Regional TV to have a greater say in IBF

Font Size -

Soma Das

Posted online: Friday , July 25, 2008 at 05:41:51

With the regional channels market heating up and all the major media conglomerates including Star, Zee and NDTV group already having or eyeing a stake in vernacular market, Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the apex industry body representing broadcasters, is on an expansion spree, integrating regional channels into the fold of the industry body.
In a series of meetings held in the southern cities of Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin, and attended by the CEOs of most south-based channels, IBF has decided to form two to three sub-committees in some southern cities most likely to be stationed at Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin to regularly take stock of issues which are local in nature and cannot be taken care of under the aegis of a national body like IBF. “This marks the beginning of a larger expansion plan. We have started by increasing membership in southern states but the plan is to go step by step to all the regions and expand IBF to address region specific issues. We are working towards inclusion of Jaya TV, Real Estate TV, Mana Telugu, India Vision, Sriya Broadcasting services, Yes India, Jain TV, Makkal TV among others,” said Naresh Chahal, secretary general, IBF.
Chahal told the press that integrating channels from North-East into IBF fold is next on cards. “The need of constituting regional sub-committee arose because the issues of one region do not find resonance in other regions. For instance, carriage fees is not an issue in Chennai while it is a major issue elsewhere. Similarly in pockets, dealing with multiple system operators take precedence, at other places local cable operators becomes a priority. “By forming such regional-level bodies, regional channels can voice their demands in a better way. Star Group is already present in Tamil, Bengali and Marathi and has plans to expand into Telugu and Gujarati space. Zee group is already present in Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi etc while NDTV Imagine has already announced its plan to go regional next year, yet to decide on the languages it will venture in.

Cable services to be licensed
In a suo moto recommendation, telecom & broadcast regulator Trai has said that the country’s highly fragmented cable TV industry should migrate to a licensing regime from the existing registration system, in view of the growing convergence and to facilitate growth of the sector.
The recommendations which have been forwarded to the I&B ministry, has sought a separate licensing framework for local cable operators (LCO’s) and multi-system operators (MSOs).
Trai has recommended an entry fee of Rs 10,000 for LCO’s operating at the district level and Rs 1 lakh at the state level, both for a period of five years. At present, registration for a cable TV operator is valid for only one year, with a provision for annual renewal.
The current duration of a year was considered grossly inadequate for long-term investment and business planning by a cable TV operator, according to the regulator. The existing registration fee for cable TV operators is Rs 500, renewable at the same amount.
Trai has pegged the entry fee for a district-level MSO licence at Rs 1 lakh and set a net worth clause of Rs 5 lakh. The entry fee for a state-level MSO licence has been proposed at Rs 10 lakh and a net worth of Rs 10 lakh. No annual license fee has been envisaged. MSOs aggregate content from different broadcasters and provide it to LCOs.
Trai has recommended an additional administrative cess of 10 per cent of the licence fee to pay for record keeping and data maintenance. The fund would be maintained by post office superintendents responsible for granting district-level licences. The service area for cable TV licences has also been revised to the revenue district or the geographical boundaries of the state, as the case may be, in accordance with the licence as Trai found lack of clarity on jurisdictional areas.

Dish TV in high demand in UAE
Dish TV decoder, a product of Zee TV, is being sold illegally in the UAE despite a ban on it in the gulf nation as the efforts of the authorities has failed to stop the sale, officials of the company said.
We have launched an awareness campaign asking people to refrain from using the Dish TV services and informing them that it is illegal, officials of Real Media-Zee Network said.
Manoj Mathews, Vice-President, Corporate Communications at Real Media-Zee Network, told the press that they have a tie-up with e-vision for the campaign.
“The problem has been persisting for quite some time now. The content of Dish TV is just for India and is illegal outside the country. The receivers and cards of Dish TV are being smuggled into the country by dealers. We are trying to curb the practice,” he said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Economy had directed the port authorities across the UAE to confiscate TV decoders being smuggled into the country.
The report quoted many dealers as saying that Dish TV has been a craze among the people of Asian origin and is cheaper than the locally available cable TV services from E-vision, the cable TV service provider in the UAE.
The dealers said that there are big agents in the market who import the decoders and the cards in thousands from India. A sales executive with E-vision said that they were suffering losses because of the Dish TV. “People are inclined more towards the Dish TV as it airs all the sports channels as well as movie channels at a cheaper rate.

Name*		Email ID*
Subject*		Country*
Message*	Characters remaining