Archive for October, 2008
Tata Sky launches ‘Sweet Aamir’ campaign for PVR service
Source: Indiantelevision.com NEW DELHI: Direct-to-home operator Tata Sky has launched campaign ‘Sweet Aamir’ for its newly launched service, Tata Sky Plus. Currently on air in leading channels, the commercial features its brand ambassador Aamir Khan and actress Gul Panag. Conceptualised by Ogilvy and Mather’s creative team including Anup Chitnis, Vivek Kakkad and Nitin Pradhan, the commercial has been directed by Vinil Mathew of Footcandles Films. The television commercial shows Aamir Khan and Gul Panag as husband and wife. The husband tries to help his wife in more than one way to appease »»»
Reliance Big TV may break even by end-2009
Source: Televisionpoint.com It may be one of the latest entrants in the DTH arena, but don’t be surprised if Reliance Big TV reports a break even by end-2009 itself, slightly more than a full year after launch of operations. Although the Reliance ADA group entity is unwilling to give out exact numbers, Reliance Big TV’s aim of having 4-5 million subscribers by August 2009 is a good indication of it being quietly confident of scoring over its competitors in reaching the break even point earlier. Industry experts say that break even in the DTH business in India is possible when a company »»»
Sun TV launches FM Station at Siliguri
Source: Equity Bulls Sun TV Network Ltd has announced about the launching of its FM Radio Station at Siliguri under the brand ‘S FM’ from October 28, 2008 through its Subsidiary South Asia FM Ltd. This Station can be heard at 93.5 MHz frequency in Siliguri and will cater to the audience of all age groups. With the launch of this FM Station, the total operational FM Stations of Sun TV goes up to 43 as it already operates at Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Visakhapatnam, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Titupati, Madurai, Tuticorin, Lucknow, Bhopal, Pondicherry, Kozhikode »»»
FM channels await clarity on news
Source: Business Standard TRAI’s recommendation to allow news and current affairs on private FM radio, which is awaiting the formal nod of the I&B Ministry by the year end, has not brought much cheer to radio players. It’s not clear yet to what extent the government will allow news broadcast in this phase, but players are not gung-ho on it. Most of the players plan to air only a 5-10 minute news bulletin every 30 minutes or every hour. Though players believe it can work as a good differentiator, there are divided views on how much advertising it can attract. Ashit Kukian, executive VP and »»»
‘India will soon witness the advent of post-paid DTH services’
Source: The Financial Express Despite being a late entrant in direct-to-home services, already dominated by national players like Tata Sky and Dish TV and local players like Sun Direct in South India and DD Direct in North India, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-owned Big TV DTH swept away five lakh connections in the first 50 days of launch. The current run rate is 10,000 connections per day. At the helm of this huge effort is Arun K Kapoor, president, BIG TV DTH, who shares his thoughts with FE’s Pritha Mitra Dasgupta. Excerpts: What kind of research did you do before launching Big TV in »»»
Air war over Mumbai
Source: Daily News & Analysis In the beginning there was Doordarshan, then came your local cable operator, offering everything from ESPN to pornography. Now it’s the time of the direct-to-home TV providers. The first major DTH player was Dish TV, followed swiftly by Tata Sky, BIG TV, Sun, and Digital TV. This surge in the number of DTH providers has certainly given the local cable operator pause for thought, but his finger has resisted hitting the panic button, just yet. Shailesh Tawde, a cable operator under the Multi-Service Cable Operator (MSO) Digicable in Andheri, has been in the »»»
Small screen choices
Source: The Telegraph The couch potato couldn’t have asked for more. More and more direct-to-home (DTH) operators are foraying into the business. Competition is good news for the consumer, as five private players and one state-owned operator slug it out. And what’s more, two other groups are waiting to join the fray. Indeed, the DTH field has expanded so much that price cuts, attractive packages and offers are being doled out to woo customers. Against this backdrop, several questions beg for answers. How many service providers are there in the DTH business? The latest to join the bandwagon »»»
