Leading channels like Colors, CNN-IBN, CNBC TV 18, Sun TV and Hungama have switched off in all Digicable networks in Central, North, West and East India due to non-payment of subscription fees.

With effect from today, Viacom18, Network 18, Sun Network and Disney channels distributed by Sun 18 (North) will be switched off across Digicable networks across North, West, East and Central India.

Digicable viewers across these regions will not be able to view their popular shows and programmes on leading channels like Colors, MTV, CNBC TV 18, CNN-IBN, Sun TV, Gemini, Surya, Disney Channel and Hungama, amongst others, from April 13 onwards.

The switch-off by the broadcasters is due to non-payment of subscription fees and breach of agreement by Digicable. Sun18, which distributes 46 channels from the four leading networks, had given Digicable a 21-day notice to ensure that the much-delayed subscription payments are paid. The deadline of the notice ended on April 12, 2012.

Digicable is one of the largest cable distribution companies in the country. It is owned and promoted by Jagjit Singh Kohli, MD & CEO, and Yogesh Shah, Joint MD. Kohli, during his three-decades-long career, has set up and headed major Multi Service Operators (MSOs), including InCable, WinCable (now renamed Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd.) and Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd.

Source: Bestmediainfo.com

With digitisation of the cable TV industry in India soon reaching its sunset date, MSOs are making large capital expenditures to provide STBs (set top boxes) to their subscribers. However, with few significant revenue opportunities, VAS is becoming an important strategy by which operators increase their revenues and profits. VAS brings in multiple opportunities, some of them in the form of video-on-demand, video conferencing, local classifieds listing, TV-commerce, games, viewership measurement, and advertising.

To begin with, approximately 50 MSOs across India have partnered with local television advertising specialist Amagi Media, wherein the latter will bring in its patent-pending technology, work flow and business model to generate local advertising on satellite TV channels; this, in turn, will leverage the existing cable MSO infrastructure. The partnership includes names such as Hathway, InCable, Digicable, GTPL, Fastway Cable, and Manthan.

Explaining the process to afaqs!, K A Srinivasan, co-founder, Amagi Media, says, “Amagi provides city-level advertising on national TV channels. This is done by using its unique and patent-pending technology, and an innovative business model. It buys media inventory from TV channels, disaggregates and sells TV ad spots at city-level. For city-level targeting, Amagi partners with cable MSOs, places its technology box at cable head-ends, and delivers city-level advertising to advertisers.”

“Amagi pays a share of the revenues to cable MSOs. There is zero investment from cable operators to enable this service and they get to participate in advertising revenues,” he adds.

In India, ARPU (average realisation per user) of TV subscribers is the lowest in the world. This forces operators to explore opportunities outside subscription revenues for growth.

An MSO operator, on conditions of anonymity, explains that cable MSOs have significant advantage with respect to DTH providers in terms of local access, ability to provide reverse data path, and the possibility of multiple services (telephony, internet and TV) to be piped over the existing infrastructure. “By far, advertising is the most promising prospect, as it comes without large additional expenses. Advertising at regional level leverages the inherent benefit of local addressability that cable TV provides,” he says.

Pinank Vin, vice-president, Gujarat Telelink Pvt Ltd (GTPL), says, “Given that ARPUs from subscribers are limited, it is critical for MSOs to explore other avenues to leverage their access to subscribers. This concept of generating local advertising for MSOs is new, but it is worth a try as it will help us generate additional revenues.”

According to industry experts, this local advertising on satellite TV channels is a $6 billion revenue earner in the US, which is 15 per cent of all TV advertising revenue in the country.

Source: afaqs!

Talks under way for partnership model to provide last-mile connectivity to 4G users.

Reliance Industries (RIL) is planning to pick up a minimum 26 per cent stake in leading cable operators, including multi-system operators. The move is a part of the group’s strategy to rope in cable operators as well as multi-system operators (MSOs) as partners to provide last-mile connectivity to consumer homes for 4G broadband services, which would include data, voice and television.

According to two independent sources, RIL has approached Den Networks, Digicable Networks, Hathway Cable, the Hinduja–promoted IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (InCable) and several independent MSOs as well as smaller operators with good regional presence. There are more than 6,000 cable operators in the country.

The move comes shortly after RIL decided to invest in media group TV18′s two main companies through rights issues. The deal would give RIL access to content for its 4G broadband internet venture.

RIL had last year bought 95 per cent stake in the Mahendra Nahata-promoted Infotel Broadband Services Ltd (IBSL), which won broadband wireless access or 4G spectrum across the country.

Elaborating on its strategy, an RIL spokesperson said Infotel was engaged in bringing affordable, cutting-edge wireless broadband and broadband-enabled digital services to customers across the country. To support this business model, Infotel is pursuing an economically prudent strategy of deploying a judicious mix of owned and partnered assets. In this context, the spokesperson said, Infotel had, and continued to be, engaged in discussions with potential partners where a partnered approach could create win-win opportunities for the company, its customers and partners.

RIL, however, did not want to comment on specific names, given the “strategic and confidential nature” of the discussions.

The MSOs and cable operators also declined to comment on talks with RIL. Sameer Manchanda, chairman and managing director of Den Networks, Ravi Mansukhani, managing director of Indusind Media, and K Jayaraman, CEO of Hathway Cable & Datacom, declined to comment on the issue.

With the government setting a deadline for digitisation by 2012 in metros and by 2014 across the country, cable operators and MSOs would require a massive investment of Rs 25,000 crore.

Den Networks plans to invest Rs 1,500 crore over three years and Hathway had said it would invest Rs 500-600 crore on cable digitisation in the first phase. According to analysts, most MSOs have chalked out huge fund-raising plans for digitisation, including stake sales.

