Bad News For Tata Sky And DTH Customers, Recording Feature Suspended For India-Australia Matches

India's leading DTH operator Tata Sky has suspended its recording feature on Sony's sports channels while citing restrictions imposed by the broadcaster, Dream DTH has reported.

"Dear Subscriber,as per broadcaster mandate, recording of India tour of Australia on all SD and HD versions of Sony Six, Ten 1, Ten 3 will be restricted till 19 Jan 2021", Tata Sky said in a tweet.As per the Tata Sky statement, it has received a mandate from Sony, directing DTH operators to restrict the recording feature on their platforms. This feature is available on Tata Sky HD+ Set Top box.

The report adds that while the mandate to pause recordings on Sony Sports channels appears to be an universal one, subscribers of other DTH operators are yet to report the same. This restriction will thus prevent DTH subscribers from using the record and rewind features in case they fail to watch the live telecast of the matches.

It should be noted that Sony also prevent viewers from pausing the live broadcast on OTT platforms like Sony Liv and Jio TV.

Resource : https://swarajyamag.com/insta/bad-news-for-tata-sky-and-dth-customers-recording-feature-suspended-for-india-australia-matches

Customer Care Number of All DTH opererators

Tata Sky

1. Customer Care : 1860 120 6633, 1860 500 6633
2. Customer Care (Toll Free) : 1800 208 6633
3. Book New Connection: 74117 74117 (missed call only)

Dish TV

1. Customer Care(Toll-Free): 18002583474
2. Customer Care : 1860-258-3474, 1860-120-3474
3. Customer Care Email: customercare@dishtv.in 

Airtel Digital TV Customer Care No :

Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh	0755 4448080
Uttar Pradesh	0522 4448080
Karnataka	080 44448080
Andhra Pradesh	040 44448080
Mumbai	022 44448080
Maharashtra	020 44448080
Himachal Pradesh	08628048080
Assam	08133848080
Jammu & Kashmir	09596748080
Bihar & Jharkhand	09955148080
West Bengal	033 44448080
Delhi	011 44448080
Tamil Nadu	044 44448080
Kerala	0484 4448080
Noth East	08132948080
Haryana	0124 4448080
Gujarat	079 44448080
Rajasthan	0141 4448080
Orissa	07077448080
Punjab	0172 4448080

 Customer Care Email: digitaltv@airtel.com

Videocon D2h

1. Customer Care: 91156 91156

Sun Direct

1. Customer Care (Toll-Free):1800 123 7575
2. Customer Care:7601012345

Resource :https://www.plansinfo.com/blog/customer-care-number-dth-opererators/

 

MIB admits no DTH infra sharing permission sought

NEW DELHI: Despite the initial hype and enthusiasm over infrastructure sharing by broadcast, cable and satellite-delivered service players (such as DTH operators) and lengthy suggestions on the subject by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the government has admitted no stakeholder has evinced interest so far. 

“Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has not received any proposal from DTH operators for sharing of satellite transponders and earth station facilities with other DTH players and distribution platforms,” junior MIB minister Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Indian Parliament last week.

Pointing out that sector regulator TRAI had made recommendations in March 2017 on infrastructure sharing by broadcast and cable sector players, the minister admitted that enabling sharing could address the issue of the demand-supply mismatch. Such a sharing could also “reduce capital and operating expenditure” of a service provider to an appreciable extent, Rathore added.

TRAI had made suggestions on the hows and whys of infrastructure sharing, especially by DTH players, and had also exhorted the government to tweak policy guidelines to enable such sharing.

“To enable [the] sharing of the DTH platform and transport streams transmitted on the DTH platform, the authority recommends that the guidelines for providing DTH services should be suitably amended,” TRAI had noted while making recommendations on infrastructure sharing.

A decision to review the DTH policy guidelines is pending with the MIB with no firm decision on it being taken yet, if industry sources are to be believed, who also pointed out that the ministry may be readying files to refer the issue to the Ministry of Law and Justice for an opinion—a move that could be time consuming. The lack of a policy review has resulted in several glitches hitting DTH operators in India.

TRAI had suggested that to ensure efficient use of scarce satellite resources, DTH operators—which have already set up earth stations and hired satellite transponder capacities, and willing to share the platform and transport stream of TV channels—should be allowed to do so with prior written intimation to the government.

Amongst other recommendations of TRAI on sharing of infrastructure by DTH and distribution platforms, the following are noteworthy:

--- The central government should encourage sharing of infrastructure, wherever technically feasible, in TV broadcasting distribution network services on a voluntary basis.

--- To allow a new DTH operator to use the existing DTH platform and transport streams of TV channels transmitted on that platform, the conditions relating to hiring of satellite capacity and setting up of an earth station should be amended suitably.

--- A DTH operator, providing DTH services using the shared infrastructure with another DTH operator, should be allowed to establish, maintain and operate its own platform at a later date within the licence validity period if it decides so after following the due procedure.

--- An easier process should be put in place to ensure continuity of services to subscribers in the event of any disaster. One of the way in which it could be ensured is sharing of the main and the disaster recovery site in hot standby mode with the prior approval of the licensor.

--- The DTH operator, willing to share its transport stream of TV channels with another DTH operator, should ensure that the other DTH operator has valid written interconnection agreements with broadcasters concerned for distribution of pay TV channels to the subscribers.

