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    Prasar Bharati invites proposals from event producers

    Sep 03, 2001

    Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has invited proposals from experienced producers and production houses for event-ba

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    Sony signs deals for distribution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives

    Sep 01, 2001

    Sony Entertainment Television is on the move.

  • Sony signs deals for distribution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 01, 2001
    News Headline

    Sony Entertainment Television is on the move. It was on 4 August that the channel started beaming in Australia on the South Asia Television platform along with Zee TV and two other channels off the Optus B3 satellite.

    Before the end of the month, Sony will also be available in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives, says Shantonu Aditya, senior V-P, franchise channels & distribution.

    In Pakistan, Sony is being distributed by Leo Communications, in Bangladesh, through Nationwide Communications and in Maldives it is JSat Communications.

    The channel is being beamed off the PAS 10 satellite as is the case in India.

  • Communications minister introduces Communications Convergence Bill in Parliament

    Submitted by ITV Production on Aug 31, 2001
    News Headline

    Communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan finally did it. After a lot of hectic activity behind the scenes which saw the printing of copies of The Communication Convergence Bill, 2001 (CCB 2001) over the past two days, Paswan introduced the long-in-gestation bill in Parliament on the last day of the monsoon session.

    Communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan finally did it. After a lot of hectic activity behind the scenes which saw the printing of copies of The Communication Convergence Bill, 2001 (CCB 2001) over the past two days, Paswan introduced the long-in-gestation bill in Parliament on the last day of the monsoon session.

    In fact, various ministries which could be impacted by the proposed new legislation, had announced during the Budget session that the bill would be introduced in the Monsoon session, but everyone took the statements with a pinch of salt. The reason: the fear of consensus amongst all of them.

    The Bill calls for the setting up of a common regulatory authority for information technology, communications and broadcasting. It provides for the setting up of a super-regulator -- the Communication Commission of India -- converging the existing regulatory authorities into the new entity.

    The Cabinet had on Sunday approved the legislation and the consequential repeal of five laws, including The Telegraph Act, 1885, The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, The Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Posession) Act, 1950 and The Telecom Regulatory of India Act, 1997 , and The Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 which are to give way to the new convergence law.

    The Communications Commission of India will have its head office in Delhi with regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. It will be 12-strong with a chairperson, at the most 10 members, and a Spectrum Manager. Eight of these will be whole time members with the remainder part-time.

    To resolve any civil liability action suits amongst service providers, the Commission will appoint one of its officers as an Adjudicating Officer to investigate whether one of them has contravened any rules or orders which could have led to civil liability.

    The Communications Commission of India will license:

    1) Network Infrastructure Facilities: These include earth stations, cable infrastructure, wireless equipment, towers, posts, ducts and pits used in conjunction with other communication infrastructure, and distribution facilities including facilities for broadcasting distribution.

    2) Network Services: These include bandwidth services, fixed links and mobile links.

    3) Network Application Services: These shall include public switched telephony, public cellular telephony, global mobile personal communication by satellite, Internet protocol telephony, radio paging services, public mobile radio trunking services, public switched data services and broadcasting (radio or television service excluding continued).

    4) Content Application Services: These include satellite broadcasting, subscription broadcasting, terrestrial free to air television broadcasting and terrestrial radio broadcasting.

    5) Value Added Network Application Services: Internet services and unified messaging services.

    Surprisingly services such as call centers, electronic-commerce, tele-banking, tele-education, tele-trading, tele-medicine, videotex and video conferencing have not been proposed to be brought under the purview of the proposed new act, as they are "Information Technology" led (can someone please clarify this).

    The Bill calls for the setting up of a seven-member (including a chairperson) Communications Appellate Tribunal by government notification to hear the grievances of individuals not happy with any decisions or orders of the Commission. It will have the same powers that are vested in a civil court.

    Additionally, a Universal Obligation Fund to which all service providers will contribute will also be set up.

    The Bill seeks the setting up of a Spectrum Management Committee under government notification, with the Cabinet Secretary as its chairman, and the Wireless Advisor as the Spectrum Manager and secretary of the committee. The Spectrum Manager will look after issues relating to the frequency spectrum both internally and with international agencies, set fees, and ensure maximum and effective utilisation of the spectrum.

    Content Access Service providers will have to ensure that they provide enough indigenous programming, follow copyright laws. Cable TV operators will be able to retransmit only licensed services, not monopolise their networks with their own services, and also provide for certain channels for the public broadcaster.

    The Bill makes life simpler for cable TV operators and network infrastructure providers to lay cables underground, overhead, across any public property by simply applying to the concerned local authority. The authority is duty bound - under the Bill - to give permission to the applicant immediately as long as it promises to undo or pay for any damage he may cause to the property.

    It‘s not as if the the Communication Convergence Bill, 2001 is likely to become law soon. It will have to be put up before a committee of Parliamentarians for vetting and then debated in Parliament before finally being enacted.

    Observers say the wait could be as little as three months to as much as a year. Or even longer. Remember the Broadcasting Bill of 1997?

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    Communications minister introduces Communications Convergence Bill in Parliament

    Aug 31, 2001

    Communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan finally did it.

  • National Geographic to speak more Hindi

    Submitted by ITV Production on Aug 31, 2001
    News Headline

    It‘s all about geography after all. When in Greece do as the Greeks would do. Most international satellite television and cable TV channels have been going in for dual audio feeds for their services.
    With star rival Discovery going Hindi a long time ago can National Geographic stay far behind? Nyet. Come mid September, the channel is going to be available in a dual Hindi-English feed from 7:00 am to 1:00 am, all of 18 hours, in order to strengthen its connect with Indian and south Asian audiences. It was earlier airing just four hours of Hindi dubbed shows.

    "Much emphasis will go toward making the programs in simple Hindi language which appeal the masses right from an office boy to a grandmother sitting in northern part of India," says National Geographic Channel associate vice-president programming Vijay Raman. "At the same time it will not put off English speaking individuals in a family as two to three generations can sit down and watch it together. The Hindi will be very simple," he stresses.

    "NGC isn‘t a niche channel which it is often perceived to be," adds Raman. "It‘s got universal appeal and caters not only just to people of all age groups, it is liked by people across all the sections of society and the viewership and the television ratings that we have been getting indicate that it is like any other mainstream channel. We receive feedback not only from well-heeled in the SEC A category but also from individuals living in slums."

    NGC claims a penetration of 18-20 million homes and is distributed in India by co-owner Star India.

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