Alliance government have already rejected the Bill, which has been approved by the Cabinet. Instead, they have asked for separate Bills for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
The ordinance will raise the eligibility limit of bonus payments to those who earn Rs 10,000 a month as basic salary and dearness allowance, from the earlier cut-off of Rs 6,000 a month.
Anticipating elections, the United Progressive Alliance government plans to introduce an ordinance to relax the rules on the payment of bonus by the private sector and the Central government ahead of the festival season.
Indian cable companies may lose close to $200 million (about Rs 800 crore) in foreign investments this year as companies like Macquarie, Carlyle, Providence and Liberty Global
Rupert Murdoch-promoted Star Group will take at least four years to cross the $120-million-mark in operating income that it commanded till 2006
Railways to introduce touch-screen TVs for individual seats.
To add to the worries of the cable operators and broadcasters, the government is set to launch a 24-hour "must carry" health channel called DD-Health at an annual outlay of Rs 180 crore (Rs 1.8 billion).
About five million cable households in the three metros - Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata - will continue to pay higher cable bills as the extension of the Conditional Access System in these cities has been delayed by at least six to eight months.
The Group of Ministers constituted to review the new civil aviation policy will take up among other things, allowing of private Indian carriers, with three-years experience in the domestic sector, to fly abroad.
With over 70 new TV channels expected to be launched in the next three to six months, consumers will get more choice of television content.
The cable industry has asked the government to quickly address the policy issues related to the Internet Protocol TV. Otherwise, over 3,000 unauthorised television channels, which include pornography, will enter Indian homes.
DTH in cars will work with the help of a special auto-tracking antenna that will be mounted on the roof of the car.
Viewers are coming back to cricket, and Star Cricket plans to cash in on the renewed interest.
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