--- On a voluntary basis, sharing of head-end used for cable TV services and transport streams transmitting signals of TV channels, among MSOs, should be permitted. 

Resource   : http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/ib-ministry/mib-admits-no-dth-infra-sharing-permission-sought-180212

Doordarshan channels on DTH may soon show live cricket

The move will help DTH viewers avoid subscribing to expensive sports channel bouquets for enjoying the matches.                                                        

New Delhi: In a bonanza for the cricket-lovers, the Narendra Modi government is contemplating to bring a regulation to allow mandatory telecast of Indian cricket matches on Doordarshan channels available to dish or DTH subscribers.

The move will help DTH viewers avoid subscribing to expensive sports channel bouquets for enjoying the matches. At present, Doordarshan channels that telecast matches are blacked out by DTH operators, forcing viewers to subscribe sports pay channels.

Top officials of the Union information and broadcasting ministry are understood to be studying a proposal for mandatory telecast of Indian cricket matches on Doordarshan channel available to DTH subscribers.

Currently, free telecast of cricket matches of national importance on Doordarshan is available only to those viewers who use its terrestrial network — that uses conventional antennas and requires no monthly subscription as in the case of DTH.

Sources stated that the I&B ministry has sought the opinion of the law and justice ministry regarding the issue mandatory telecast of matches on DD channels available to DTH subscribers.

It is learnt that the move to bring in the new broadcast regulations to ease telecast of cricket matches comes after last year’s Supreme Court decision that Prasar Bharati can air the feed from private broadcasters, only on terrestrial network and Free Dish but not on Doordarshan channels carried by cable operators and private DTH platforms.

Under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007, private broadcasters are obliged to share live broadcasting signals of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati. Section 8 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act makes it mandatory for all cable operators to carry two Doordarshan channels but there is no binding that the DD channel showing cricket matches has to be shown.

The proposed changes would mean that cable operators can get access to the broadcast of sporting events through two avenues, through private channels, by paying subscription fees, and via the channels of Doordarshan.

 Resource   : http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/270118/doordarshan-channels-on-dth-may-soon-show-live-cricket.html

RCom to shut down DTH business

RCom cites expiry of its DTH licence as the reason behind the shutdown, says it is working with three other DTH players to migrate its customers

New Delhi: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications has decided to shut down its direct-to-home (DTH) business under the brand Reliance Digital TV with effect from 18 November, according to an advertisement in a Malayalam publication.

The company, which started in 2008, cited expiry of its DTH licence as the reason behind the shutdown in the ad. “Since our licence is expiring, we will be shutting down our DTH service across India. We urge subscribers to make alternative arrangements to continue to watch their favourite channels,” the advertisement said.

Responding to an emailed query, Reliance Communications confirmed the development and said that the company is working with three other DTH players to migrate its customers. “DTH operations are a non-core area for RCom (Reliance Communications), and we are currently working with three leading DTH operators for seamless migration of our customers, for them to enjoy uninterrupted services. A new scheme without any additional costs will be communicated to our customers in the next few days,” a company spokesperson said.

Currently, there are six private DTH firms—Zee group-owned Dish TV India Ltd, Reliance Digital Ltd, Tata Sky Ltd, Videocon d2h Ltd, Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd and Bharti Telemedia Ltd. In addition to these, state broadcaster Doordarshan also runs a DTH platform for free-to-air channels called DD Free Dish.

Reliance Digital TV is the smallest player with a market share of 2% in the 65.31 million DTH subscriber market (as of June 2017), according to a report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Dish TV is currently the market leader with a 24% share, followed by Tata Sky with a 23% market share.

“Reliance has been debt-ridden and trying to get rid of its loss-making businesses. It also tried to merge with Sun Direct but it didn’t work out. In an industry where top three players control the market and there are talks of Reliance Jio entering the business with its predatory pricing strategy, it makes perfect sense for such a small player to shut the business altogether,” said a media industry expert, who did not want to be named.

Reliance’s move comes a year after the initiation of a consolidation process in the DTH industry with Dish TV announcing the merger of its operations with Videocon d2h in November 2016.

Once formed, the new company will be called Dish TV Videocon Ltd. Dish TV will own 55% and Videocon 45% stake in the new company. The merger is pending before the information and broadcasting ministry.

According to a 2013 report on the Indian DTH market by Hong Kong-based research firm Media Partners Asia, revenues are expected to touch $3.9 billion in 2017 and $5.3 billion by 2020, up from $1.5 billion in 2012.

Reliance Group companies have sued HT Media Ltd, Mint’s publisher, and nine others in the Bombay high court over a 2 October 2014 front-page story that they have disputed. HT Media is contesting the case.

Resource  http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/TIAfngt4j1Wk13PgAsrMfM/Reliance-Communications-to-shut-down-DTH-business.html

Dish TV selects Verimatrix for DTH service security

Dish TV India has selected Verimatrix to provide card-less security for its DTH service offerings.

DishTV, Asia’s largest DTH video service provider and the only DTH operator to operate through three satellites, will use the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for DVB, as part of its revenue security measures. DishTV competes with TataSky and Airtel digital.

“Our infrastructural and technological edge allows us to continually develop new innovations and revolutionize our service offerings, so it has become crucial that our revenue security measures are robust yet flexible enough to keep pace,” said V K Gupta, COO at DishTV.

VCAS for DVB offers a modern approach to multi-device streaming as video service providers like DishTV redefine their pay-TV services. The solution is compliant to DVB standards and pre-integrated with a range of partner headend and software systems.

