Trai's regulatory intervention was supposed to stimulate the market, but the latest order seems quite on the contrary, asks Nivedita Mookerji.
Infosys already works with a communication services provider major in Western Europe in the digital TV space. The company has a solution called modular content accelerator which serves as an interface between stakeholders of consumer marketing and IT. The solution provides an operator the means to efficiently manage content catalogue, bundled offers and pricing, apart from providing interactive services through multi-media content storefront.
Reliance BIG TV, the DTH arm of Reliance Communications, is planning to introduce 60 more channels including its own entertainment channels in the next three months, a top company official said.
However, it could take 3 years before operators are out of the red, given the large investments and tariff wars.
The much-hyped joint venture between Tatas and Rupert Murdoch controlled Star group is understood to have got all the government clearances for starting the Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion) direct-to-home venture in India.
Consumer mindset and lack of awareness and also the fact that the existing players -cable and DTH -will make life very difficult for us. They are very aggressive and create confusion on IPTV, through newspaper articles.
The battle for subscribers in the direct-to-home space is set to get hotter, with new player Big TV expected to fire a price war. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Big TV will be commercially launched sometime in May and is looking at tying up over 5 to 5.5 million subscribers even before its launch.
Currently, we are planning to construct one animation centre in Pune. We have asked PwC to prepare a detailed report for the same; it should be ready in the next four months.
The 3,357-kg satellite, which was deployed from the lower passenger position of Ariane-5 launch vehicle (VA 251) into the geostationary transfer orbit, is configured on ISRO's enhanced I-3K Bus structure to provide communication services from Geostationary orbit in C and Ku bands.
V T Rajan reveals how he cut expenses after his salary was cut by 50%.
Direct-to-home (DTH) major Tata Sky made headlines last week first, for Aamir Khan playing the role of a milkman in its new commercial, and second, for kicking off a price war.
Zee is estimated to have paid around Rs 225 crore for the complete rights of Radhe. The total revenue that it may earn could be around Rs 135 crore, implying a shortfall of Rs 90 crore.
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Reliance Big TV DTH, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Communications Limited, is looking at charging carriage fee from broadcasters, said company's chief executive officer Arun Kapoor.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is recommending the cancellation of sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports' downlinking licence for non-compliance with the DTH platform's pricing formula.TRAI's proposed action follows its direction and a show cause notice to ESPN Software India in the last two months asking it to fall in line with its DTH pricing formula.
The digital video recorder, which allows viewers to record programmes in one channel while watching another and play according to convenience, is being billed as the next big thing in the evolving Indian DTH market. "This, of course, will be a premium product and we plan to announce the launch of DVR technology platform for our DTH service very soon. It will be a Diwali gift to our customers," TataSky Chief Marketing Officer Vikram Mehra told PTI.
Big TV, the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Amabni Group's soon-to-be-launched direct-to-home venture, has bagged the official DTH partnership for the Indian Premier League, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Twenty20 cricket tournament, for a bid of $31.16 million (about Rs 137 crore) for the next four years.
DD Direct Plus, the free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) service of state-owned Prasar Bharati, stands to lose over Rs 100 crore in 2008-09 due to under-pricing of its carriage fees and underutilisation of its DTH transponder capacity, say experts.
Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports and direct-to-home operator Tata Sky may soon get entangled in a legal battle as Tata Sky has dropped ESPN, Star Sports and Star Cricket from its basic package offerings. The move, according to ESPN's lawyers, may go against a recent Delhi high court order that restrains Tata Sky to do so, but the second largest DTH operator maintains that it is operating within the permissible rules.
DTH may emerge as the leader among the digital platforms in the next three years, said an Ernst & Young report - "India Digital Revolution: Impact on Film & Television" - released at the Assocham global summit on the media and entertainment industry in New Delhi. The report expects India's television advertising market to grow by 14 per cent annually for the next three years.
The broadcasters will offer the same bouquets to the DTH operators as are being offered by them for non-CAS cable distribution. In addition, they are free to offer additional bouquets, Trai said in a statement. This is in consonance with the TDSAT's judgement dated in March, 2007, it said, adding all bouquet rates and the a-la-carte rates must satisfy the provisions of the aforesaid interconnection regulations.
Dish TV and Tata Sky, the country's two direct-to-home (DTH) companies, are expected to post losses in excess of Rs 1,400 crore for 2007-08 in their quest to expand the market by offering set-top boxes at subsidised rates. The companies have over five million subscriber homes across the country collectively.
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.
Called the Live TV for cars, the DTH provider is in the final stages of installing the services in cars, SUVs and high-capacity buses.
Industry experts say that even after the Insat-4B launch, there would be a requirement of over 25 more transponders from new players as well as older players looking for expansion.
The EC said any political content has to be permitted by the local media certification committee
Asserting that consumers' interest would be protected from cable TV operators, Trai chairman Pradip Baijal on Friday said consumers should have multiple options like cable, broadband, DTH and set-top boxes to watch satellite TV channels at home.
Airtel Xstream will allow its subscribers to access live TV, video, music, news and sports on an over-the-top smart stick, interned-enabled set top box, and handheld devices.
In terms of market capitalisation, Zee alone has a market cap of Rs 24,000 crore compared to Rs 15,000 crore of the merged Reliance entity.
BBPS allows you to pay electricity, telephone, water supply, gas and DTH bills. Its scope will be expanded to include other payments like school and university fees, government taxes, insurance premiums, mutual fund investments, even credit card bills.
On this technological revolution, we are 7-10 years behind the US. So, the threat to newspapers doesn't exist now, says Trai Chairman Rahul Khullar.
Print media will not benefit from the Budget.
With options ranging from recharging mobile, data card, DTH, toll card, to making bill payments for mobile, data card, landline and electricity, besides buying bus tickets for anywhere within the country, this free app is ideal for those on the go.
In an exclusive interview, Kamal Haasan talks about his DTH plans for Vishwaroopam, and why it will make more than Rs 150 crores.
India's news broadcasters are a national shame that have polarised Indians, observes Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
Malaysia's Astro All Asia Networks will pick up 20 per cent in the Maran family-run Sun TV's DTH operator -- Sun Direct TV -- for Rs 747 crore ($166 million).
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