India’s major cable and DTH companies, such as Tata Sky, Airtel Digital, Dish TV, Hathway and GTPL, are likely to unveil new plans and TV channel packs today under TRAI’s amended tariff order. According to the amended tariff order — which has not been stayed by any court so far — all distribution platforms (cable […]
The Bombay High Court has not granted any stay on TRAI’s modified tariff order for TV channels that is scheduled to come into effect from March 1. Instead, the bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and RI Chagla posted the matter for February 12 and 13. This is the third time that broadcasters have had to […]
The Bombay High Court did not grant any interim stay on the TRAI’s amendments to last year’s tariff order at the second day of hearing on the matter, making it even more likely that broadcasters will be forced to cut their channel prices soon. Instead of issuing a stay, the High Court has posted the […]
Zee Entertainment, the second-biggest broadcasting company in India, continued to bleed under the combined impact of a slowing economy and the company’s decision to increase channel prices under the new TRAI tariff order. While the slowdown in the economy has resulted in companies cutting down on advertising, this has been exacerbated by Zee’s decision to […]
Hathway Datacom, one of India’s top cable feed providers (MSOs) finally posted a profit after remaining saddled with losses for several years. The company was able to post a profit due to various factors, including a sharp fall in pay channel costs thanks to TRAI’s new tariff order and a reduction in its cable TV […]
Most of the channel packs currently available to cable and DTH customers are likely to disappear on Mar 1, given that broadcasters like Star, Sony and Zee have missed a 45-day window for making them complaint to new rules. This means that consumers who are currently subscribed to packs from Star, Zee, Colors and other […]
Mavis Satcom, which operates channels under the Jaya TV banner, has become the first broadcasting company to comply with regulator TRAI’s order to publish updated channel prices by end of day today. The company published prices of four channels and one bouquet. The channel prices remain unchanged and range from Rs 0.50 for Jaya Plus […]
Rahul Joshi, Managing Director of TV18, today said his company has no plans to sell its news business. “We’ve outrightly denied any such story in news. In news, the group remains absolutely committed to grow the business. “As you’ve seen, we’ve committed so much investments in digital, on television. So there’s no question of getting […]
Viacom18, the entertainment-focused joint venture of TV18 Broadcast and US-based ViacomCBS, will launch a new content app focusing on premium, English language content, CEO Sudhanshu Vats said today. Commenting on his company’s third quarter results, Vats said the app is currently undergoing beta testing. Viacom18 currently has two apps, Voot — which largely offers Indian […]
The Bombay High Court did not issue a stay on the implementation of the amended TV channel tariff order issued by TRAI on News Year’s day, but kept the possibility open when it takes up the case again on January 22. Broadcasters, under the aegis of Indian Broadcasting Foundation, had approached the Bombay High Court […]
TV18 Broadcast Ltd, one of India’s top three broadcasting companies, reported yet another quarter of declining advertising revenue, but the company’s profits zoomed due to cost cuts. Non-subscription revenue — which is mostly composed of advertising sales — fell by Rs 181 cr (16%) in October-December of 2019 compared to the same quarter of 2018. […]
Even as the channel owners today took TRAI to the courts over changes to channel pricing rules, the regulator has issued a statement responding to their concerns. Broadly, it said the latest changes were required to overcome ‘teething problems’ associated with such a radical shift to a choice-oriented television distribution regime, but also criticized some […]
With just two days remaining for a deadline to file amended TV channel tariffs, a case filed by India’s big broadcasters in the Bombay High Court has been listed for hearing tomorrow in front of Justice SC Dharmadhikari. Broadcasters, including Star India, Zee Entertainment, Sony Networks and others, have come together under the banner of […]
Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ Zee5 has become the latest content app from a major Indian broadcaster to be added to Reliance Jio’s Fiber box, following close on the heels of Star India’s Hotstar and Sony Pictures Networks’ Liv. With this, Jio Fiber now offers apps from nearly all the major entertainment broadcasters of India with the […]
India Ratings, a unit of Fitch Group, said new tweaks to TRAI’s 2017 tariff order — scheduled to come into effect on March 1 — are likely to reduce revenue for channel owners, be neutral for cable and DTH players and reduce costs for consumers. “India Ratings & Research (Fitch Group) believes that Telecom Regulatory […]
Media and telecom sector regulator TRAI has amended its 2017 tariff order — which came into effect a year ago — introducing a new price-cap of Rs 12 per pay channel, down from Rs 19 earlier. It also introduced new safeguards and conditions to curtail the practice of forcing unwanted channels upon consumers. However, these […]
Tata Sky’s much awaited Android set-top-box, Tata Sky Binge+, is all set to become available in the coming 2-3 weeks as a dealer has leaked the technician’s reference guide for installing the service. The manual, leaked on social media, confirms what has already been reported — it will be built on top of Android TV […]
A story from moneycontrol.com, a news portal run by the Network18 media group, drew an unusually sharp reaction from Raghav Bahl, one of the pioneers of television news broadcasting in India who now operates Quintillion Media Pvt Ltd. In an message to his employees, Bahl attributed the report — titled “Bloomberg’s India Venture with Raghav […]
Subhash Chandra has resigned as the chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, five days after his group sold another 16.5% stake in the company. “In light of the changes in shareholding, Subhash Chandra has expressed his intention to resign as Chairman of the Board with immediate effect,” the broadcasting company informed. “The Board accepted his resignation […]
Two major broadcasters, Star India and Sony Pictures Networks, have signed deals with Reliance Jio to place their content apps on the telecom provider’s fiber to the home set-top-box, even as others are in talks to do so. Under the deals, Jio will provide a fixed amount for each subscriber who accesses these apps for […]