“Dish TV has established itself as the pioneer in the Indian DTH broadcast industry, and VCAS for DVB is designed to adapt to any scenario it may face as the Indian pay-TV industry continues to undergo rapid transformation,” said Steve Oetegenn, president of Verimatrix.

Resource  : http://www.telecomlead.com/broadcasting/dish-tv-selects-verimatrix-dth-service-security-79374

Star Bharat debut ratings and reach impressive

MUMBAI: Well, Star India seems to be on a roll these days. No sooner had the euphoria dimmed after it outwitted others with a masterstroke $ 2.56 billion global bid for India’s premier cricket league IPL, it’s now time to savour the success of rebranded-cum-rechristened channel Star Bharat, which is rubbing shoulders with category leaders in terms of ratings and reach --- and that too within a short period.

On 28 August 2017, Life OK was revamped with a new name, logo, tag line and, of course, a lineup of fresh original shows. It debuted on free-to-air DTH platform DD FreeDish with its parent having successfully bid for a place after coughing up a shade over Rs. 160 million. That Star Bharat continues to be available on other cable and DTH platforms could be another masterstroke.

Now sample the data collated by audience measurement organization BARC India. In week 36, Star Bharat took the second position in the GEC category garnering 669588 (000s) Impressions and 378234 (000s) Impressions, respectively, in the urban+rural and rural markets. The two-week old channel’s reach too had gone up by 15 per cent from week 35-36, while the ratings or impressions grew by 29 per cent.

In contrast, in week 34 of BARC India, Life OK (the earlier avatar of Star Bharat) was placed at 10th spot in the urban+rural market with 328571 (000s) Impressions, while in the urban market it did slightly better at sixth position with 213162 (000s) Impressions.

Cometh week 35 of BARC India. After an overhaul in name and programming, Star Bharat in its first week of operation climbed to the fifth spot in urban+rural market with 519743 (000s) Impressions. It also made an entry in the rural market at the fourth spot with 278785 (000s) Impressions and in urban market occupied the sixth position with 240958 (000s) Impressions.

An independent observer of the TV industry, having seen many a channel strategy gone awry, admitted that Star’s planning and research regarding distribution and programming does seem to be working. Primarily the FTA platform approach, though audience data provided to indiantelevison.com regarding Star Bharat 

 doesn’t specify whether the viewership and reach is coming from DD FreeDish or elsewhere.

TG: HSM, 2+

Top 10 Channels pre re-branding and post:

 Top 10 Hindi GECs In week36:

Here the equation becomes interesting. According to information collated by Indiantelevision.com, a 10-second ad rate for Star Bharat is presently estimated at around Rs 10,000, whereas Life OK commanded a higher price in the range of Rs 30,000-40000/10 seconds.According to the BARC India data, the four-week average for Life Ok (Week 31-34) was 345621 (‘000s) Impressions.However, the average for weeks 35-36 shows a growth of 72 per cent in the viewership of Star Bharat with figures of 594666 (‘000s) Impressions.

“The (sponsorship) rates will pick up once the ratings come. At present, it is just two weeks data. If there is stability in the ratings over the future weeks, there is a possibility that Star Bharat may increase its ad rates. Right now the marketing buzz and hype is pushing the channel, but after a few weeks it will not only stop, but may even out too,” a senior media planner told Indiantelevision.com, adding that the channel, as also the advertising world, will have to wait for at least “four to six weeks” to fairly evaluate the viewership data.

Old shows such as ‘May I come in Madam’, `Sher-E-Punjab Ranjeet Singh’, ‘Ghulam’ and `Chandrakanta’ have been taken off the air by the channel management of Life OK/Star Bharat, though crime series ‘Savdhaan India’ continues on Star Bharat. The channel in its new avatar has unveiled a content line up that is aimed at living up to the brand’s philosophy of ‘Bhula ke darr, kuch alag kar’ (forget the fear of the unknown and do something different).

So, Star Bharat now flaunts shows like `Om Shanti Om’, `Kya Haal Mr. Panchaal’, `Nimki Muhkiya’, `Saam Daam Dand Bhed’ and `Ayushman Bhav’.

Reach ‘000s for week 35 and 36

Star has three other channels on the DD FreeDish platform including Star Utsav, Star Utsav Movies and Star Sports First. The last one, which debuted earlier this year, again is a new FTA offering of sorts that has been riding the kabaddi league wave.Indiantelevision.com tried to reach out to Star India for its comments, but could not elicit a response till the time of writing this report. However, if we get some comments on Star Bharat from the channel owner, it’d be updated.

The big question is: will this rebranding and repositioning strategy work for Star Bharat? To use a cliché, only time will tell… oops, sorry, BARC India will tell.

Resource : http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/gecs/star-bharat-debut-ratings-and-reach-impressive-170915

Dish TV adopts TRAI tariff order; to offer channels on a la carte

NEW DELHI: Leading direct-to-home (DTH) player Dish TV has adopted the new tariff order of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) partly, in order to offer its subscribers a greater choice in selecting the channels they want to watch.

The DTH company has launched ‘Mera Apna Pack’, wherein subscribers can curate their choice of channels.

It provides subscribers the flexibility of channel selection to curate the best suitable pack. Customers can opt for popular channels by just paying Rs 8.5 per channel over and above the basic service pack for standard definition (SD) channels and Rs 17 per high definition (HD) channel.


