Mittal joins from Reckitt Benckiser where she was regional head of media-South Asia

MUMBAI:  Former regional head of media-South Asia Reckitt Benckiser Bhavana Mittal has joined RPSG Group as the head of media & digital. She will be based in company’s Gurgaon office.

RPSG group comprises of a huge portfolio including renowned brands like Too Yumm!, Spencers, Nature’s Basket, and Saregama Carvaan among others.

Mittal joins the group with over two decades of experience in the industry and has worked with a number of successful brands. She had started her career in 1998 at Saatchi & Saatchi as media executive. She has also worked in  WPP-owned media agency GroupM. She had also been associated with agencies such as Contract Advertising and Cheil Communications previously.

MUMBAI: The direct to home (DTH) and cable operators are not in favour of allowing TV channel selection through third-party apps. In their submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the operators have voiced concerns third-party apps and consequent sharing of information using API between distribution platform operators (DPOs) and consumers.

In August, the TRAI had issued draft (Second Amendment) to the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Standards of Quality of Service and Consumer Protection (Addressable Systems) Regulations 2017. Through this draft regulation (second amendment), TRAI had comments of the stakeholders on the issue.

The aim behind the draft regulation is to provide consumers the ease in channel selection and reduce TV viewing charges by optimising their subscription while allowing them to view channels of their interest.

DTH operators Dish TV, Tata Sky, and Bharti Telemedia have provided comments. On the cable side, Hathway Digital, DEN Networks, GTPL Hathway, and Siti Networks have made submissions.

In its submission, Dish TV stated that there is no need of a regulation for API application as there is no non-compliance on the part of the DTH operators which invite the intervention by the authority for any corrective measures.

It also said that there is no need or a requirement for laying down a mandatory stipulation for the DTH operators to adopt a new API application mechanism when the DTH operators already have in place adequate and effective mechanism satisfying the same purpose.

Dish TV submitted that there are issues like data confidentiality, security and misuse involved in allowing third-party developers (TPDs) to build channel selection apps. It further added that TPDs don’t have the locus standi as they are not under TRAI ambit, therefore, they cannot be brought within the judicial scrutiny under the TRAI Act.

The authority has not prescribed any framework for the operation of the proposed TPDs, no rules and regulation governing the services to be provided by them and there is no clarity regarding fixing their accountability and counter checks or corrective measure in case of any negligence/failure and/or technical constraints on their part to execute any command.

MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has notified the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Register of Interconnection Agreements and all such other matters Regulations, 2019.

The new regulation mandates that the broadcasters must report details of interconnection agreements with distribution platform operators (DPOs) including commercial details to the authority. This includes the details of all other individual agreements which include marketing, placement, agreements on advertisement slots, and extended credit facility.

The regulator has further stated that the marketing fee details and for that matter, any kind of fee for a channel, between broadcaster and distributor shall be reported to the authority.

“Thus, any incentive (monetary or otherwise) for marketing or support or visibility or placement signed between Broadcaster and distributor of television channels shall be reported to the Authority by the broadcaster,” TRAI said in its explanatory memorandum.

Unlike carriage fee, the TRAI has followed a principle of light-touch regulatory regime, whereby no ceiling or formula has been prescribed on placement fee, marketing fee or any other nomenclature of mutual agreement among service providers.

As regards the placement agreement, the authority noted that as per the extant regulatory framework, the broadcaster may offer discount within the prescribed limit or pay the mutually agreed fee, after signing the interconnection agreement, to a distributor for placing the channel at the desired position in the EPG.

In addition to reporting their RIO, the broadcasters will be reporting the details of the information of the individual agreements signed with the distributor of television channels, as per RIO. Further, the broadcasters will also be reporting the details of all other individual agreements signed with the distributor of television channels.

Advertisers to benefit with further consolidation of the viewership pie.

