Sunday, May 20, 2012
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
| Aamir Khan's debut TV show Satyamev Jayate opens with 4.1 TVR |
| Insearchindia.com Team |
| (16 May 2012 11:59 pm) |
| MUMBAI:
Star India’s biggest programming property of the year
and Aamir Khan's debut TV show Satyamev Jayate has made an
impact, energising the Sunday morning slot. The one-and-a-half-hour first episode on female foeticide, telecast at 11 am, opened with an aggregate rating of 4.09 across the country for viewers above four years and reached out to 27 million viewers. The TAM data is for the entire Indian market, including cable and terrestrial homes where Doordarshan beams. Satyamev Jayate airs on seven Star network channels, ETV Telugu and pubcaster Doordarshan. The show recorded a rating of 4 in the Hindi speaking market of C&S homes, according to TAM. Says Star India executive vice president marketing and communications Gayatri Yadav, “The 11 am slot was not at all active. We are happy that our strategy has worked and the time spent by audiences has been quite good. It seems to have worked both in the upper SEC audiences and terrestrial homes. Beyond anything, it’s the buzz of the show that has been historic; it’s connecting well with the viewers.” But isn’t Star disappointed with the show’s rating of 3 on its flagship channel Star Plus? Yadav feels that the show should be seen in its totality and not in isolation. “We are happy with the ratings on Star Plus. We also need to get used to this concept of simulcast as networks have game changing show properties. We will put such properties across our network channels. We must expand our lexicon and see it as an aggregate. The aggregate viewership has been very encouraging," says Yadav. How advertisers view the ratings Advertisers, who have bet big monies on the show across the channels, tend to agree. Says GroupM CEO Vikram Sakhuja, “The debut ratings have been very good and must be viewed in totality. The reach of the show is also fantastic.” The biggest benefit is that the Aamir Khan show circulated on other platforms beyond television. Satyamev Jayate, in fact, was the most searched term in Google in India on 6 May, the day of its launch. The show trended 1-9 on the top Twitter Trends. Says associate sponsor Axis Bank CMO Manisha Lath Gupta, “The ratings support our strategy. We have integrated with the show and have got a lot of traffic from people who aren’t necessarily our consumers. We have a presence towards the end of the show when we say that ‘to make contribution you can reach out to Axis Bank’. We have got a lot of value by associating with the show.” Lodestar UM CEO Shashi Sinha believes the initial response has been positive, particularly among the upscale audiences. “The rating that the show has got is very good. What is more interesting is to see how it is doing in SEC A. Four is a good opening for a Sunday morning slot.” Satyamev Jayate has also got a very high interactive value. “If you look at social media, the show has generated a lot of interactivity and buzz. The most difficult audience to get today is SEC A, but the show has managed to tap them,” says Sinha. Not everybody, though, is convinced. Lintas Initiative Media CEO Sudha Natrajan is disappointed with the ratings that Star Plus has got, though she thinks it was a bold step to start something like this on Sunday mornings. “It is their way of recapturing the Sunday morning time band. It will take a bit longer for the viewership to build up on Star Plus during this time zone. The show is very tightly produced and there are topics of high interest,” she says. As per Tam data provided by the channel, the show opened with roughly 50 per cent higher ratings in Upper SEC audiences (SEC A 5.9 TVR All 4+). In C&S homes, the show garnered 14.4 TVR in the 15-34 age group, (Digital homes, HSM Million+). Terrestrial viewers have got hooked on to the show. Doordarshan has posted ratings of 11 (Non C&S Households). "One should not only see the show from the pure TVR point of view. One has to also notice the amount of buzz that is being created in the market . The show has done very well on that front. It is more valuable for the brands that it is being talked about so much," concludes Starcom MediaVest Group chairman and LiquidThread (Asia-Pacific) MD CVL Srinivas. How the Hindi GECs rank The pecking order of the Hindi general entertainment channels remains the same. Star Plus leads, adding 14 GRPs in the week ended 12 May, according to TAM data (C&S 4+ HSM). The channel’s fiction property Diya Aur Baati Hum leads with 4.92 TVR. Diya Aur Baati Hum has edged past Zee TV’s homegrown dancing reality show DID lil Masters, pushing it to No. 2 on the ‘top 10 shows’ list. Despite losing 15 GRPs, Zee TV continues to hold its position as the second most watched Hindi GEC. The drop comes as DID lil Masters sees a dip in viewership in its third week. The show, which had garnered 6.2 and 5.8 TVR in the first two weeks respectively, could manage 4.82 TVR this week. Zee TV’s fiction property Punarvivah has seen improved performance, securing a position in the top 10 most watched shows with a 3.42 TVR. Meanwhile, Sony Entertainment Television (Set) has also lost three GRPs to end the week with 217 GRPs. Colors has added six GRPs to cross the 200 mark. The channel closed the week with 201 GRPs. Its biggest fiction property, Balika Vadhu, saw a rise in viewership, clocking 4.48 TVR and ranking fourth. Sab added 27 GRPs to close the week with 131 GRPs. The channel has seen ratings jump across weekend prime-time, weekday prime-time and weekday afternoon prime-time slots. Life OK, the second GEC from Star, also added six GRPs to end the week with 91 points. Sahara One remained at the bottom of the ladder with 40 GRPs. |
| 37 TV channels fail to become operational: Jatua | ||
| Insearchindia.com Team | ||
| (16 May 2012 11:23 pm) | ||
NEW
DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has found
37 channels to have failed to become operational even after
one year of permission.
