The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is in the process of enforcing a new tariff scheme for cable and DTH networks in India. The system was supposed to ensure greater consumer choice by making channels available at cheap rates and ridding the networks of junk...
ENTERTAINMENT
DTH customers on long duration packs to get TRAI plans from Dec 29
Subscribers of Direct-to-Home satellite services on all existing plans, including long-duration packs, will be migrated to schemes compliant with TRAI’s tariff order on TV channels from 29 Dec, according to Dish TV, India’s biggest DTH operator. The company said the TRAI rules are applicable to...
TRAI Tariff Order: Discovery cuts channel prices by up to 90%
Consumers can expect to see a sharp fall in channel prices in days ahead, going by the trend revealed by Discovery Communications, one of the first broadcasters to publish channel prices under TRAI’s new tariff order. TRAI has mandated a new tariff structure for cable...
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...
Jio Music no more, gets replaced by JioSaavn
Reliance Jio has pulled its enormously popular Jio Music app and replaced it with JioSaavn, a new app based largely on Saavn, a competitor that the company had acquired in March. Users who have enabled auto-updating of their apps will be upgraded to the new...
Hathway to launch Android TV box next month; Play Store support built in
Hathway, one of India’s top cable feed providers, said it will launch its Smart Hub, a smart set-top-box that will run Google’s Android operating system, in the market next month. This will make it the second big player to come on-board the Android TV platform,...
Consumers to benefit from new TRAI tariff scheme next month – Hathway
Hathway Cable & Datacom, one of India’s largest cable feed providers, said the implementation of a new TRAI tariff scheme for television from next month will empower consumers, even as it will be ‘not so good’ for broadcasting groups that make heavy use of bundling....
Zee Keralam launch date fixed for Nov 26
Zee Keralam, the Malayalam channel from India’s second biggest TV broadcasting company, will launch in exactly ten days on Nov 26, the company has revealed. Zee will compete with Malayalam offerings from Star India, Sun Network and local channels like Flowers and Amrita. The group,...
Zee5 added to NetRange Smart TV app store
Zee5, the content app from the Zee Group, has joined the NetRange, an app store found on televisions manufactured by global TV makers such as Philips, Grundig, HiSense, Thomson, Skyworth, Sharp and TCL. With this, the Zee5 app will become instantly available on lakhs of...
Dish TV boxes to get support for Internet apps by December
Dish TV, India’s largest direct-to-home satellite television service, said it will send out software upgrades to over 4 mln (40 lakh) of its users that will enable them to install apps to watch Internet content on their TV by December. “There are almost 4 million...
Sun Direct unveils India’s cheapest HD packs at Rs 2.50 per channel
Sun Direct, the satellite TV service from Sun TV group, has started offering the cheapest high-definition channel packages in India. The DTH service, which used to offer HD channels only as part of ‘base packs’ that came with a large number of standard-definition channels, has...
Advertising environment ‘soft’ – HT Media
HT Media, which publishes English newspaper Hindustan Times and Hindi newspaper Hindustan, blamed poor advertiser sentiment for its second quarter results. The company’s July-September revenue had fallen by 6% even as costs rose, pushing it to a rare loss of Rs 19 cr before non-cash,...
RIL to announce Hathway, Den acquisitions tomorrow – CNBC
CNBC TV18, controlled by Reliance Industries, reported that the diversified company is likely to announce its acquisition of two of India’s top cable companies, Den Networks and Hathway Cable and Datacom, tomorrow. The TV channel, controlled by Reliance via a trust, said the acquisition is...
PVR opens Aura multiplex at Park Square Mall in Whitefield
SPI Cinemas, a part of India’s largest multiplex chain PVR, has launched at Park Square Mall in Whitefield in Bengaluru. The four-screen cinema is set on the third and fourth floors and can seat 696 people in total. With the launch, PVR’s network now stands...
High Court allows Cobrapost to publish video on Dainik Bhaskar
Delhi High Court has set apart a lower court decision that imposed a stay on the publication of a video by website Cobrapost that allegedly showed political bias among employees of Dainik Bhaskar group. DB Corp, the publisher of Dainik Bhaskar daily, won the injunction...
Star agrees to share cricket matches with Reliance’s JioTV
Star India has agreed to share the feed of cricket matches involving India with Reliance Jio’s live TV app JioTV. Till now, JioTV users had to install Star’s Hotstar app to watch any of the network’s sports channels. The sharing agreement is valid for five...
TRAI tariff order positive for distributors – Hathway Cable
The upcoming new system of selling television channels in India will de-risk the business model of distribution companies such as cable and DTH providers, the country’s largest cable feed provider said. Starting in 2019, television channel operators will no longer be allowed to enter into...
Airtel, Netflix sign content-sharing, billing agreement
Airtel and Netflix announced an expansion of their partnership in India through which the telecom operator will sell and promote Netflix content to its customers. Airtel TV, the video app from the operator, will have a dedicated row of Netflix content. It is not clear...
PVR purchases Satyam, 16 other multiplexes for Rs 633 cr
PVR, India’s largest multiplex operator by far, said it will acquire 72% of SPI Cinemas, which operates 17 multiplex theaters in South India including Chennai’s Sathyam, for around Rs 633 cr in cash, and the remaining 28% by issuing its own shares. SPI Cinemas is...
PVR opens 4-seat multiplex at Phoenix United Mall in Bareilly
PVR Cinemas said it has opened its 137th multiplex at Phoenix United Mall in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. With this, said India’s largest cinema exhibitor, it now has 13 multiplexes in Uttar Pradesh. The company has also increased the total multiplexes in North India to 49. The...