MUMBAI: Just when it felt like the dust on the NTO had settled, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) came out with yet anotherconsultation paper reviewing the order, seeking more fundamental changes in channel pricing and bouquet formation. As clarified by TRAI chairman RS Sharma, while the regulatory body does not plan to revise the pricing framework, it is surely looking at fine-tuning the existing parameters as consumers are facing certain issues because of the current set of rules.

This has once again left a big question mark on the fate of broadcasters and might have a bigger impact on advertising revenues as well.

Y&A Collective co-founder S Yesudas told Indiantelevision.com that this uncertainty over the tariff order and channel pricing will impact nice channels the most, resulting into a dip in their revenue.

He said, “The biggest sufferers will be niche channels, particularly those which are mid and bottom-rung. Even as the power to choose rests with consumers and the general mindset of sensitivity for the paid-for options resulting in those always taking precedence, the snacking-in viewership will reduce.  Between the two time periods, pre-new tariff order to July 19, there’s apparently already a drop of approximately 7 per cent of the total TV impressions. This will consequently mean revenue reduction.”

HyperCollective founder and CCO KV Sridhar (Pops) also agreed that the past few months have seen a dip in the revenues for broadcasters, barring a few big ones, because of many reasons like the economic slowdown and growth of digital bouquets, along with the NTO.

“The NTO is putting a lot of pressure on the broadcasters and some easing out is required, maybe not so suddenly but definitely. The bigger groups like Star and Sony can survive in the turmoil, but it is difficult for smaller groups, especially independent channels and some regional channels,” he said.

TheSmallBigIdea CEO & co-founder Harikrishnan Pillai shared that this ambiguity over the tariff might result in advertisers taking their money to digital platforms than spending on television.

Star India issued a notice to Meghbala Cable on 13 August

MUMBAI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed Meghbala Cable And Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, in an order dated on 2 September, to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Star India within one week. The cable service provider has been instructed to pay the balance amount of the total outstanding due within a period for further two weeks.

Star India issued a notice to Meghbala Cable on 13 August disclosing that the latter is required to clear the outstanding dues upto invoiced amount for June aggregating to Rs 2,62,97,810. According to the notice, the cable service provider was supposed to pay the required amount on 3 September.

Learned counsel for Meghbala Cable has submitted that it has reduced the outstanding dues over a period of three months and hence some more accommodation will enable them to liquidate the entire arrears so that it may start paying the current invoiced amounts in accordance with the agreement and the industrial practice.

“Evidently, the petitioner (Meghbala Cable ) will be liable to pay the invoiced amount even for subsequent months like July and August, 2019 very soon. Therefore, only a limited accommodation can be granted to the petitioner to clear the outstanding dues covered by the notice. For that purpose, we direct that respondent (Star India) shall not give effect to the impugned notice until further orders if the petitioner pays amount of Rs 1.5 crore within one week from today and the balance amount within a period for further two weeks. We trust that petitioner shall make efforts to pay the future invoiced amount within stipulated time,” TDSAT said in an order on 2 September.

MUMBAI: Hinduja Ventures Ltd (HVL), which recently became an operating media company, aims to become PAT positive in FY20 by reducing costs and increasing revenue. The other aim of the company is to retire debt.

The TV distribution of HVL was earlier housed under IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL) with Vynsley Fernandes as its CEO. Fernandes continues to be at the helm of the TV distribution business comprising InDigital (cable) and NXT Digital (HITS).

HVL is the only company to provide service through dual-mode of transmission – digital cable and headend in the sky (HITS). It also provides broadband service through ONE Broadband brand.

Talking about the gameplan for FY20, Fernandes said that the company intends to go into the market with a combined offering of digital cable, HITS, broadband, and content.

 

“The very fact is that we offer digital cable, HITS, broadband and content will help us to grow ARPUs. We are not selling individual products. We can ringfence consumers as we offer a one-stop-shop solution. We can improve our solutions. We can bring in efficiencies in our backend which is the subscriber management system, the billing, processes, field forces etc. All of this amounts to 400 basis points if you look at a cost base,” Fernandes told TelevisionPost.com.