According to a KPMG report on the media and entertainment industry, there were 103 million cable homes in 2010. Of those, 68 million were connected by analogue cables, while 28 million used DTH and five million switched to digital cable.

With RIL planning to roll out 4G services, tying up with MSOs will help them both in data and content options. That will help them in mass-scale adoption of their technology. In one go, most households will get internet and content on several devices from television to tablets. For RIL, this makes sense as MSOs have last-mile access to customers, says Farokh Balsara, leader of media and entertainment practice at Ernst & Young (Europe, India, Middle East and Africa).

RIL watchers say the company has put together an elaborate 4G broadband wireless access (BWA) roll-out plan that will offer consumers speeds 5-10 times better than 3G.

RIL has ambitious plans to connect over 100 cities and towns across the country through a fibre optic network (partly of its own and partly leased) in the initial stages. Cable operators and MSOs together have already laid 100,000 km of fibre reaching consumers’ houses across the country. That is what RIL wants to leverage.

The senior Ambani may have to tackle some regulatory issues of cross-holding under which cable, broadcasting and DTH companies cannot hold more than 20 per cent stake in each other. It was for this reason the Anil Ambani-promoted RCom, which operates in the DTH space through Reliance Digital TV, internet protocol TV (IPTV) and broadband services (all come under Reliance Digicom), was unable to acquire cable company Digicable. The government had earlier looked into the structure of Sun TV and the Zee group as both are present in an array of areas — cable distribution, DTH and broadcasting. But, they got clearance.

Source: Business Standard

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Tuesday, December 27, 2011 — (Business Wire India) ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s leading sports broadcaster, today announced the launch of services of its HD channels ESPN HD & STAR Cricket HD on the cable networks. The broadcaster announced that it has signed distribution contracts of HD channels with 3 leading national level MSOs including IndusInd Media Communications Ltd (Incable), Seven Star network in Mumbai and UCN in Central India. Services of ESPN HD and STAR cricket HD were hitherto available on almost all leading DTH players but this it will be the first time that the HD sports channels would be made available to the cable viewers in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, TS Panesar, Vice President – Affiliate Sales, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, “We are delighted that cable viewers would now have the opportunity to watch the highly anticipated India Australia cricket series in high definition. We are extremely confident about the future prospects of our HD offerings and this is just a start. With the digitization of the entire distribution industry in cable fraternity on the anvil, this deal with the leading MSOs is a harbinger of what is in store in the future.”

“We have a very content heavy year in front us. The Australian tour will keep us busy till March 2012. It is a long tour with more than 37 days of live international content. The tour will be followed by the broadcast of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. As the official broadcaster of the London 2012 Games, we will showcase the complete Olympics experience for the first time to sports fans across the region, with coverage on ESPN STAR Sports’ multiple platforms. The live telecast of ICC T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka follows on our networks in September to be followed by the telecast of Nokia Champions League Twenty20 in October, ” added Panesar.

Nagesh Chhabria, CEO, Incable, said, “We are delighted to sign the distribution contract for HD channels from ESPN STAR Sports bouquet. Even though the number of subscribers of HD channels are currently low, we are confident that the base would grow at a very healthy pace. This is the future and as always, we wanted to be at the forefront.”

Nadir Ali, Director, Seven Star, added, “It is interesting to note how the industry is shaping up. We are ready with the backend infrastructure to support and infact lead these new changes that are happening in the cable distribution sector. HD channels have huge potential and we are delighted to add ESPN HD and STAR Cricket HD in our product offering.”

Jagdish Paliya, Director, UCN Nagpur, said, “We have always believed in giving maximum options to our consumers and the addition of ESPN HD and STAR Cricket HD is a step in that direction. India Australia tour should give a fillip to the HD subscriber base in the country.”

Source: Businesswireindia.com

With a clear strategy of targeting the 20 million-plus television consumers residing in townships and residential campuses of various government and public sector undertakings, Wire & Wireless India Ltd (WWIL), the country’s first Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) operator, aims to add up to two million subscribers in the next 12 months, while competing with existing direct-to-home (DTH) operators.

WWIL, which has around 10 million cable subscribers (both analogue and digital), expects to invest Rs 300-400 crore over next year to expand its HITS operation across the country under the brand name “SITI Satellite HITS”.

HITS is the latest satellite-based cable distribution platform, recently cleared by the central government. The HITS operator uses satellite to distribute digital cable channels across the country at one go. The consumers have to use a set-top box to access HITS signals, that come at Rs 500 per box, almost one-third the cost of a DTH set-top box.

WWIL has so far managed to convert analogue cable services into digital cable at many government and PSU townships in North India, including the campus of the elite National Security Guards at Manesar in Haryana, the Hindalco townships of Renukoot and Renusagar in Uttar Pradesh, the IFFCO townships of Aonla and Bareilly (UP), the ordinance factory in Dehradun, Indo-Gulf in Jagdishpur (UP) and the Naphtha Jhakri Power Corporation. It is also gaining subscribers in towns like Shimla, Bhopal, Sirsa, Rudrapur, Sangli and Kolhapur, among others.

WWIL has also tied up with builders in Bihar to install HITS receivers in housing complexes at Patna and several other towns in Bihar to tap consumers before any DTH operator reaches them. “We are HITS-ready across 130 towns in the country. We are offering high-quality digital cable and various services at affordable pricing. We hope the government will soon come out with a tariff plan exclusively for HITS, to give us encouragement in digitalising the analogue cable infrastructure at a faster pace,” says Sudhir Agarwal, CEO.

WWIL is aggressively installing digital cable infrastructure in such locations to receive HITS signals. So far, no other company has applied for a HITS licence, even though several large cable companies like Digicable, Hathway, InCable and regional cable operators are looking to become a HITS operator.

Source: Business Standard