The Union cabinet okay on 7 May to CAS, increasingly becoming synonymous with a Can of Assorted Sorrows rather than Conditional Access System, has compelled both the cable and broadcasting industries to get into huddles, separately though. While the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the apex body of broadcasters operating in India, is reportedly trying to organise a meeting of its members on Friday, various cable organisations have decided to sink their differences and come together as for the first time the cable industry feels it has got the broadcasters in a corner. With a little bit of help from a section the Indian government (IT, Telecom and Parliamentary Affairs minister Pramod Mahajan is reported to have commented during the cabinet meting that CAS will not benefit the nation despite I&B minister Sushma Swaraj rooting for it).

On the condition of anonymity, a senior executive of IBF admitted to indiantelevision.com today, ?The cabinet okay to conditional access systems can open up a can of worms and the way it was pushed through is slightly surprising. Over the weekend, we will try to come out with a statement which will reflect the broadcasters viewpoint on the issue and the cabinet decision.?.

The Hallmark channel is gallopping ahead if one goes by the annual numbers released by its parent Crown Media Holdings. Crown claims that its subscribers globally increased 35 per cent to 91.5 million worldwide as of 31 March 2002, from 67.6 million subscribers at the same time in 2001. Some 44.9 million of these subscribers are from the US while 46.6 million of them are spread over 110 countries.
Crown Media‘s gross revenues increased to $41.4 million in the first quarter of 2002, a 68 per cent increase from $24.7 million in the first quarter of 2001 while net revenue in the same period increased 71 per cent to $39.5 million, from $23.0 million in the prior year‘s quarter. The difference in gross and net revenues is due to the netting of subscriber acquisition costs and other fees against revenue.

Crown says the channel is in fine fettle in terms of viewership too. During the first quarter of 2002, it achieved its highest-rated quarter in network history in the US, according to Nielsen Media Research, averaging a 0.6 primetime household rating. This represented a 50 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2001. The Hallmark Channel US has shown the most growth in primetime household delivery among all advertising-supported cable networks since its launch on 5 August 2001, the company says.

It is taking steps to improve the viewership numbers further: in March 2002, it announced that it would commission 24 movies to be produced by Hallmark Entertainment, which will premier on the channel before Christmas 2002. These films cover a wide array of genres, including dramas, mysteries, and westerns.

Says a jubiliant Crown Media Holdings CEO David Evans: "We are very pleased with the continued success of the Hallmark Channel, as is evident by increased ratings performance both in the US and abroad."