The
licence of five of these has been cancelled, while three had
requested for extension of time against notice of cancellation.
27 TV channels had sought extension for operationalising their
channels. They have been asked to submit Performance Bank
Guarantee. The permission of two channels has been withdrawn
at the request of the concerned company.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C M Jatua said that 116 channels are within the prescribed limit of one year for operationalisation under the Uplinking/Downlinking Guidelines.
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| Warren Buffett buys shares in Viacom | ||
|
Insearchindia.com Team | ||
|
(16
May 2012 7:24 pm) | ||
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MUMBAI:
Investor Warren Buffett's fund Berkshire Hathaway has purchased
1.6 million shares of US media conglomerate Viacom valued
at $75 million.
Buffett
has been investing in media this year. He recently purchased
shares of Liberty Media for the first time. Berkshire holds
three million shares worth $265 million.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
| Cable ops move Bombay HC, seek extension of digitisation deadline | |
| Insearchindia.com Team | |
|
(15 May 2012 11:37 pm) |
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MUMBAI: A clutch of cable operators in Mumbai have approached
the Bombay High Court seeking extension of the deadline for
digitisation in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata
and Chennai.
The
court has issued notices to the Information and Broadcasting
Ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)
to reply by 5 June.Among the petitioners are Kulbhushan Puri and Paresh Thakkar, both associated with Hathway Cable & Datacom. Puri. The operators are from the eastern suburbs of Mumbai like Chembur, Ghatkopar and Govandi. |
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Interestingly,
Puri holds 5.32 per cent stake in Hathway Bhawani Cabletel
& Datacom, according to shareholding data on BSE till
November 2011.
"Puri
and Thakar have filed in their individual capacities. They
want to set up their digital head-ends. The Hathway Bhawani
JV will run on its own," said a source familiar with
the development.The court will hear the matter only after 11 June when it resumes after the holiday break. The government has set 30 June as the digitisation deadline for the four metros. |
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The
operators are seeking time as they want to set up their
own head-ends. "The broadcasters will file their RIOs
(reference interconnect offer). The operators need at least
60 days to work out their deals with the broadcasters. They
will also have to obtain licence for running their own operations,"
the source added.
