Mumbai: Broadcasters on Wednesday night will begin the phased genre-wise pullout of analogue television channels from the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai three weeks ahead of the complete shift to digitised delivery from 1 November.

The switching off of analogue signals of all English movie channels will start from 11 pm. They will serve a big jolt on 12 October by shutting analogue signals of Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) for two hours between from 2 pm on Friday, 12 October, before going ahead with the switching off of analogue signals of more genres.

In a letter to multi-system operators (MSOs), Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) president and Multi Screen Media CEO Man Jit Singh said analogue signals of Hindi movie channels will be switched off in the four metros from 11 pm on 15 October, followed by English, Hindi and business news channels from 11 pm on 18 October and Hindi GECs from 11 pm on 22 October. A copy of that letter is with Indiantelevision.com.

The decision to switch off analogue channels in the four metro as part of the final push for digitisation was taken during discussions held under the aegis of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Will there not be a consumer reaction? "For subscribers who will demand these channels, we are ready to install free digital set-top boxes till 31 October. They can then watch these channels. They will need to pay for the digital services only after 31 October. Since this is a short window, there shouldn‘t be a problem," a senior executive of a leading MSO said on condition of anonymity.

MSOs who have not agreed to the switch off will, however, continue to get these channels. The major MSOs like Hathway Cable & Datacom, Den, Siticable and Digicable have, however, agreed for a genre-wise switch off ahead of digitisation.

The government on Wednesday said an average of 77 per cent of cable TV homes in the four metros have installed set-top boxes required for receiving digital television signals, led by Mumbai with 99 per cent of homes digitised. Kolkata follows with 73 per cent homes digitised, Delhi 66 per cent and Chennai 59 per cent.

As agreed during meetings at the I&B Ministry, MSOs will be giving separate letters to the broadcasters as per a draft prepared by the IBF requesting them to switch off analogue signals. MSOs are required to give complete details of the analogue signals they receive along with the letter. Such request letters were sought from MSOs as otherwise switching off analogue signals would not have been legally tenable, particularly after a recent order by the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) on a petition by ESPN Star Sports barring MSOs from switching off analogue signals of its sports channels before 1 November.

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Broadcasters, MSOs agree for genre-wise switch off ahead of 1 November

MUMBAI: In view of the 31 October 2012 deadline for implementation of the first phase of digitisation in four metros, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has decided to reschedule the dates for the inaugural Indian TV Fest. ITF?12 was earlier scheduled to be held in Goa from 2-3 November, 2012.

Digitisation of cable TV is the next step forward for the Indian TV industry. Measures have been taken so that no further delays happen in the implementation with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the broadcast industry taking keen interest in the same. IBF, an association of broadcasters, has decided to channelize all its focus and all its might towards ensuring a successful rollout of digitization in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. 

Announcing the rescheduling, IBF persident Uday Shankar said, "We at IBF are committed towards the successful implementation of digitisation. At this stage our priority is to ensure that we put in all the industry might behind digitization so that it is successfully completed by the sunset date of November 1, 2012. We understand the importance of this date for the television broadcasting industry; hence IBF has deferred ITF ?12 to a new date."

"I would also like to add that from the time we announced the Indian TV Fest?12, we have received encouraging support from industry peers, sponsors, media and from delegates who have registered with us. This overwhelming response is an indication to the enthusiasm and interest for the festival. The ITF?12 has been rescheduled to a later date and will be conducted as planned," he said.

IBF adds that it has received encouraging support from industry peers,sponsors, media and from delegates who had registered for the event.Rescheduled dates for the festival will be announced shortly.

While the industry is bracing itself to usher in an all new era, many members of the broadcasting industry, its allied industry and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) are likely to be busy with last minute execution and operational details. Indian Broadcasting Foundation received many requests to reschedule the dates of the festival. Being a representative body of the industry, IBF has decided to take the decision that is going to be appreciated by all beneficiaries.