Saturday 31 October 2015

Giving a boost to Digital India, Facebook joins BSNL in providing WiFi hotspots

Coinciding with the visit of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, company has revealed its partnership with state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) to create 100 WiFi hotspots in rural India to drive digital penetration in the country. 

Ferzad Palia is head of Youth & English Entertainment at Viacom18

Viacom18 has given additional responsibility as head of the network’s Youth Entertainment cluster to Ferzad Palia who is the head of English Entertainment channels at present. The move comes in the wake of Viacom 18 EVP and MTV & MTV Indies business head Aditya Swamy’s recent departure.

Reliance Jio Media MSO ready for Phase 1 of cable TV rollout, early 2016

Reliance Jio Media, multi system operator (MSO) of Reliance Group is ready to roll out its cable television business across digital addressable system (DAS) in Phase 3 areas between Jan-Mar 2016.

TDSAT directs Taj TV to not disconnect Indusind signals

TDSAT on 30 October directed Taj Television (India) Pvt. Ltd, not to give effect to the disconnection order against IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd if the latter makes payment according to a schedule drawn up by the Tribunal as an interim arrangement.

Thursday 29 October 2015

Times Network launch property news channel Magicbricks NOW

Magicbricks NOW, a real estate and property channel from the Times Network was formally launched by Urban Development Minister Sh M Venkaiah Naidu, at his residence in New Delhi today. The channel will become commercial on November 1st.

ZEEL S VP Marketing, Sorbojeet Chatterjee quits

Sorbojeet Chatterjee has quit  ZEEL as Senior Vice President, Marketing for the groups Hindi General Entertainment Channels, which include Zee TV, Zee Anmol, Smile, 9X and Zee TV HD.

R Mahesh Kumar takes over as President Sun TV Network

Sun TV Network has announced the appointed R Mahesh Kumar as President, as part of their ongoing effort to strengthen their management team.  He will join the organisation on November 01, 2015 in a statement issued to BSE stock exchange. Kumar previously held the position of CEO of Sun Group’s DTH arm Sun Direct.

Wednesday 28 October 2015

ASCI upheld complaints against 74 out of 110 ads; Pulls up 3 TV channels for misleading claims

In the month of July 2015, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 74 out of 110 ads. Out of these, 28 belonged to the Personal and Healthcare category, 25 in the Education category and the remaining 21 ads were from other categories.

Mirai Communications Deploys Corpus iPlatform to Monetise its Digital Cable Network

In its endeavor to monetize its digital cable Network, Mirai Communications, a leading cable MSO group has deployed iPlatform, an interactive TV middleware from Corpus Media Labs. Mirai can now generate additional revenues through value added services including Timeshift TV, PVR recording, EPG advertising, Interactive channels and applications apart from enhancing customer experience across multiple screens including Set top boxes (HD, SD, Hybrid ) and mobile devices.

NexTV Summit- New Delhi to bring together the leaders of TV Business in India on November 25th, 2015

Dataxis, a global firm specialized in Telecom, TV & Media businesses delivering detailed market research, high quality events and specialized websites to the Telecom and Media executives and organizations announces that the first edition of NexTV Summit-New Delhi to be held on 25th November,  at Shangri-La's - Eros Hotel. 

Videocon and Microsoft launch World’s first Windows 10 Powered TV

One Touch TV, One Touch PC -

Monday 12 October 2015

Complaint against Tamil Nadu’s Arasu Cable by Makkal TV dismissed by CCI

Competition Commission of India (CCI) has rejected allegations that Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corp indulged in unfair business practices with regard to collection of carriage fee from satellite channels. 

TDSAT directs Mahua Media for Tata Sky’s payment schedule

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) has been directed Mahua Media to file the payment schedule in respect of Tata Sky by 14 October.

Anup Jalota, Ashok Tandon to be part-time members of Prasar Bharti Board

Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati set to become new part-time members Media advisor to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Ashok Tandon and noted Bhajan singer Anup Jalota are among the four persons.

Ex-telecom secretary M F Farooqui appointed Broadband Forum Chairman

Former telecom secretary M F Farooqui has been appointed chairman of Broadband India Forum (BIF) that works on enhancing broadband potential in the country. 

Saturday 10 October 2015

TDSAT disposes of NSTPL’s application as Govt. cancels tripartite agreements for DTH loan

The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has disposed of headend-in-the-sky (HITS) operator Noida Software Technology Park Ltd’s (NSTPL) contempt application against the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) as the latter has done away with the provision of tripartite agreement between direct-to-home (DTH) firms and lenders. 