“While ‘Freedom of Choice’ has been claimed for many decades, this initiative will truly empower consumers to choose from amongst the bouquet of channels and pay for only those channels that they would like to watch. This will also be in tune with TRAI’s new tariff regulations, an attempt to make channel pricing flexible yet affordable,” said Anil Dua, group CEO, Dish TV.

Resource http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/dish-tv-adopts-trai-tariff-order-to-offer-channels-on-a-la-carte/59880646

DTH stocks fall up to 6 pc on announcement of Jio phone

Shares of broadcasting and cable TV companies on Friday slumped up to 6 per cent after Mukesh Ambani announced the launch of a 4G—enabled feature phone which would also have a cable to connect with TV as a special accessory to display the phone content on a bigger screen.

The scrip of Dish TV India plunged 5.85 per cent, Sun TV Network went down by 2.65 per cent, Hathway Cable & Datacom fell 2.58 per cent, GTPL Hathway (2.28 per cent) and Den Networks (0.13 per cent) on BSE.

“In addition to this, the announcements towards the JIO Phone — TV would also hurt the cable TV industry,” said Nitasha Shankar, Sr Vice President and Head of Research, YES Securities.

Mukesh Ambani today announced the launch of a 4G—enabled feature phone priced at “effective” zero that bundles life— long free voice calls with dirt cheap data in a bid to woo 50 crore low—income users to his 10—month old Jio.

Addressing the annual meeting of shareholders of RIL, the parent of Jio, Chairman Ambani said the handset, named JioPhone, will have “an effective price of Rs 0” as buyers will be able to get the device for a one—time refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500.

The deposit will be refunded after 36 months on return of the phone.

Voice calling will be free for life while unlimited data packs will cost Rs 153 a month on the device, he added.

Resource :http://www.thehindu.com/business/dth-stocks-fall-up-to-6-pc-on-announcement-of-jio-phone/article19326062.ece

Reliance JioFiber Preview Plan- Offers Free 100GB Data

Reliance JioFiber Preview Plan: Reliance Jio provides so many offers to the peoples. Now, they announce Reliance JioFiber Preview plan with attractive offers. The company website provided JioFiber Preview Plan that offers 100GB of data per month at 100Mbps of speed for three months for free. Users have to pay an installation charge (refundable security deposit) of Rs.4,500. After the 100GB FUP has been consumed, speeds drop to 1Mbps.

In their Twitter page, they tweeted as “The JioFiber Preview Offer has currently being launched in select areas of Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad.” Reliance Jio is expected to launch services such as DTH, smart-TV boxes, IoT solutions; alongside its 1GBps broadband. The Jio’s DTH TV services with more than 360 channels and a “seven-day catch-up option being given to users” as well.

The JioFiber preview plan was spotted by a Redditor who was able to disable the redirect page and using Google cache; we were able to confirm what was reported.

The website also revealed the cities where the JioFiber Preview Plan will be launching. The cities are Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, and Vishakhapatnam. Jio will also provide its custom router during installation, which is included in the cost of the installation charge. Notably, there is also an option that says “I am interested in enhancing Jio coverage in my building,” which could hint that Jio may install a network of routers to improve the coverage in a building.

By the report, Jio will test its JioFiber Service in Pune and Mumbai at speed between 70Mbps to 100Mbps. The preview plan will be offered for three months for free, like as “Welcome Offer.” Stay tuned for more updates.

Resource :  https://www.keralanews247.com/reliance-jiofiber-preview-plan-offers-free-100gb-data/

DD FreeDish a hit with advertisers, broadcasters; subscriber base reaches 40 mn mark

With a current subscriber base of 22 million, the government run DTH service provider DD FreeDish which telecasts free-to-air channels has turned out to be a favourite amongst broadcasters as well as advertisers.

According to the latest EY report titled, India’s FTA market – 2017, the subscriber base of DD FreeDish is projected to reach 40 million users in the next two–three years. (Representative Image: Reuters)

With a current subscriber base of 22 million, the government run direct-to-home (DTH) service provider DD FreeDish which telecasts free-to-air channels has turned out to be a favourite amongst broadcasters as well as advertisers. According to the latest EY report titled, India’s FTA market – 2017, the subscriber base of DD FreeDish is projected to reach 40 million users in the next two–three years. As a matter of fact, in the latest round of bidding for slots on FreeDish held on July 4, broadcasters paid R85 crore as carriage fee for 11 slots. “FTA market has become important, with the rise in subscriber base. However, these viewers are going through a transition, as FTA is the first step in TV viewing before they migrate to paid platforms,” said Rohit Gupta, president, network sales and international business, Sony Pictures Network.

The latest report on FTA market by ICICI Securities points out that the rise in FTA channels has been driven by Broadcast Association Research Council ‘s (BARC), measurement of ratings in rural India According to BARC ratings for week 26 (June 24-30, 2017), in the rural markets, Zee Anmol – the FTA channel from the house of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) grabbed the top spot with 470,357,000 weekly impressions, followed by Colors Rishtey at 432,128,000 weekly impressions at number two position. This has whetted advertisers’ interest.

“Companies such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Procter & Gamble (P&G) have a huge chunk of their target consumers residing in rural India. Thus FTA channels have become the perfect platform to advertise. In the last one year, these companies have increased their advertising spend by 50% on FTA channels,” said a senior media planner. As per the ICICI Securities report, the FTA advertising market which was pegged at Rs 400 crore –Rs 500 crore CY16, is expected to grow to Rs 800 crore- Rs 1,000 crore by end of CY17.