The petitioners want time so that new entrants would be given a fair opportunity to set up their independent ventures |
| Broadcasters set to challenge Trai regulation on ads |
| Insearchindia.com Team |
| (15 May 2012 9:48 pm) |
|
NEW
DELHI/MUMBAI: Irate with the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India (Trai) for its order on restricting advertisements
to 12 minutes to the clock hour, broadcasters are burning
the midnight oil to work out steps they can possibly take. Sources say senior officials of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), which represents the general entertainment channels, today held day-long discussions with legal experts in Mumbai and Delhi on whether the regulations which have already been notified can be challenged in Court. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) representing the news channels are also working out their plan of action. Though neither of the two have issued any formal reaction, it is understood that both are in the process of working out their reaction to the press keeping in perspective the argument given by a Trai official that most channels would be able to make their revenue through subscriptions after digitisation and, therefore, it would not be fair to impose advertising on the consumer who is paying for the channels he sees. "The IBF and the NBA will soon take up with the relevant bodies the Trai regulation on ad duration on TV channels. We will share our point of views. Like there is a sunset time of three years given for digitisation in the country, sufficient time should be given to channels for capping ad time," says TV Today Network chief executive officer Joy Chakraborthy. Besides the 12-minute cap per hour, Trai has said part-screen and drop-down advertisements shall not be permitted. This piece of regulation is sure to hurt news and sports broadcasters. Says Zee News Ltd. chief executive officer Barun Das, "We are looking into the issue and will decide on what course of action to take." According to an official in the Advertising Standards Council of India, since the regulations were about timing and not content, Asci did not want to react. This was also the reason for India's advertising watchdog not to give any reaction when Trai had asked all stakeholders to voice their views. The broadcasters are likely to approach the Tdsat, industry sources say. |
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
| Trai caps TV ad breaks at 12 minutes per hour |
| Insearchindia.com Team |
| (14 May 2012 11:45 pm) |
|
NEW
DELHI: In a move that is set to upset the business models
of the broadcasters, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(Trai) has capped the duration of advertisements in television
channels at 12 minutes per clock hour. “Any shortfall of ad duration in any clock hour cannot be carried over,” Trai said in its latest regulations on standards of quality of service for TV channels issued today. The minimum time gap between two consecutive advertisement breaks should not be less than 15 minutes. In the case of movies, this should be a minimum of 30 minutes. Sports broadcasters to feel the pinch The conditions shall not apply in case of ads during live broadcast of a sporting event. "The advertisements during live broadcast of a sporting event should be only during the breaks in the sporting action," the broadcast sector regulator said. This is sure to upset sports broadcasters. No part-screen and drop-down ads There is another regulation that is sure to hurt news and sports broadcasters, while pleasing TV viewers. Trai has said part-screen and drop-down advertisements shall not be permitted and they have to be full screen. Broadcasters will also have to ensure that the audio level of ads cannot be higher than the audio level of the programme being telecast. Advertisers, thus, can’t try to use a higher sound level to grab the attention of the viewer. The advertisements in the clock hour will include all types of advertisements including advertisements promoting the channel(s) of the broadcaster. The “Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) Regulations 2012, issued today, will be effective from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. Trai's explanation In an explanatory memorandum, Trai has observed that the duration of advertisements, their placement within or in-between the programmes and their frequency of occurrence, is closely related to the quality of viewing experience of the consumers. The quality of viewing experience of the consumers is akin to the quality of service provided by the service providers to the consumers. The broadcast watchdog said: “Since the dawn of the television, advertisements have been used to promote a wide variety of goods and services. Advertisements provide for a significant portion of the revenue of the television industry. The broadcasters of the free to air channels rely solely on the advertisements as their source of revenue, while the pay channel broadcasters have twofold source of revenue in the form of advertisement and subscription revenues.” Trai said that the consumers are “presently fed with content feeds interlaced with the advertisements within and in-between the various programmes aired by the broadcasters in their channels as well as MSOs and local cable operators in their local/video channels. The majority of television advertisements consist of advertising spots, info-commercials and self-promotional campaign in various formats ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes.” The present provisions concerning the duration and format of advertisements in the TV channels according to the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994, prescribe that no programme shall carry advertisements exceeding 12 minutes per hour, which may include up to 10 minutes per hour of commercial advertisements, and up to 2 minutes per hour of a channel’s self-promotional programmes. It is also provided that all advertisement should be clearly distinguishable from the programme and should not in any manner interfere with the programme viz., use of lower part of screen to carry captions, static or moving alongside the programme. Trai said there have been several complaints, mainly from the consumers raised at various forums regarding overplaying of advertisements, long duration of advertisements, overlaying of advertisements on the screen, increased audio level during advertisements etc. It has been said that the advertisement duration and formats are not in accordance with the provisions stated above. It has often been pointed out that the advertisements are played/repeated several times in between the programmes, which break the continuity of the programme and often done at crucial stages of a programme. In this context, there have been requests to at least restrict and regulate the duration, frequency and timings of the advertisements. The Regulations have been issued with the primary objective of striking a balance between giving a consumer a good TV viewing experience, and protecting the commercial interests of broadcasters and is based on the reactions to a consultation paper issued on 16 March 2012 titled “Issues related to Advertisements in TV channels”. In response to this consultation paper, 29 comments were received. Based on the comments and views of the stakeholders and analysis of various aspects, facts and available studies, the Authority has decided to issue separate regulations for the duration of advertisements carried in TV channels. The Memorandum notes that the broadcasters and their associations, and the advertisers and their associations are against any regulation as proposed by Trai. But the other stakeholders comprising mainly the consumers, consumer organisations and cable operators had supported the Trai proposal for the regulation of duration and format of advertisements in the TV channels. Trai said it had taken note of the charge that it was the wrong time to regulate the advertisements since the digitization has just started; that advertisements were part of a business model of the broadcasters and should not be seen as a burden to the consumers and were in fact helpful to the consumers; a system of self regulation by the industry body is a better and appropriate way to regulate the advertisements; and the reference to some Supreme Court judgments which had said the restriction on advertisement space in the newspapers would lead to reduction in its revenue which is in violation of Article 19(1)(a) and consumer interest cannot be the only relevant factor for framing a regulation. |
| Consumer redressal cells have to act within 8 hours for DAS services: Trai | |
| Insearchindia.com Team | |
|
(14 May 2012 11:58 pm) |
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NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said
that every multi-system operator (MSO) or his linked local
cable operator will establish a complaint centre in his service
area before providing the digital addressable cable TV services
and will have to resolve complaints within eight hours.
