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Anil Wanvari
The battle in the UK market is likely to enter a new phase with the two major Hindi television channel players facing competition from STAR Plus, which is slated to make a debut soon. But a year-old sparring match between two players -- Zee Telefilms and Sony Entertainment Television (SET) - was decided recently.
Zee Telefilms had filed a complaint with The Independent Television Commission (ITC) in the UK last year alleging the arm-twisting tactics of SET. Well, the news is that late last month the ITC dustbinned the Zee Telefilms complaint, according to Justin's Pay TV & Satellite News.
The ITC announced that it had not upheld a complaint by Zee TV about alleged anti-competitive clauses in the agreement between Front Row (a pay-per-view service for some cable operators) and Columbia Tri-Star, a sister company of Sony Entertainment Television India.
The complaint was filed because cable operators -- General Cable and Telewest -- as parties to the Front Row agreement with Columbia Tri-Star, had agreedto the carriage of the SET channel, as a condition of the supply of pay-per-view rights.
As a consequence, General Cable and Telewest switched off Zee TV and replaced the channel with SET. The ITC reasoned that it was true that certain clauses within the agreement between Front Row and Columbia Tri-Star created a clear tie-in arrangement requiring cable companies involved in Front Row to carry the SET channel in order to obtain pay-per-view rights.
It added that these agreements could have anti-competitive effects and cannot be condoned. But, it added that the benefits of Front Row's deal with Columbia Tri-Star were far greater than the detrimental effects of the anti-competitive clauses and therefore did not justify intervention by the ITC at this stage.
The agreement between the two would definitely result in greater competition in the premium pay-TV market, the ITC concluded. Hence, it did not take any action against SET or the cable operators or Front Row. It has, however, appraised the CompetitionDirectorate of the European Commission about Zee TV's complaint. Should we say it's another round to Sony?
Media indies get a new lease on life
Are media independents going to have a field day in the Indian market? In the past they had been written off but apparently, great times are ahead for them. The restrictive proposal disallowing non-creative agencies from handling media for a company made by the 3A of I seems to have been put in the garbage can. At least for now.
Recently, the 3A of I permitted the Sam Balsara-headed Madison DMB&B to manage the entire media planning and buying for Coke, despite the fact that it doesn't handle any creatives for the multinational. What does it mean for media independents, otherwise called the indies? Good times. Because the threat of the 3A of I may have driven away some brands from doing business with companies like Carat and to a lesser extent Vibrant.
However, that you can make money from media - despite getting little but loathing from fellowprofessionals in the industry - is evident from the rapid strides that Carat has made and the slew of accounts it manages. The buzz now is that even Zenith, the other big media indie, is once again planning an entry into India.
CIA of course had a representation agreement with the MAA group, which is existent or not, one is not sure. The management of Zenith had once earlier mulled an entry into India in partnership with Mudra, ABCL and Vibrant. But that did not get going. Hence, the plans were shelved. But now things are hotting up once again. Will Zenith finds its zenith in the Indian market this time around?
Loss to the advertising world
One of the veterans of the media business in India is no more. Premnath Khanna, 76, once a media director with Lintas: India (as it was called then), passed away last week. He had been ailing for nearly a year.
Khanna served with Lintas for more than 40 years, and was a consultant with the organisation even after his retirement. While this writer did nothave an opportunity to meet him, some of today's luminaries worked with him in media at a time when the important segment of the ad business was not really respected. Among them were: Helen Anchan, V Ramani, Suku, Rajesh Pant, Sainath Iyer, and Meenkashi Madhvani.
Khanna gained a lot of respect from his peers and his colleagues for his efforts to bring in professionalism into this much-neglected field. The advertising world is poorer with his demise. RIP, Mr Khanna.
The writer is the editor of The Indian Cab&Sat Reporter. Feel free to email with your comments to television@vsnl.com or television@hotmail.com
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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