 Interestingly, advertising rates too have gone up in the last one year by 100%. Currently a ten second ad spot during prime-time on FTA channels costs anywhere in the range of Rs 10,000 – Rs 20,000 compared to the rate of Rs 5,000 – Rs 10,000, till December last year. Compared to this a ten second ad spot during prime-time on Star Plus, ZEE TV, costs between Rs 80,000 – Rs 1 lakh.

“FTA channels are growing at the expense of paid channels. The situation is similar to that of paid video over-the-top platforms (OTT) versus the free platforms. In India viewers are fine with the idea of watching content a bit late if it’s for free. Going forward broadcasters are expected to face a tough time converting these consumers into paid,” said Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia.

The ICICI Securities report estimates an annual revenue opportunity loss of Rs 1,800 crore for broadcasters from pay-TV, “assuming 300 million subscribers could have generated monthly content average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 50,” said analysts in the ICICI securities report.

Resource : http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/dd-freedish-a-hit-with-advertisers-broadcasters-subscriber-base-reaches-40-mn-mark/758045/

Alliance with Tata to help Bharti Airtel close gap with Vodafone-Idea

Bharti Enterprises and the Tata Group have held exploratory talks to evaluate a mega alliance involving their telecom, enterprise services, overseas cable and direct-to-home TV businesses

 Bharti Airtel will emerge stronger in the enterprise and undersea cable business and narrow the gap with the Vodafone-Idea combine in mobile service revenue market share (RMS) if the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Enterprises and the Tatas form an alliance, analysts said.

However, Airtel will face some challenges from a merger: over Rs 30,000 crore in debt and a modest 48 million subscribers of Tata’s mobile service business, breach of market share cap in eight circles, and the need to spend $1.7 billion (over Rs 11,000 crore) to pay market rates for airwaves in the 1800 MHz band held by Tata Teleservices to use them for 4G, they said.

Bharti Enterprises and the Tata Group held exploratory talks to evaluate a mega alliance involving their telecom, enterprise services, overseas cable and direct-to-home TV businesses, ET reported last week. Both entities have not commented on the matter.

If a deal gets confirmed “and subsequently completed, Bharti Airtel would have an RMS of 40% on the cellular business front, closing the gap with the potential Idea-Vodafone merged entity (that will command a 44% RMS),” Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said in a note to clients. At present, Airtel’s RMS is 33%.

 Theoretically, this merger would also make Airtel stronger in the enterprise and undersea businesses, where the telco “is currently not in a dominant position,” the US bank said.

Analysts expect any potential Tata-Bharti mega alliance to unlock synergies in the direct-to-home TV industry.

BankAm-Merrill Lynch said the DTH industry would turn into a two-player market with a Airtel-Tata Sky combine commanding 43% of the subscribers and Dish-Videocon controlling 45%. Edelweiss backed the view and said such a potential merger would strengthen the bargaining power of DTH companies and help lower content cost.

Experts see strong business sense for Airtel to buy both the listed Tata Communications, a provider of network, cloud and security services, and Tata Sky.
“TataComm potentially brings a lot of value to the table by virtue of its sizeable intra-city fibre resources, its sub-sea cable system assets coupled with its strong enterprise business which would complement Airtel’s,” said an analyst at a Mumbai-based brokerage.

Brokerages also foresee minority/strategic stakeholder interests in Tata group outfits such as the listed Tata Communications and Tata Sky as a potential hurdle.

Edelweiss said minority stakeholders like the government – which owns 26% of Tata Communications – and Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox (owner of 30% in Tata Sky) “may not find their strategic stakes relevant in the combined (Tata-Bharti) entity and alignment of their interest could be a challenge.”

Among the challenges are Tata group’s mobility business assets, analysts said.

BankAm-Merrill Lynch said the Tatas’ holding of spectrum in the 850 MHz band may prove inadequate for Bharti Airtel to launch full-scale 4G LTE. Since the Tatas have 2.5 MHz of airwaves in the 850 MHz band, which are expiring in a few years, such spectrum can be used only for narrow-band LTE, the US brokerage said.

Edelweiss said the synergy benefits “are not meaningful” because a significant chunk of Tata’s spectrum holdings are unliberalised, for which market prices haven’t been paid.

BankAm-Merrill Lynch estimates Bharti would need to invest $1.7 billion to liberalise Tata Tele’s 1800 MHz spectrum and would also cross the revenue cap in eight circles.

India’s telecom M&A norms require a single entity’s revenue and subscriber market share to be below 50% and spectrum holding to be below specified caps. 

Resource : http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/alliance-with-tata-to-help-bharti-airtel-close-gap-with-vodafone-idea/59538589

HRD gifts 32 DTH channels to students, announces ‘guru dakshina’ for President

The government has also decided to adopt a 17-point action plan for this year, including building digital campuses.

 Students across the country will now be able to access high-quality educational programmes as the HRD ministry launched 32 DTH channels on Sunday, along with a number of other digital initiatives in the field of education.

At the inauguration of three digital initiatives— Swayam, Swayam Prabha and National Academic Depository — human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar said convocation addresses delivered by President Pranab Mukherjee will be compiled and published as ‘guru dakshina’ to him.