The
complaint centre will have facilities for the local language
of the area in addition to Hindi and English.Every complaint centre will be accessible to the consumers from 8 am in the morning to midnight on all days of the week. Every MSO or his linked local cable operator (LCO) will deploy sufficient number of employees at his complaint centre to meet the Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, as may be specified by the Authority from time to time. This has been stated in Consumers Complaint Redressal (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems) Regulations and Standards of Quality of Service (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems) Regulations issued on the last day of the tenure of Trai chairman J S Sarma. |
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The
MSO or linked LCO will have to ensure the complaints centre
is accessible and has a toll-free number. Trai has also detailed
how an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) should function,
and how consumers should be made aware of the existence of
the centre.
In cases where the QoS has not specified details of the time by when a redressal has to be addressed, the complaints will be addressed within a time period not exceeding three days. Every MSO or linked LCO will appoint or designate one or more nodal officers in every State in which it is providing its service and give wide publicity to this. A consumer can approach the nodal officer only if not satisfied with the redressal of his complaint by the complaint centre. Trai may forward the complaint to the concerned MSO for the purpose of redressal of complaints alleging violation of the Act or regulations made or directions issued or orders made by it under the Act; complaints of the consumers which are generic in nature; complaints alleging that the practices adopted by the MSO adversely affects the interest of the consumers; and a complaint that Trai feels is required to be resolved expeditiously by the MSO. Every MSO/linked LCO will maintain records of all complaints filed by the consumer with them and such records shall include docket number, name and address of complainant, date and time of filing complaint, type of complaint and redressal date and time and the written confirmation from the consumer that the complaint has been redressed. The MSO will directly or through the linked LCO issue within 60 days of the coming into force of these Regulations publish a ‘Consumer’s Charter for addressable cable TV systems’ containing information about itself, the QoS parameters, the services offered and other terms and conditions about the services offered. The QoS Regulations say every MSO or linked LCO offering digital addressable cable TV services, will devise formats of application for seeking connection, disconnection, reconnection and for obtaining and returning of set-top box as specified in the regulations. |
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Adoption
of a common format as specified in Schedule I of the regulations
by an MSO/LCO will be construed as compliance of the requirement.
