NEW DELHI: So you thought national broadcaster Doordarshan was a pushover? Data says otherwise. Between 9-11 pm in all TV homes on all days among viewers over 4 years of age, DD1 or National registered the highest TV rating points (TRPs) of 6.5 as well as audience share of 25.5, according to TAM data for the week ended 29 June, 2002. DD National was followed by Star Plus.
In cable and satellite homes, however, Star Plus and Sony commanded higher TRPs and audience share, while the share of DD1 in C&S homes was only 2.4.

NEW DELHI: If Doordarshan revenues are on the downswing, then blame it on those who owe DD money and the inadequacy of the current system to recover that money. As many as 45 agencies, including some advertising agencies, owe Doordarshan, the national broadcaster, a total of Rs 3,344.58 million.

Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj admitted this to the Lower House of the India Parliament (Lok Sabha) last week.

The minister further said that the CAG report is under examination by the ministry in consultation with Prasar Bharati, the autonomous body that oversees the functioning of DD and All India Radio.

The minister did not reveal whether the 45 errant agencies were still being allowed to produce programmes for DD whose total revenues revenues in the financial year 2001-02 ended March 31, 2002 stood at just Rs 6,152.1 million, slightly down from the previous year.

It had also been said that the Prasar Bharati is in the process of signing an MoU with the government that will facilitate release of funds from the government in two tranches.

Meanwhile, it has also come to light that DD1 is setting up more studio complexes in the country over the next two years.

And if there was any hope for the revival of the DD News channel, the optimists can take a break. Swaraj has now made it public in Parliament that "at present there is no proposal to start a news channel."

NEW DELHI: The Raghav Bahl-promoted Television Eighteen Ltd has recorded a net profit of Rs 15.25 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2002 as compared to Rs 11.25 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2001. The total income has increased from Rs 72.48 million in JQ-01 to Rs 78.07 million in JQ-02.

The Q1 operating profit has gone up to Rs 15.15 million from Rs.0.79 million on an year-on-year basis. The operating margin is up to 21.60 per cent from 1.27% Y-o-Y. The statement said that improved financial performance has been recorded despite the current quarter being seasonally the weakest quarter.

According to a statement issued today the Television Eighteen Group (TVEG) has posted sustained revenue and profitability growth over the last five quarters. The consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2002 is at Rs 4.18 million as compared to a net loss of Rs 8.19 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2001. Revenue from Operations has increased from Rs 62.22 million in JQ-01 to Rs 70.13 million in JQ-02.

Following the company‘s board meeting earlier in the day, Raghav Bahl, Television Eighteen‘s Managing Director said: "The company‘s performance continues to improve - the operating margin has risen substantially as a result of growth in revenues and increased efficiency of operation. We expect this trend to continue in the coming quarters."

The financial performance has been measured for Television Eighteen Group on a consolidated basis. This includes TV 18 India and its subsidiary companies TV 18 Mauritius, Eighteen Entertainment India and E18.

According to TV 18, as investors were informed, the company made a provision for the bad debts of M/s Home Trade after the Q4 ‘02 results was declared in April. Accordingly, Q4 ‘02 results have been re-compiled.

MUMBAI:There was no prime time in Mumbai tonight. All across the city from 9 pm onwards, cable feeds went blank for an hour.

This followed a meeting by all MSOs in Mumbai this afternoon to deliberate on the delay in the implementation of CAS. At the meeting it was decided that the cable fraternity would join forces with their counterparts in Delhi and observe a one-hour blackout tonight to draw attention to the issue. The meeting decided that cable operators will black out television screens from 9 to 10 pm tonight. 
no decision is taken by the government on the issue tomorrow, the cable ops will resort to an indefinite blackout from 12 am on 24 July. The decision has been taken unanimously and will be supported by distributors owing allegiance to all MSOs in the city. In the capital, MSOs have adopted a similar strategy since last Friday, resorting to an hour long blackout every day to protest the delay in the implementation of CAS.

NEW DELHI: The Hong Kong based Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) - a representative organisation of close to 120 pay TV and related companies in the Asia Pacific, many of whom have Indian operations - has submitted a note to the information & broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj which lists the problems that implementation of conditional access system (CAS) and the Cable TV Networks Regulation Amendments Bill 2002 could throw up.
The association, which counts the Star Group, Time Warner and Discovery as its members, has highlighted the fact that while analog technology remains relatively low cost, it is also vulnerable to piracy and could create more problems in the future. "Under the proposed system, there will be significant opportunity for cable system operators to continue to under-report subscriber numbers", says the association.

Mandating CAS , which require a significant amount of capital investment, could have an adverse effect on the ability of platform operators, cable operators and foreign broadcasters to introduce new services, says the association. Rate regulation could also limit a cable operator‘s ability to meet the capital requirements necessary to provide additional services to consumers, says Casbaa chief executive Simon Twiston Davies.

On the pricing issue, Casbaa says, "The Indian government has assumed that broadcasters are behind the hike in subscription revenue. Currently, about six million cable subscribers are declared to broadcasters, although the total figure is said to be 38 million. With more disclosure, the rates charged by broadcasters of the consumers will come down. In any event, the total subscription fee paid by the cable operators to the broadcasters is approximately Rs 750 Crores (Rs 7,500 million) out of the total cable revenues of Rs 8000 Crores (Rs 80,000 million)."

Government control on both the price and composition of the basic tier is ultra vires Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India which guarantees that all citizens shall have the "right to freedom of speech and expression." This freedom includes the right of every citizen to receive any form of speech or expression which is not barred under Article 19(2). Under Article 19(2) the state may impose reasonable restrictions to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, or morality, contempt of court, or incitement to an offence.

The content code in the Cable Television Network Rules, 1996 in clause 6 covers what the Government considers as un-reasonable for the purpose of Article 19(2). Under clause 4 A.2 & 3 of the proposed bill, the Government has assumed unfettered powers to control both composition and price as well as specify the number of channels which may be broadcast. Failure of the cable operators to abide by directions is a cognizable offence under Clause 16 of the Bill for which they may go to jail.

If the Government has a must carry requirement for nine channels and allows only 10 channels to be on the basic tier, it sends all the other free-to air channels into limbo as they are not pay channels and if they are not on the basic tier, they cannot be broadcast at all. This can be used at will to block certain channels.

There is no such power vested with the Government for newspapers, magazines or radio channels, points out Casbaa. However, if the Bill is passed in its present form, the government may try to assume control citing the Bill as a precedent, says Davies in the letter.

To know more about Casbaa‘s concerns relating to the clauses and provisions in the Cable Television Networks (regulation) Amendment Bill 2002

NEW DELHI: The government today said that the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Bill, 1995, already passed by the Lok Sabha, is being considered by the Rajya Sabha.
Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Sushma Swaraj, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha said that the Bill sought to mandate the viewing of pay channels through an addressable system and also empowered the government to notify from time to time and place to place, the maximum subscription charge of the basic tier of free to air channels. "The system is expected to be in the interest of consumer, cable service providers as well as broadcasters as it will bring transparency in the figures of viewership and will allow customers to choose and pay for channels they wish to watch," she said.

Her statement assumes significance in the wake of reports of the Bill having been stalled in the Upper House where the Opposition has the majority, and continuing threats by cable operators in the Capital to black out cable TV transmission from July 24 if the bill is not passed by then.