Veteran music director Ravindra Jain no more

Veteran music director-singer-lyricist passed away at Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai on 9 October 2015 due to multiple organ failure. He was 71. He is survived by his wife and poet Divya Jain and son Ayushmaan.

Airtel Digital TV announces launch of 4K channel

Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of its first ultra HD 4K channel. 

Friday 9 October 2015

CBI makes 2 more arrests in Saradha scam case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today arrested Manoranjana Singh, ex-wife of former Congress minister Matang Singh, and city-based entrepreneur Santanu Ghosh for their alleged involvements in the multi-crore Saradha scam.

TDSAT directs Siti Cable in Kolkata to resume signals to all subscribers

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) on 7 October has directed Siti Cable and its subsdiary MSOs to unblock the IDs and remove on-screen displays (OSDs) of consumers of  141 LCOs of Kolkata who are mebers of Cable Operators Sangram Association.

TDSAT asks Karnataka LCO to reconcile disputes with Siti Cable

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) on 07 October has directed the Karnataka State Digital Cable TV Operators Welfare Association has been asked to visit the Bangalore office of Siti Cable Networks to reconcile their accounts and resolve their disputes about quality of set top boxes (STBs) raised in their petition before the tribunal in August this year. 

RBNL appoints Manoj Lalwani as Chief Marketing Officer

Reliance Broadcast Network Limited has appointed in Manoj Lalwani as Network Chief Marketing Officer. He will be responsible for the marketing activities for all the verticals of RBNL and taking care of Big FM, Big Magic and Big Ganga. 

Alok Agrawal puts in his papers as Group COO of Network18

Alok Agrawal, Group COO, Network18, has put in his papers. 

Videocon d2h named Pay TV service of the year at MIPCOM 2015, Cannes

Videocon d2h Limited India’s fastest growing DTH service and most valued Indian company on NASDAQ was honored with the Pay TV Service of the Year award at this year’s MIPCOM, the global television market and festival.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

DTH Operators not to use licence agreement for loans.

DTH Operators are no longer allowed to assign their Licence Agreement as Security to banks/ financial institutions as a part of tripartite agreement to get financial assistance. 

Saturday 3 October 2015

Government allows sharing of all present, future mobile spectrum

The government has allowed sharing of all spectrum available at present, and similar norms will apply to radio wave frequencies in new bands which will be allocated in future.

ON Semiconductor’s BelaSigna R281 Enables Voice Activation in Portable Devices

ON Semiconductor, driving energy efficiency innovations, has introduced BelaSigna R281, a new “always listening” voice trigger System-on-Chip (SoC) solution designed for popular consumer electronics devices such as smartphones, tablets and wearable devices. Using an audio pattern-matching algorithm developed by ON Semiconductor, BelaSigna R281 can detect a single, user-trained trigger phrase. This phrase can be any series of sounds, and is neither speech nor language dependent.  Upon recognizing this trigger phrase, BelaSigna R281 will assert a wake-up signal which, when connected to a host controller, alleviates the need for users to touch their device to wake it prior to use.

Amazon pulling Chromecast and Apple TV from shelves

Amazon said it will stop selling Apple TV and Google Chromecast devices that compete with the online retail titan’s own media-streaming hardware.

Top Sponsors Named for 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium

The IEEE Broadcast Technology Society (BTS) today announced the top-level general and reception sponsors for the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium. General sponsors include Dielectric, ERI, GatesAir, Jampro Antennas Inc., Nautel, NewTek, RFPath Connectivity Consultants, and SymbolShifters. Sierra Automated Systems (SAS) has once again signed on as the exclusive welcome-reception sponsor. In addition, a host of companies have committed to sponsoring the always popular manufacturer's reception on Thursday night, Oct. 15.

France 24 extends its distribution in Indonesia

France 24 has extended its distribution across Indonesia by concluding an agreement with MNC Sky Vision, the leading pay-television service in the country.

GreenPeak and Sensara develop innovative Smart Home platform

Sensara, the specialist in self-learning monitoring technology, has entered into a strategic alliance with GreenPeak Technologies – the world leader in the area of RF technology – for developing an intelligent Smart Home platform. Through combining their expertise, these innovative companies anticipate strengthening their front-runner positions in this fast-growing market.

