Digitisation across India to proceed on schedule: I&B minister

Insearchindia.com Team

(5 November 2012 9:05 pm)

NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has said the cable television digitisation programme will proceed according to the schedule laid down by the Government.

Speaking to the media at Panaji in Goa, he said that the process had been started by his predecessor and he will ensure it is implemented according to the time frame laid down for the four phases, the first of which had already been implemented.

The government has mandated 31 December 2014 as the sunset date for analogue cable across the country. The first phase of digitisation in the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata kicked off on 1 November while Chennai got deferred till 5 November by the Madras High Court. The fate of digitisation in Chennai will be known today by the court.

Mumbai and Delhi have had a high degree of success in digitisation while the Mamata Baenerjee-led West Bengal government has allowed TV signals to run on analogue cable TV till Diwali festival gets over.

Tewari also said the Centre will work towards making the forthcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Goa a self sustainable event.

I&B Minister Ambika Soni resigns

Insearchindia.com Team

(28 October 2012 2.23 pm)

NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni submitted her resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday, a day before the cabinet reshuffle. Soni's resignation comes just four days before the sunset date for analogue cable television in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. Cable TV delivery in the four metros will mandatorily have to be via digital set-top boxes (STBs) from 1 November. The Congress party has decided to utilise the servies of Soni in preparing the party for the 2014 general elections. Soni felt privileged to have been asked to work to strengthen the party cadres just over a year before the next general elections. Soni, who will turn 70 on 13 November, is a member of the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. She became I and B Minister on 22 May 2009, and was tourism minister prior to that from 29 January 2006. She has served as Indian Youth Congress president during emergency in 1975, and became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time in March 1976. She also served as general secretary of the Congress from 1999 to 2006.

Cable ops seek digitisation extension, Bombay HC to hear plea on 29 Oct

Insearchindia.com Team

(28 October 2012 2:20 pm)

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Just three days before the four metros move towards digital cable, a clutch of cable operators will have their petition heard in the Bombay High Court on 29 October seeking extension on the ground that they need more time to get their networks up and running.

They will argue that digital set-top boxes (STBs) have not reached a large number of consumer homes and they are yet to get the channels from broadcasters for carrying on their cable networks for their subscribers to watch.

“We will seek for more time as 1 November is too short a period to sort out a myriad of issues. The STB penetration is not what the government is stating. We haven’t got the decoders from broadcasters. How can we run our businesses? There should be an extension of the digitisation deadline,” said Kuldeep Puri, a promoter of Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom.

Among the petitioners are the Puri brothers and Paresh Thakkar, both associated with Hathway Cable & Datacom. The operators are from the eastern suburbs of Mumbai like Chembur, Ghatkopar and Govandi.

“We have signed with IndiaCast and have finalised terms with OneAlliance and Media Pro Enterprise India. But the decoders have not reached us,” said Kuldeep Puri.

The petitioners want time so that new entrants would be given a fair opportunity to set up their independent ventures.

The Puri brothers are planning to set up an independent operation outside their joint venture with Hathway Cable & Datacom. They will have Ericsson as their digital head-end while Sumavision Technologies will provide the encryption solution and Skywalk be the STB supplier. They own 12 per cent stake in Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom, according to data available till 30 September 2012.

“Our joint venture arrangement continues. Hathway has also agreed that we can go ahead and independently run our operations to tap other subscribers,” said Kuldeep Puri.

The government has claimed that the average percentage in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai had touched 85 per cent and goes up to 90 per cent if direct-to-home (DTH) is taken into consideration. Mumbai, according to the government, has achieved nearly 100 per cent digitisation. These figures have been hotly contested by the cable operators. Other stakeholders also find it difficult to believe the government figures, though they are not open about it.

Thakkar has said that television sets going blank from 1 November may result in a law and order problem and also create a hazard for the operators.

The petition also says that there is still no clear picture on the monthly subscription bill of cable TV subscribers after the switch over to digital reception of cable television.

The government has mandated compulsory switch over to digital delivery of cable television from 1 November in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.

Sony, PwC to discuss future of media & entertainment at Mipcom

Insearchindia.com Team

(14 September 2012 00:46 am)

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television will join PricewaterhouseCoopers at the television trade event Mipcom 2012 to discuss the future of media, entertainment and broadcasting.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) global leader entertainment, media practice Marcel Fenez will present the annual PwC Global Entertainment & Media Outlook at Mipcom on 8 October, outlining forecasts in the media and leisure industries. This industry report will be followed by interviews conducted by Fenez with Sony Pictures Television president of International Production and Sony Pictures Entertainment president of international Andrea Wong.

In her Mipcom keynote interview, Wong will discuss the PwC Outlook findings and how they are reflected in the production activity that SPT International Production undertakes around the world, as well as international production and commissioning trends.

Wong heads the studio's international television production business, overseeing the creative teams outside the US as well as the 18 owned and joint venture international production companies around the world.

Organised by Reed Midem, Mipcom will take place in Cannes, France from 8-11 October.

Sole bid for Deccan Chargers rejected; BCCI likely to allow more time to DCHL

Insearchindia.com Team

(UPDATED 13 September 2012 11:43 pm)

  (13 September 2012 4:24 pm)

MUMBAI: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) rejected the sole offer it received at the Thursday’s bidding for sale of its IPL franchise Deccan Chargers, raising a major question mark over how the financially-distressed company can master its debt crisis.

