Archive for December, 2009
Worldspace listeners want music to play on
MUMBAI: The news of Worldspace Radio shutting down has shocked its subscribers in India, a country that housed 95 per cent of its subscription base. Music lovers are aggrieved at the abrupt termination of the music service from 1 January. It is the loss of music that the users are upset about most, over the monetary damages they will have to bear. Says a Worldspace regular, “It was the only thing that kept the music alive to the best of quality and diversity. It really feels strange and profoundly sad to refer to Worldspace in the past tense.” “Different people have different »»»
70 mm comes closer to small screen
A year ago one could not have imagined downloading a legal copy of a new Bollywood film within three months of the movie’s theatrical release. But filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra attempts to do just that with his recent release, 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan. “The movie will be available for free downloading on online portal YouTube in eight to 12 weeks,” said Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Bollywood is fast narrowing the gap between a movie releasing on the 70 mm screen and its appearance on other platforms. “The advent of satellite channels led to mainstream channels premiering blockbuster movies after »»»
Media: The wonder decade
Couch surfing has become more than passive television viewing over the past decade. Indian TV sets now have DVD-like picture quality with loads of value add-ons thanks to new technologies like DTH, CAS and IPTV. Idiot box goes digital The country has about 130 million television households, including 96 million Cable & Satellite (C&S) homes. As per TAM, average time spent watching television per day was 153 minutes in 2008 Direct-to-home (DTH): DTH consumers receive digital TV channels’ signals through satellite on their dish antennae which are then transmitted to TV through a set top »»»
Airtel DTH to replace WorldSpace with AIR channels
Airtel DTH is all set to replace WorldSpace services from its platform with 10 radio channels of All India Radio. Indian subscribers to WorldSpace radio services are praying for a miracle so that it can continue to broadcast signals beyond 31st December. However, there is a thin line of hope for the continuation of WorldSpace operations in India. Airtel direct to home (DTH) that offers WorldSpace radio services to subscribers in India said that from 1st January, it will replace WorldSpace with 10 radio channels of All India Radio (AIR). According to sources, Airtel DTH will start sending messages »»»
Kurbaan and Wanted available on DTH
MUMBAI: DTH operators are now showcasing the Saif Ali Khan-starrer Kurbaan and Salman Khan’s Wanted on their pay-per-view platform. Reliance Big TV will premiere Kurbaan on 2 January while Salman Khan’s Wanted is currently being shown on its platform. Both the films are part of the platform’s New Year offerings to its subscribers. Kurbaan and Wanted will be available on Reliance Big TV’s ppv platform for Rs 100 and Rs 75 for a 24-hour pass. Meanwhile, Dish TV is currently showing Kurbaan at Rs 100 per view while Tata Sky is offering both Kurbaan and Wanted at Rs 100 per »»»
Dish TV on the doorstep
A stumbling block to introducing direct to home (DTH) TV in Bhutan has been removed with the Indian government agreeing to facilitate the use of Indian satellites and downlinking Bhutan Broadcasting Services corporation (BBSC), the country’s only TV channel, in the DTH-TV package. The secretary of information and communication ministry, Dasho Kinley Dorji, said the condition was that DTH could come in only if there is BBSC. “BBSC is a prime channel and for that a licensed operator would have to pay in India to downlink (uplink) BBS, which the Indian government will facilitate,” he said. Using »»»
DTH cos may charge premium rates from advertisers in ’10
Operators may ask for more after studying the viewing habits of subscribers Advertisers may have to pay 10-15 per cent extra for using the direct-to-home (DTH) platform by early next year. Five of the six DTH players have begun measuring the viewing habits of their 17 million-plus subscribers and plan to monetise it by offering the information to advertisers for target-advertising. This means, by early next year, DTH operators like Dish TV or Tata Sky will be able to know exactly how much time their subscribers spent on any particular channel or interactive services on a particular day, an information »»»