He further stated that the combined entity has a very healthy debt to equity ratio of 1:1. “We want to retire debt in this coming year. Our idea is to become a debt-free company. This will add Rs. 100 crore to the bottom line and the EPS benefits greatly. Overall it is a very clear, tight framework comprising of three steps. First, grow revenues through a combined product offering. Second, keep costs under control by synergising the backends of all the businesses. Third as a result of all this see the benefits trickle down to the bottom line.”

Mumbai: Ujjain – an ancient city in the heart of India-is a place where history and mythology converge. It was once the capital of a great kingdom that sought to unravel the mysteries of time and space. Today, its cultural and religious epicenter is the temple of Shiva’s most powerful manifestation – Mahakaleshwar, Lord of Time. The modern city – fifth largest in Madhya Pradesh – still has an elemental connection with its past. Along with legends and oral histories passed down generations, Ujjain or Ujjaini was known to be an important centre of scientific discourse and the measurement of time. It is said that the temple of Mahakaleshwar is situated at the point where the ancient Indian Prime Meridian and the Tropic of Cancer once intersected. In fact, Ujjain still has a functioning Jantar Mantar, one of four ancient Indian observatories and sundials, used for making astronomical calculations and measuring time. The city’s connection to the concept of time continues. The Hindu calendar era, Vikram Samvat is still in use. It is named after Vikramaditya – the legendary king of Ujjain. These and other fascinating facets of Ujjain, its presiding deity, the faith and festivity Shiva inspires, come together as a compelling story in ‘Mahakaleshwar- Legends of Shiva’ premiering Thursday, 5th September at 8pm on History TV18.

The site of Mahakaleshwar Temple is believed to be the most important of the twelve ‘Jyotirlingas’, where Shiva appeared as an endless column of light. Today, it draws lakhs of devotees from all over the country, especially during Mahashivaratri – the festival celebrating the union of Shiva and goddess ‘Parvati’. It’s a time for faith, fanfare and unfettered festive fervor. The documentary follows life in the city and the temple, leading up to the celebrations. With unprecedented access and scholarly insights, the documentary pulls back the layers, to uncover the hidden meanings, symbolism and significance of rituals, practices and beliefs. It provides an opportunity for viewers to experience colour, culture and tradition formed over millennia- a unique aspect of India’s heritage.

Two Hindi GECs returned to BARC’s across genres list replacing Hindi movies channels

BENGALURU: Enterr 10 Television’s Hindi GEC Dangal returned to first place in  Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms (across genres list) in week 34 of 2019 (Saturday, 17 August 2019 to Friday, 23 August 2019, week or period under review). Two Hindi GECs – Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) flagship channel Sony Entertainment Television or SET and the Viacom18 flagship channel Colors returned to BARC’s across genres list on all platforms at the cost of two Hindi movies channels in week 34 of 2019.

Six Hindi GECs, two Tamil channels and one channel each from the Hindi movies and Telugu genres made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 34 of 2019. From the Network’s perspective, there were three channels from Star India, two channels from SPN and one channel each from B4U, Enterr10, the Sun TV Network, Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel). Eight of the channels in the list were on the pay platform and two were free to air or FTA.

In BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on the pay platform, there were five Hindi GECs, three Telugu channels and one channel each from the Hindi movies and Tamil genres. There were three channels each from SPN and Star India, two channels from Viacom18 and one channel each from the Sun TV Network and Zeel in BARC’s across genres list on the pay platform. Besides the eight pay channels that were present in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms, the two more channels present in the across genres weekly list on the pay platform were SPN’s Hindi movies channel Sony Max and the Network18 associated Telugu GEC ETV Telugu. The Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV headed the across genres on the pay platform weekly list.

In BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on the free platform for week 34 of 2019, there were three channels each from the Bhojpuri, Hindi GEC and Hindi movies genres, and one channel from the Marathi genre. Four of the channels were from Enterr 10 Television, three were from B4U, two were from Zeel and one channel was from Skystar during the period under review. Quite obviously, Dangal headed this list also.

As mentioned above, Dangal headed BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 34 of 2019 with 860.070 million weekly impressions as compared to second rank and 827.063 million weekly impressions in week 33.

Sun TV slipped a place to second rank in week 34 of 2019 with 850.711 million weekly impressions in week 34 of 2019 as compared to first rank and 902.564 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus climbed up a place to third place with 837.519 million weekly impressions as compared to fourth place and 751.106 million weekly impressions in week 33.

Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa dropped a place to fourth rank with 784.095 million weekly impressions as compared to third rank and 761.055 million weekly impressions in week 33.

Zee TV jumped two places to fifth rank with 673.096 million weekly impressions in week 34 of 2019 as compared to seventh rank and 614.306 million weekly impressions in week 33.

SET re-entered the list at sixth rank with 661.005 million weekly impressions in week 34 of 2019.

Another SPN pay Hindi GEC Sony SAB climbed down one place to seventh rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 34 of 2019 with 641.869 million weekly impressions as compared to sixth rank and 632.959 million weekly impressions.

B4U’s Hindi movies channel B4U Kadak dropped three places to eighth rank in week 34 of 2019 with 617.522 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth rank and 683.075 million weekly impressions in week 33.

Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors reentered BARCs’ weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 34 of 2019 with 569.158 million weekly impressions at ninth rank.

Rolls out a range of Airtel Xstream devices, applications and services for a rising Digital India

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel (Airtel), India’s largest integrated telecommunications services provider, today announced the launch of its converged digital entertainment play: Airtel Xstream.

Airtel Xstream is part of Airtel’s vision of building a world-class digital entertainment ecosystem for Digital India and make it accessible to customers through innovative devices and exciting applications. Over the coming months, Airtel plans to roll out a range of exciting solutions to cater to the entertainment needs of every customer segment of India that is getting transformed through rapid adoption of high speed data services.

All the content on one platform, delivered across screens: Airtel Xstream brings one of the widest entertainment catalogues – hundreds of satellite TV channels, tens of thousands of movies and shows in English, Hindi and multiple Indian languages, millions of songs, plus access to all the popular OTT entertainment apps on one platform. It enables customers to access all this content across the screen of their choice – TV, PC, and Smartphone with a unified User Interface.

Future Ready platform for connected Homes: Airtel Xstream devices will come with capabilities beyond world-class entertainment and will be the IoT gateway for enabling a range of solutions for connected homes.

Exclusive benefits for Airtel Thanks customers: Airtel Thanks customers will enjoy exclusive benefits on Airtel Xstream, including free access to premium content from Airtel’s content catalogue plus offers on a range of other services.

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel chief product officer Adarsh Nair said, “Airtel is on an exciting mission to provide a broad array of digital services and platforms that can form the foundation for a rising India. As part of our digital entertainment play, our vision is to truly massify digital entertainment and make it accessible to more and more customers through innovative platforms.

“Today, we are announcing India’s first converged entertainment platform Airtel Xstream that brings together your favorite content including Live TV, video, music, news, and sports across an OTT smart stick, internet enabled set top box and handheld devices. Digital India is transforming the way content is being consumed over internet connected devices. Airtel Xstream will cater to needs of a new generation of consumers who are looking for seamless and converged entertainment across multiple screens at home and on the go.”

With the launch of Airtel Xstream, Airtel has become the first company in India to enable a seamless digital entertainment experience, with a unified user interface across all screens. Airtel has rolled out a new range of Airtel Xstream connected devices that will make any TV a smart TV and will be available to customers starting today. Airtel Xstream devices offer blazing-fast performance and slick viewing experience through solid product engineering, deep design excellence coupled with strong device specifications.