Felicitating Mukherjee — who was a teacher before he plunged into politics in 1969 — on the occasion of Guru Purnima, Javadekar said his life was an “exemplary” record of calibre, capacity and conduct, adding that Mukherjee represented all teachers in India.

“Since I called him a teacher, there will be ‘guru dakshina’ as well. We will publish compilation of his convocation addresses to various universities so that students can enlighten themselves from his valuable observations,” he said. Talking about the initiatives, he said Swayam aims at taking the best teaching-learning resources to all. Under Swayam Prabha, the government plans to telecast high-quality educational programmes through 32 DTH channels, whereas National Academic Depository will facilitate online verification of certificates.

The government has also decided to adopt a 17-point action plan for this year, including building digital campuses. The plan covers measures such as universal adoption of digital education and digital financial transactions in campuses from the current academic year. Javadekar added that the government would come up with integrated B.Ed courses so that students can decide on becoming teachers after Class 12. They can take such integrated courses with graduation in a subject of their choice.

 Resource :http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hrd-gifts-32-dth-channels-to-students-announces-guru-dakshina-for-president/story-7QyoLQL4vgvCZ032sFi67H.html

Harmonic HEVC System Put to Use by Almatel Kazakhstan

SAN JOSE, CALIF.—Harmonic is assisting Kazakhstan’s largest cable operator, Almatel Kazakhstan, with the latest generation of HEVC video compression technology for the operator’s new direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television platform.   

Using Harmonic’s Electra X advanced media processing platform helps deliver SD, HD and UHD channels across Kazakhstan, increasing bandwidth efficiency by leveraging HEVC codec. The software will also allow the station to adopt new formats and codecs in the future, including 4K/UHD. As a result, Almatel Kazakhstan has launched a new UHD channel and has plans expand its UHD offerings in the future.

Almatel Kazakhstan CEO Eric Franke says that the Electra X platform allows for the delivery of about 140 SD and HD channels from the same DTH platform.

Resource :http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0002/harmonic-hevc-system-put-to-use-by-almatel-kazakhstan/281208

GST bonanza: Electronics, lifestyle goods get cheaper

The new tax regime will not allow retailers a full set-off on goods procured in the last six months

 If you have been bitten by the shopping bug, you can’t be blamed. Well, at least, not this year. After all, it is not often that retail stores offer steep discounts in the months of May–June. While monsoon sales by apparel stores usually start by end of June and electronic stores do have some clearance sales in June-July, this year with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) starting from July 1, discounts are bigger than before.

For instance, electronic stores like Vijay Sales, Kohinoor and Digi1 are offering up to 50 per cent off on certain models or till stocks last. Snehanjali, another Mumbai-based electronic chain is advertising its offer as the pre-GST sale with a warning thrown in for good measure that “Prices for most electronic items are set to rise by 5 per cent’’. Electronic manufacturer Samsung is offering free DTH connection with televisions and extended warranty periods and free services with air-conditioners (ACs) and microwaves as part of its ‘June Fest’.


Brands such as Puma, Bata, ONLY, Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Benetton and US Polo have already begun their sales across major cities.

Retail chains such as Pantaloons, Lifestyle and Shoppers Stop are yet to come out with their formal end-of-season sale, but they have already started giving discounts on select brands in the range of 20-40 per cent.

Then, Flipkart and Shopclues are running their own versions of GST sale. Flipkart Fashion Days will run for nine days, from June 10 to June 18 under which the company would offer products from 50 brands. It will also hold A 'Bid n Win' contest for customers during the nine-day sale and the lowest unique bidders will win prizes like Emporio Armani watch worth Rs 13,995, Victorinox bag worth Rs 15,960 and more.

Impact of GST: With the GST on the anvil, retailers are worried that as any stock that they have procured in the last six months will not get the full set-off on the tax already paid when the transition to GST happens on July 1. That is why there is a scrambling to clear off stuff.

Currently, on stocks which are invoiced and delivered to the retailer, the VAT, excise and octroi in some cases have been has been paid. From July 1, if this stock is not cleared, retailers will be stuck with two kinds of stock. Stock on which there are GST invoices from the manufacturer client where the retailer can bill out and effectively claim a set off on GST and stock that is from before GST. On that stock retailer does not have GST invoice. And the effective set off would be only 60 per cent. “Essentially there is a loss on that and that is why retailers are trying to get the old stock out,”Ritesh Ghosal, Chief Marketing Officer, Infiniti Retail which owns Croma. The impact of GST will not be uniform and will vary depending on the region. For instance, in areas that have a lower VAT regime, like Karnataka and UP, prices could go up post GST. While in areas with higher VAT like Gujarat or Mumbai (which also has octroi) there could be softening of prices. “The immediate impact will not be more than 1.5 per cent either way,” he adds.

 case of apparels, with the input tax credit being made available under GST, prices will go down for cotton apparels below Rs 999 and remain unchanged for apparels above Rs 1,000, says Rakesh Biyani, Joint Managing Director, Future Retail. Apparels have a tax rate of 5 per cent and 12 per cent under GST. “June end-July is when end of season sales are held at stores. With the festive season this month, we are offering 50 per cent cash back on purchases of Rs 2,000,’’ he says.