. Any person seeking connection or disconnection or reconnection or shifting of cable service connection or intending to obtain or return set top box at a place located within the area of operation of MSO/LCO may submit an application in the format referred to in sub-regulation (1), in duplicate, duly signed and complete in all respect, to the MSO/LCO who will return the duplicate copy of the application to the applicant as an acknowledgment of receipt of application after giving a unique identification number. Cable services will be provided by the MSO/LCO to every person making request for the same, subject to technical and operational feasibility. In case it is technically or operationally non-feasible to provide connection, reconnection, shifting of service or supply of set top box at the location where the services are requested by the applicant, the MSO/LCO will inform the applicant within two days of receipt of the application, indicating the reasons. No MSO/LCO will disconnect the cable services to the subscriber without giving prior notice of at least 15 days to such subscriber indicating the reasons for such disconnection. The period of 15 days shall be reckoned from the date of receipt of the notice of disconnection by the subscriber. If the services to a subscriber have been discontinued on his request, no charge other than the charges for STB, if any, will be payable by such subscriber. But if they have been discontinued by the MSO/LCO, no charges for the period for which the services were discontinued including the charges of STB shall be payable by the subscriber. Every MSO/LCO will publish a Manual of Practice which will have full details of services being offered. An MSO/LCO will not change the composition of subscription package subscribed by the consumer during the period of six months from the date of enrolment of the subscriber to such subscription package, if the subscriber is not in default of payment of monthly subscription charges; and during the entire period of validity of the subscription package if the subscription amount in respect of such subscription package has been paid in advance by the subscriber or, if the amount is payable in installment, the subscriber has paid the installments on due date; if such channel continues to be available on the cable network of the MSO. If any channel, which is a part of a package subscribed by a subscriber, becomes unavailable on the network of the MSO, the fee will be reduced accordingly unless an alternate channel is offered and accepted.. Every MSO will offer cable TV services on both pre-paid and post-paid payment options to the subscriber and will be responsible for generation of bills for the subscribers. It will be open to the subscriber to choose either the pre-paid or post-paid option. Every MSO/LCO will give to every subscriber the bill for charges due and payable by such subscriber for each month or for such other period as agreed between the parties, for which such charges become payable by the subscriber. In case of post-paid bills, the subscriber will be billed, generally on monthly basis and the bill shall contain the Service Tax Registration Number and the Entertainment Tax Registration number of the MSO. The entries in the bills will be itemised to indicate the price of individual channels or bouquet of channels along with the names of channels in the bouquet, charges for basic service tier and the channels comprised therein, charges for STB, taxes along with the rates of taxes levied and the charges for value added services availed by the subscriber, if any. . Every MSO/LCO will provide to the subscriber the STBconforming to the Indian Standard, if any, set by the Bureau of Indian Standards. An STB not conforming to Indian Standard provided to the customer by a MSO or its linked local cable operator before the commencement of these regulations will be replaced without an extra charge within seven days of commencement of these regulations. A minimum warranty of one year will be provided on the STB which has been acquired by a subscriber on outright purchase basis from such MSO/LCO. Such subscribers will not be required to pay any charge towards repair and maintenance of the STB during the period of warranty including visiting charges of the person deputed by the MSO or linked local cable operator for maintenance. Every subscriber shall be free to buy a STB of approved quality from the open market, if available, which is technically compatible with the system of the MSO. The MSO/LCO will not force any subscriber to buy or take on rent or on hire purchase the STB from him alone. Any security deposit deposited by the subscriber for acquiring the STB will be refunded to him within seven days of return. Every broadcaster will maintain technical standards of the signals as laid down by Digital Video Broadcasting for DVB-S or DVB-S2 standards. The Authority may from time to time, intervene for the purpose of protecting the interest of the subscribers or monitoring the performance of quality of service standards of the MSO or its linked local cable operator or for ensuring compliance of the provisions of the regulations. |
Monday, May 14, 2012
| Rahul Khullar set to take over as Trai chairman | |
| Insearchindia.com Team | |
| (14 May 2012 5:00 pm) | |
MUMBAI: Commerce secretary Rahul Khullar is replacing J S
Sarma as the new Trai chairman for a three-year term.
The
Prime Minister's office seems to have cleared the appointment
of Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre.The tenure
of Khullar, who was due to retire in April next year, will
be till May 2015.
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Sarma
retires after having passed recommendations on spectrum allocation
that won the opposition of the telecom operators with the
base price being increased 13-fold.
Sarma
also issued the tariff and interconnect order for digital
addressable cable. Television news broadcasters have particularly
opposed the legitimisation of carriage fees while a section
of the multi-system operators (MSOs) have found certain clauses
in the order not favourable for them. Local cable operators
are also demanding more revenue share from the MSOs. |
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Khullar,
an economist, will have to carefully balance these burning
issues. The telecom operators have been lobbying for a change
in regime as Sarma has been firm on the formula Trai has
recommended for the auction of 2G airwaves.