The ailing Hyderabad-based media company, however, can gasp for breath till the BCCI takes the hard decision of terminating its IPL contract with DCHL. The BCCI is likely to allow DCHL more time to find a buyer for the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket franchisee, a source familiar with the development said.

PVP Ventures, a film production company, had put in a bid of Rs 9 billion for purchase of Deccan Chargers but the franchisee owner refused to accept it saying the offer to pay the price in installments was not acceptable.

The bidding was conducted under the auspices of the BCCI, the owner of IPL, but only PVP Ventures submitted its bid. Videocon Industries CMD Venugopal Dhoot and a little known R.N. Sports Club had expressed their interest in buying Deccan Chargers but appear to have decided against bidding for the IPL team at the last moment. Dhoot had told Indiantelevision.com that his bid could be around Rs 7 billion.

The BCCI in a statement said the bid that was received by Deccan Chronicle met its eligibility and suitability criteria. "The bid was then reviewed by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited which, in its discretion and with no role being played by BCCI, rejected the bid on the basis of the payment terms offered by the bidder."

BCCI President N Srinivasan told reporters after the bidding process, "We found that they (PVP Ventures) were acceptable. However, the owners of Deccan Chargers rejected the bid."

According to industry sources, Deccan Chronicle’s decision to reject the payment terms was prompted by lender banks, which wanted the prospective buyer to pay the entire purchase consideration upfront. The banks, which met in Mumbai on Wednesday to considering easing the terms for repayment of loans granted to Deccan Chronicle, had deferred any decision till the next meeting on 26 September.

The BCCI’s working committee is meeting on 15 September to decide on Deccan Chargers. The BCCI is unlikely to resort to any hasty action that includes cancellation of the franchisee licence of Deccan Chronicle and is instead expected to decide on giving more time to Deccan Chronicle to sell the IPL team, according to a source.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings, which has a profitable publishing business with newspaper brands such as Deccan Chronicle and Financial Chronicle, is in a financial mess having amassed huge debt (unconfirmed reports put the total debt at closer to Rs 40 billion) and is in dire need of funds to pacify angry lenders.

The rejection of the sole bid at a decent price came as a shock as a price of around Rs 7 billion, including assumption of any liabilities, was considered to be a fair valuation.

The price of Deccan Chronicle shares fell after the news that the company has rejected the sole bid broke at around 3 pm, after being higher than Wednesday’s closing price for most of the day on hopes of fund flow from sale of the IPL team. The company’s shares closed at Rs 10.84, down 1.72 per cent from Wednesday’s close and almost 80 per cent down from its 52-week high.

Deccan Chronicle had last week issued a tender inviting bids for buying the Hyderbad IPL team, under the aegis of BCCI. As per the tender notice, bidders were required to enter into a new franchisee agreement with BCCI. The purchase consideration would be paid into a bank account as decided by the lending banks, with 5 per cent payable directly to the BCCI.

The winning bidder would have acquire Deccan Chargers on an "as is where is" basis, which means that the new buyer had to use the name Deccan Chargers and also clear any liabilities.

Sony to strengthen weekday 9 pm slot with 'Hongey Judaa Na Hum'

Insearchindia.com Team

(7 September 2012 7:01 pm)

MUMBAI: In an attempt to strengthen its 9 pm slot, Sony Entertainment Television (Set) is launching a new fiction property 'Hongey Judaa Na Hum' on 10 September.

The show will air every Monday to Thursday at 9 pm.

The channel is betting big on the 9 pm slot as it will air its most promising property 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC) in this time band from Friday to Sunday. Starting today KBC will air from 8.30 to 10 pm.

'Hongey Judaa Na Hum' is replacing Set's another fiction property 'Saas Bina Sasural' that has gone off-air this week. It will compete with the slot leader Star Plus' 'Diya Aur Bati Hum', Zee TV's 'Pavitra Rishta' and Colors' Chhal.

Produced by Shri Adhikari Brothers, 'Hongey Judaa Na Hum' explores the story of a young married couple who are diametrically opposite individuals, who think and behave differently and hail from different socio-economic backgrounds. They fight all the time and challenge each other almost every day, but despite their differences they have one thing in common: being "crazy about each other".

Set senior EVP and business head Sneha Rajani said, "Fiction programming is the foundation for any GEC and we are committed to work with some of the finest creative minds and talent in the industry to bring alive the fiction genre. Hongey Judaa Na Hum is another attempt in this direction and we are happy to partner with Sri Adhikari Brothers to present this brilliant show to our audiences."

Set chief creative director Vivek Bahl added, "In a world that's getting faster and more practical every day, Hongey Judaa Na Hum is a show that refreshingly begs you to ignore your mind... and follow your heart...! Today, audiences thrive for a good family entertainer, one that they can sit and watch together. We are confident that Hongey Judaa Na Hum will additionally strengthen and spruce up our weekday fiction programming with its unique storyline."

According to the channel, the show begins with a romantic journey but somewhere in the twists and turns of life, things start falling apart in the lives of the leads (played by Aamna Sharif and Raqesh Vashisht). They are driven apart almost to a point of no return, but destiny has something else in store for them. The story does not end here, but starts from this moment.