Older models are being cleared: According to Arvind Singhal, Managing Director, Technopak, a management consulting firm, June and July are among the weakest months in the year for a number of categories. So these sales could be a way for many companies to actually use the pretext of GST and get their slow moving stocks out of the way by giving a discount. “Inventory lying in the pipeline will not be able to get any kind of tax rebate abatement. So, that is one reason why sales are happening. But GST is also a reason for stores to get their slow moving stocks out of the way by giving a discount,’’ he says.

Ghosal adds that the current sales are more clearance sales as stores push out inventory. “Every year, at this time there is a churn that happens. It is end of season and setting up for the new season. May and June is the period when stores flush out old stock,’’ he says. For instance, new television models are launched around August and between the festival season. Similarly, new laptop and computer models are launched in July when schools and colleges start their new terms.

It is likely that the discounts may continue post July, as stores clear their stock to make place for new models. “The festival period begins in September and usually there are not much discounts on the new models which will hit retail outlets by then,” says Singhal.

The discounts going on currently are more of a unit wise discount rather than a category wise discount. The discount depends on the age of the model and the particular store. Largely, they range from 15-25 on most categories. Though in stray cases they could be 70 per cent.

“Essentially the discount is catering to people who are deal seekers and who are happy to settle for older models,” Ghosal says. 

Resource : http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/gst-bonanza-electronics-lifestyle-goods-get-cheaper-117061401458_1.html

Sun Direct has 3-year capex plan of Rs 1,475 cr; capital infusion from promoters not needed

MUMBAI: With Sun Direct turning profitable, the promoters need not infuse equity funding to support the direct-to-home (DTH) company. Sun Direct, which is 80% owned by Kalanithi Maran and his wife and 20% by Malaysia’s Astro, has a capital expenditure plan of Rs 1,475 crore for the next three financial years. Out of this, the intent is to have a debt funding of Rs 450 crore during FY18–FY20. The future capital expenditure of the company is expected to be supported through internal accruals and debt, with no further dependence on promoters’ contribution.


The main capex will be for purchase of customer premises equipment (CPE), a market source said. Earlier, the promoters of Sun Direct had been providing financial support to the company by infusing equity. Though Sun Direct started generating cash profits from FY13, it continued to incur losses until FY16. For the first nine months of FY17, Sun Direct posted net profit of Rs 21.2 crore on a revenue of Rs 907.93 crore. In FY16, Sun Direct reported net loss of Rs 35.30 crore compared to Rs 156.92 crore a year ago. T


otal operating income grew to Rs 1,116.61 crore, up from Rs 1,048.62 crore in the earlier year. Sun Direct’s net subscriber base has remained nearly stagnant for over four years with the focus being on South India. The company has a 10% market share of the total active DTH subscriber base, which is pegged at 62.65 million, as of 31 December 2016. Sun Direct has been able to maintain its market share in South India at about 40%. I

n the company’s net subscriber base, the share of South India has increased from about 94% during FY14 to over 97%. Sun Direct’s ARPU has been seeing steady growth over the years. For the first nine months of FY17, the DTH company’s ARPU increased to Rs 175 compared to Rs 163 in FY16. ARPU in FY15 was Rs 153, up from Rs 143 in FY14 and Rs 131 in FY13. The growth in ARPU has helped Sun Direct to improve on profitability parameters.


 The company’s losses at the net level have been declining over the last three years. In FY17, Sun Direct added three transponders on GSAT 15.

 It has a total of eight transponders, equally split between Measat 3 and GSAT 15. The addition of the transponders has enabled the company to increase the number of HD channels in its bouquet to 55. The increase in bandwidth will help Sun Direct to not only retain but also add subscribers while enhancing its ARPU, a media analyst said.

Resource : http://www.televisionpost.com/dth/sun-direct-has-3-year-capex-plan-of-rs-1475-cr-capital-infusion-from-promoters-not-needed/

Dish TV adds 3 channels to its portfolio

MUMBAI: Direct-to-home (DTH) operator Dish TV has added three new channels, namely Mirror Now, Miniplex and Teleone, on its platform. With the three new additions, the total count of channels and services offered by Dish TV now stands at 620.


Commenting on these additions, Dish TV CEO Anil Dua said, “We at Dish TV have been at the forefront of enhancing TV viewing experience and exploring opportunities to bring wholesome entertainment to the audience. With a sharp focus on content, the move aims at connecting strongly to provide the best of entertainment to our subscribers. The addition of these three channels will not only strengthen our presence but will also diversify our offerings.”

Moreover, keeping up the idea of providing the best of entertainment in industry, Dish TV recently added Arnab Goswami’s news channel Republic TV on their platform. Enhancing the kids genre, the DTH operator had also added Sony Yay to its channel repertoire last month. These two channels will be available on channel #771 and #989 respectively.

Resource : http://www.televisionpost.com/dth/dish-tv-adds-3-channels-to-its-portfolio/

After Zee Entertainment, Sun TV slashes channel prices ahead of TRAI rules

After Zee Entertainment, it is the turn of Sun TV to slash its channel prices with effect from Sept 1 in anticipation of the implementation of new channel pricing rules by TRAI. 

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had, three months ago, announced that media companies and cable and DTH companies will no longer be allowed to push unnecessary channels down consumers’ throats by pricing individual channels at high rates.

At present, most DTH operators price individual channels at very high rates to discourage people from buying channels one-by-one and to force them to buy packs or bouquets.

When a consumer buys a pack, the DTH operator can make money in two ways: First, it gets a subscription free from the consumer, and secondly, it gets money from the channel owner as well for having included the channel in the pack.