The television industry will anxiously wait to see if the new chairman will defer the digitisation deadline of 30 June for the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Khullar had worked closely with then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh during 1991-1993 as his private secretary. As commerce secretary, Khullar worked for trade normalisation between India and Pakistan. He had been successful in implementing measures that helped exports cross the $300-billion mark in 2011-12. He has also negotiated India's stance at WTO and various other multilateral pacts. It is understood that former DIPP Secretary R P Singh, Defence Production Secretary Shekhar Agarwal, Fertiliser Secretary Ajay Bhattacharya, former Department of Telecom member (Technology) Chandra Prakash, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Subodh Kumar, former Secretary (Defence Finance) Indu Liberhan and Vijayalakshmi K Gupta were also in race for the post. |
| Digitisation: MSOs can't enter into fixed fee deals with broadcasters | |
| Insearchindia.com Team | |
| (14May 2012 6:08 pm) | |
MUMBAI: Multi-system operators (MSOs) had planned to enter
into fixed fee deals with broadcasters to keep their content
costs under control in the cable digitisation era. The Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has, however, disallowed
tbis in its tariff order for digital addressable cable, while
DTH can do volume deals with broadcasters till Trai comes
out with regulations for them.
"No
service provider shall demand from any other service provider
a minimum guaranteed amount as subscription fee for the channels
provided by such service provider," the Telecommunication
(Broadcasting And Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital
Addressable Cable Television Systems) Regulations 2012 states.MSOs will have to hand over a copy of the signed interconnection agreement within a period of 15 days from the date of execution of the pact. |
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The
status of any channel declared free-to-air (FTA) or pay cannot
be changed for at least one year and the broadcaster will
have to inform Trai before making such conversion. A month’s
notice will have to be given before such conversion in two
local newspapers, out of which one shall be published in the
newspaper of the regional language of the area in which such
conversion takes place.
Packaging
and payment terms to broadcastersThe MSO is free to decide the packaging of the channels offered to the subscribers from the bouquet of channels provided to it by the broadcaster. However, the payment to the broadcaster for such bouquet shall be calculated on the basis of the subscriber base for that channel of the bouquet which has highest subscriber base in case the MSO does not offer to a subscriber the entire bouquet of channels provided to it by the broadcaster. Every service provider shall enter into a new agreement before the expiry of the existing agreement. In case this does not happen before the expiry of the agreement, the provisions of the existing agreement will continue to apply till the new agreement or for the next three months from the date of expiry of existing agreement, whichever is earlier. If the service providers are able to enter into an agreement before the expiry of the three months, the new agreement shall apply from the date of expiry of earlier agreement: In case of failure to enter into fresh agreement, the service provider may be entitled to disconnect the signals of TV channels by giving three weeks notice published in two local newspapers, out of which one shall be published in the newspaper of the regional language of the area for which the said agreement is applicable. No MSO will make available signals of TV channels to any linked local cable operator without entering into a written interconnection agreement. However, this will not apply in case of any legal proceedings or in compliance with any order or direction or judgment of any court or tribunal. |
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Trai
to receive all interconnect agreements
Every MSO will submit to the sector regulator information, in the specified proforma, on all interconnect agreements with the broadcaster and local cable operators. They will also have to inform about subsequent modifications that are made from time to time. Every existing MSO shall submit to the Authority by 31 July 2012 all interconnect agreements entered into by it and amendments made therein prior to the date of notification of these regulations. Every MSO commencing its services after the notifications of the Regulations will submit to Authority its interconnection agreement within 30 days of entering into the agreement or 31st July 2012 whichever is later. Every broadcaster will also furnish details of carriage fee paid by him to the MSO along with the information furnished by him under the Register of Interconnect Agreements (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Regulation 2004 as amended from time to time. Such information henceforth shall also include details of carriage fee paid to the MSO by the broadcaster. Intervention by the authority Trai may intervene in order to protect the interest of the consumer or service provider or to promote and ensure orderly growth of the broadcasting and cable sector. It shall monitor and ensure compliance of these regulations, by order or direction, and intervene, from time to time. Disconnection of signals No broadcaster, MSO or cable operator can disconnect the signals of a TV channel without giving three weeks notice and clearly specifying the reasons for the proposed disconnection. Furthermore, the Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable Television Systems) Regulations 2012 says every notice of disconnection of signals of TV channel or re-transmission of TV channel will have to be published in two leading local newspapers of the State in which the service provider is providing the services, out of which one notice shall be published in the newspaper in local language. The period of three weeks will start from the date of publication of the notice in newspapers or the date of service of the notice on service provider, whichever is later. In case the notices are published in newspaper on different dates, the period of three weeks shall be counted from the later of the two dates. |
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