Nagra powers NXT Digital, the Hinduja Group’s new ‘Hits’ platform

NAGRA, a digital TV division of the Kudelski Group and the world's leading independent provider of content protection and multiscreen television solutions, announced that it is powering NXT Digital, a new brand of headend-in-the-sky (HITS) services of the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group and its fully-owned subsidiary Grant Investrade Limited. NAGRA’s anyCAST content protection and OpenTV middleware solutions are enabling the HITS platform which will provide backend operations to local and multi-system cable operators in India and allow them to deliver high-quality video services across India. NXT Digital offers a variety of packages and services including 500-plus MPEG 4-encrypted services featuring SD and HD channels along with value-added services like PVR and educational content.

Reliance Jio appoints Amit Shah as senior vice president

Reliance Jio Media has appointed Amit Shah leaves Videocon d2h to join Reliance Jio as the SVP - Content Carriage and Value Added Services (VAS).

Proposal on compensating users for call drops by October 15: TRAI

As revealed in the Open House Discussion on call drops on 1 October 2015 the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will submit its proposals on compensating consumers for call drops to the department of telecommunications by the middle of this month.

TDSAT Seminar held in Panaji, Goa

TDSAT has organized a Seminar on 'Regulatory Framework and Dispute Resolution in Telecom, Broadcasting and Cable Services Sectors' in Hotel Fidalgo, Panaji, at Goa on 3 October 2015. These seminar held every two to three months aim to discuss various issues among the stakeholders and also listen to the problems of consumers.

Thursday 1 October 2015

Body Care – an App for Preventive Cure on iOS & Android

Care World TV - the first and largest healthcare satellite channel in Asia has announced the launch of its wellness mobile app ‘Body Care’. The app will give users access to unlimited videos on various wellness aspects ranging from beauty to diet, fitness to sex and yoga to astrology. Besides this, the app incorporates a personalised interactive feature that allows users to direct queries to Subject Matter Experts (SME)s and doctors to receive one-on-one consultation. The app interface is user-friendly and is available on both iOS and Android platforms. The app has been built with the dual intent of accessibility and privacy.

New NAB Show Global Innovation Exchange, Shanghai Event Announced

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), NAB Show and the National Base for International Trade-International High Tech Cultural Device Cluster (TCDIC), headquartered in Shanghai, announced plans for a brand new event-- NAB Show Global Innovation Exchange, Shanghai, to support the rapidly changing media and entertainment industry in China. The conference will take place December 3-4, 2015 at the Shanghai International Convention Center, Pudong, Shanghai, China. 

MSM makes Top Level Management Additions to Fuel Growth at Sony

Multi Screen Media (MSM) announced the appointment of Danish Khan as the EVP & Business Head for its flagship channel Sony Entertainment Television (SET).

TDSAT directs DEN to pay Rs 25 cr to Star

The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed MSO DEN Networks to clear Star India’s dues to the tune of roughly Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) for digital addressable system (DAS) and non-DAS areas. 

IBF re-elects the old body

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has been re-elected Star India CEO Uday Shankar as president for a second consecutive term. The decision was made at the 16th annual meeting of the IBF on 29 September in New Delhi. 

Discovery Kids brings the Masti & Fun with Kisna Karnival

Discovery Kids continues to ignite imagination of millions of children in India with its enriching programmes, compelling storylines and enduring characters. This festive season Discovery Kids brings brand new episodes of kids favourite superhero KISNA in KISNA KARNIVAL. Enjoy a month long celebration of KISNA as he along with his group of friends resolve every problem with wit and valour.

HC dismisses appeals against Sun Group to participate in FM auctions

A division bench of the Madras High Court on 29 September dismissed the Union Government’s petitions against Sun Group companies’ participation in the phase III FM auctions.

Measat appoints Santosh Desai as New Sales Director for Africa

Measat has appointed Santosh Desai as sales director for the company’s Africa business. In his role, Desai will be responsible for opening new markets in Africa, developing sales channels, and managing customer accounts.

MIB extends migration dates for FM Phase II operators till October 15

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has extended the migration dates for FM radio operators from Phase II to Phase III. 

TRAI releases draft amendment to tariff order for ‘Pay Channel’ pricing

On 30th September 2015 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) services (Fourth) (Addressable systems) Tariff (Amendment) order, 2015. amending the ‘Twin Conditions’ prescribed at retail level pricing of TV channels, linking the a-la-carte rates with bouquet rates.

Aadhaar leak: EPFO discontinues services provided through Common Service Centre

Following fear of Aadhaar data leak, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on May 2 said it has discontinued services provided t...