However, if most people start buying channels one-by-one, then the second source of revenue — called carriage fees — will become irrelevant.

For broadcasters, this will mean the end of their ability to push their less-popular channels to consumers by bundling them with popular channels.

Under the new TRAI rules, the sum of the individual prices of channels included in a package cannot be more than 17.65% higher than the price of the overall pack.

In other words, if the total cost of a pack consisting of 10 channels is Rs 85, then the sum of the prices of the 10 individual channels cannot be more than Rs 100. At present, it is likely to range from Rs 300-400.

Zee Entertainment has already tweaked the prices of its individual channels to conform to the new rule, and now Sun TV — which operates around 38 channels — has also done so by bringing down individual prices.

With effect from September, it has reduced the maximum retail price of Sun TV HD to 19 per month per connection from Rs 40 at present. With this, the price of standard definition version of Sun TV and HD version of the same channel has become the same.

Similarly, it has reduced the price of KTV HD and Gemini TV HD to Rs 19 from Rs 40, while the price of newly launched Surya HD has been reduced to Rs 15 from Rs 20.

Even as Zee and Sun — which have both channels and DTH businesses — seemed to have welcomed the news, Star India — which has only channels and no DTH — and Airtel and Tata Sky — which have only DTH and no channels — have challenged the new rules in court.

Resource : https://ultra.news/t-t/31472/zee-entertainment-sun-tv-slashes-channel-prices-ahead-trai-rules

Taxes on entertainment, cable, DTH to come down under GST

The Dollar Business Bureau

The government said on Tuesday that taxes on entertainment, Direct-To-Home (DTH)  and cable services would come down in the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) as 'entertainment tax' that is imposed by the states has been included in the GST regime.

The services offered through admission to cinematography films or entertainment events in cinema halls will be imposed with a rate of 28% under GST effective from July 1, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

Presently, the states levy entertainment tax of up to 100% with regard to exhibition of films in cinema halls/theatres.

The entertainment tax has now been subsumed under the GST, and therefore only the taxes imposed by a municipality or panchayat on amusements and entertainments will stay.

“Entertainment services shall suffer a lower tax incidence under GST. In addition to the benefit of lower headline rates of GST, the service providers shall be eligible for full input tax credits (ITC) of GST paid in respect of inputs and input services,” the statement said.

The GST Council has decided a tax rate of 18% on cable TV and DTH services.

Presently, the states impose entertainment tax on these services in the range of 10-30% over and above the 15% service tax.

With regards to theatre, circus, classical dance together with folk dance and drama, a rate of 18% will be levied under GST.

Presently, the states levy entertainment tax on these services, the statement said.

“Presently, such service providers are not eligible to avail of input credits in respect of VAT paid on domestically procured capital goods and inputs or of Special Additional Duty (SAD) paid on imported capital goods and inputs,” it added.

While the GST is a value-added tax, the entertainment tax currently imposed by the states is similar to a turnover tax, it said.

The GST Council, last week, had finalised the tax rates of more than 1,200 goods and 500 services in a four slab rate structure of 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28% under the new GST regime.

Resource : https://www.thedollarbusiness.com/news/taxes-on-entertainment-cable-dth-to-come-down-under-gst/50374

Tata Sky to add five more HD channels to take total to 86

Tata Sky, the Indian DTH operator with the highest amount of spectrum and channels, will add five more HD channels to take the total high-definition offerings on the platform to 86.

The new channels being added tomorrow are DSports, MTV HD+, Surya (Malayalam), Udaya (Kannada) and Gemini Movies (Telugu).

With 86 HD channels, the operator has further solidified its position as the largest provider of high-definition content in India.

In comparison, most DTH operators provide only 45-65 HD channels, while cable players provide between 30-50 such channels.

However, due to the paucity of high-definition content, Tata Sky has been forced to offer so-called ‘plus 1’ channels, which are essentially one-hour delayed feed of existing offerings.

As such, it provides +1 services for ‘Star Gold’, ‘Zee Cinema’ and so on.

SPECTRUM BONANZA

Tata Sky has found itself in a happy position of being faced with a glut of spectrum after one of ISRO’s satellites — INSAT-4A — failed to ‘die’ on time.

Tata Sky was using 432 MHz of spectrum on INSAT-4A to deliver content to the Indian subcontinent and was behind players like Videocon D2h, which has 540 MHz, and Dish TV, which had 648 MHz.

INSAT-4A was supposed to reach ‘end of life’ in 2017, and to replace it, ISRO sent GSAT-10 to the same orbital location with 432 MHz of capacity.

As luck would have it, both satellites are working simultaneously. However, because the older satellite can die any time, ISRO cannot sell the capacity on its new satellite to a new player. For the same reason, it cannot sell its capacity on the older satellite either, to any new player.

As a result, Tata Sky has been permitted to use both satellites at the same time, and now has about 828 MHz of spectrum at its disposal.

This is almost double of what most operators in India have.

The only serious competitor is Dish TV, which has recently increased its capacity to 828 MHz. However, since Dish uses the older and less-efficient MPEG-2 standard, 828 MHz is equivalent to around 600 MHz only.

Airtel Digital too has increased its spectrum recently to 396 MHz to 504 MHz and can take it even higher, depending on its need.

Resource : https://ultra.news/t-t/31436/tata-sky-add-five-hd-channels-take-total-86