Zee-Sony likely to keep both brands, aggressively bid for sports

Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Pictures Networks India are likely to keep both flagship brands of the two companies going after their merger, while investing heavily into sports and digital businesses, according to comments made by Zee management after announcing the deal. “Both the brands are strong brands, and with loyalty attached to themselves. So […]

Colors, Star Plus & Zee TV see sharp fall in ratings after COVID-19 lockdown

Premium Hindi general entertainment channels, including Star Plus, Zee TV and Colors, have seen a sharp decline in their viewership during the COVID-19 lockdown, even as viewership of Doordarshan, movie channels and news channels have seen sharp increases, reveals ratings from BARC, India’s largest TV ratings agency. Even as general TV viewership increased, no category […]

Four pay channels likely to go ‘free to air’ from today

Four pay channels — Star Utsav, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sony Pal — are likely to go ‘free to air’ for two months from today. These channels had earlier been put in a ‘promotional scheme’ while remaining pay channels, with their prices slashed from Rs 1-2/month to Rs 0. This was intended to increase […]

TRAI refuses to postpone tariff order implementation

The Indian broadcast and telecom regulator TRAI has refused to postpone the implementation of the amended tariff order on television channel pricing in court. The Bombay High Court had, on Wednesday, asked TRAI to state whether it was open to pushing back the date for the implementation of the amended tariff order by one month […]

No plans to sell news channels: TV18 Broadcast

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 […]

Broadcasters challenge TRAI’s amended tariff order

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 […]

Star India, Sony sign deals to place apps on Jio Fiber box

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 […]

ZEE5 may launch Hotstar VIP-like plan soon

ZEE5, the video app from Zee Entertainment Enterprises, will introduce cheaper plans soon to take on rivals in the market, company CEO Punit Goenka said. “We are working on lighter packs which we will roll-out in the next couple of months,” the CEO said. ZEE5’s annual pack is currently priced at Rs 999. Goenka was […]

TRAI TARIFF FALLOUT: Times Group leaves biggies Star, Zee & Sony far behind in English movies

Bennett, Coleman & Co, also known as Times Group, has emerged as the most successful provider in the English movie segment in the aftermath of new TRAI tariff order, upsetting the calculations of well established players like Star India and Zee Entertainment. According to data for the last week of March from Chrome Data Analytics […]

TRAI TARIFF PLANS: How to deal with higher TV channel prices

With only 36 hours to go for TRAI’s deadline to implement new tariff plans for cable and DTH platforms in India, all DTH providers and most cable users are faced with the dilemma of how to choose the channels and packs they are going to watch in the new regime. The new system was supposed […]

TRAI RULES: Broadcasters announce 300+ channel packs, Star highest at 72, TV18, Zee at 50

An analysis of over 300 channel packs and plans announced by prominent broadcasters like Star, Zee Entertainment, Sony, Sun TV and TV18 under new TRAI tariff rules reveals that Star has the highest number of such packs. The company, which has only 43 pay channels, has managed to create a whopping 72 packs and plans […]

TRAI RULES: Sony launches new, cheaper channel packs under Happy India

Sony Pictures India has become the fourth broadcaster to revamp its channel packages under new TRAI rules, responding to market conditions. Broadcasters like Zee, Times Network and TV18 had earlier tweaked their channel prices to make them more affordable and accessible to users. With Sony also tweaking its packages, Star India remains as the only […]

LIST: Sony Pictures unveils 6 channel packs in SD, 4 in HD

Sony Pictures Networks India, the company runs popular TV channels such as Sony Entertainment Television, Max, AXN & Ten Sports, has unveiled a clutch of channel packs ahead of the December 29 deadline by the TRAI for the introduction of new tariff plans. SONY’S UPDATED PACKS CAN BE SEEN HERE The key difference between Sony’s […]

NCLT admits insolvency plea against Ortel Communications by Sony Pictures

The National Company Law Tribunal has admitted a petition filed by Sony Pictures Networks India Ltd against cable and broadband operator Ortel Communications. The petition, under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of India, was for initiating insolvency proceedings against the cash-strapped cable and broadband operator. The NCLT also appointed an interim resolution […]

After ‘Bhabhiji Ghar Par hain’, is it ‘Jijaji Chhat Par Hain’ for Edit II?

According to sources, Edit II Productions, which produces the massively successful Hindi comedy Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain for &TV, is likely to produce another comedy ‘Jijaji Chhat Par Hain‘, this time for SAB TV. &TV, for the record, is a brand of Zee Entetainment, while SAB TV is owned by Sony Pictures. Unlike Bhabhiji, which […]

Zee Entertainment sells Ten Sports to Sony Pictures for Rs 2,600 cr

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) said it will acquire TEN Sports Network from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE) and its subsidiaries for 385 million U.S. dollars (around Rs 2,600 cr). The acquisition will add South Asia’s leading sports network to SPN’s existing portfolio of channels and help Sony to compete better with Rupert Murdoch’s Start […]

After Star, Sony India comes down hard on moves to curb net neutrality

After Star TV, Sony Pictures Networks India — which runs several popular TV channels — has raised a red flag against any move to splinter the Internet into free and paid. “Differential pricing leads to restriction of access to information. It enables TSPs to play the role of gate-keepers to the internet where they are […]