The recent decision taken by the government to allow broadcasters to uplink directly from India seems to have caught the fancy of almost all the television channels and most of them might be thinking about uplinking form India.

Not to be left behind, officials at Star will be meeting through next week to decide about uplinking from India. According to a Star spokesperson, if the policy is there, they would definitely take a look at it. He also said that they might take some decision regarding this issue by next weekend.

Asked whether Star‘s content partner for Star News, NDTV, would be applying for an uplinking license, because it might be left behind in terms of live coverage of news by rival news channel Zee News, the spokesperson said that NDTV is using VSNL‘s uplinking facilities and the time difference between uplinking directly form India and from Hong Kong is hardly be 2 to 3 minutes.

It can be mentioned that Star has its own uplinking hub in Clearwater Bay - Hong Kong form where it uplinks all its channels. This gives the group economies of scale as it uplinks its entire bouquet from there.

The recent decision taken by the government to allow broadcasters to uplink directly from India seems to have caught the fancy of almost all the television channels and most of them might be thinking about uplinking form India.
Not to be left behind, officials at Star will be meeting through next week to decide about uplinking from India. According to a Star spokesperson, if the policy is there, they would definitely take a look at it. He also said that they might take some decision regarding this issue by next weekend.

Asked whether Star‘s content partner for Star News, NDTV, would be applying for an uplinking license, because it might be left behind in terms of live coverage of news by rival news channel Zee News, the spokesperson said that NDTV is using VSNL‘s uplinking facilities and the time difference between uplinking directly form India and from Hong Kong is hardly be 2 to 3 minutes.

It can be mentioned that Star has its own uplinking hub in Clearwater Bay - Hong Kong form where it uplinks all its channels. This gives the group economies of scale as it uplinks its entire bouquet from there.

LONDON:Cricket fans will be able to listen to live BBC coverage when Test Match Special, normally found on BBC Radio Four LW and BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra (one of the BBC‘s new digital radio stations), is streamed online. Fans can access Test Match Special commentary live on both the BBC and ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) websites - www.bbc.co.uk/cricket and at www.ecb.co.uk. The facility was made available from Thursday, with the first test kicking off between England and India in the npower series.

Star TV is taking potshots at its former ally Zee Telefilms. It has been airing an interstitial on its Star Movies channel which takes a dig at Zee TV‘s pay TV Hindi movie channel channel Zee Cinema.
The interstitial starts with a shot of an office building with a neon sign similar in all respects to the logo used by Zee Cinema except for a small change: the brand it is advertising ‘Bee Cinema‘. An executive in the Bee Cinema office is shown throwing darts at a dartboard blindfolded.

A voiceover tells the viewer that unlike other channels (Bee Cinema), Star Movies does not show its viewers movies they would not like to see. The interstitial goes on to tell viewers to log on to the startv.com website and vote for their favourite movies in the pick of the week section. Star promises that it will will then show these movies according to the viewer‘s preferences and in order of their popularity.

While the introduction of this scheme is commendable, Star‘s swipe at Zee at this juncture seems surprising. For one, we all thought that the trench warfare between Star TV and Zee TV was a thing of the past. But apparently it does not seem to be.

According to some inside sources Star‘s move stems from a desire by the Star Network to get back at Zee for what many insiders believe was Zee‘s hand in the controversial Channel [V] obscenity case.

Others say that the mocking interstitial is just a teaser for the to-be-launched Star TV Hindi movie channel Star Box Office. The ground is being prepared for the launch of the classic-movies-cum new-movies channel. It is to be seen how and whether Zee will react and if we are in for another war between two industry partners-turned-rivals.

In a move to expand its online content and business in the region, CNN Interactive has appointed Bruce Dover to the new position of managing editor for CNN.com Asia Pacific, it was announced today by Scott Woelfel, president and editor-in-chief of CNN Interactive. Based in Hong Kong from August 1, 2000, Dover will be responsible for the expansion, editorial control and direction of CNN.com in the Asia Pacific. He will also be involved with CNN Interactive‘s potential new media business in the region. Dover joins CNN from News Interactive, the Australian online division of News Corporation, where he was the executive general manager since October 1998. Dover played a key role in shaping the strategic direction and growth of the company.

CNN Interactive currently operates a local-language Web site in Asia, CNN.co.jp in Japanese. Other international sites include: CNNNorge, CNN Danmark, Svenska CNN, CNNItalia.it, CNNenEspacom and CNNemPortugues.com.

The changes approved by the Cabinet in the Cable TV Act, 1995 are welcome said Ashok Mansukhani, who once headed MSO InCable. "The focus is on the provider of the content, not on cable TV operators as being culpable for any questionable content," says Mansukhani. "Earlier, a couple of cases had been filed against Star Movies where we were also named as infringers of the law. The amendment forcing broadcasters to adhere to the programming and ad code puts the onus on them."

According to him, the amendments, serve to bring even pay TV channels under the DD programming code. "There is an equalisation between pay TV and free to air TV channels. Earlier on, programmers used to take refuge under the statement that they were pay channels."

He, however, expressed doubt about the fact that the government had left policing of the amendments in the hands of local authorities. "What is all right in Mumbai may be repulsive in Agra. Hence making local designated authorities responsible for content can be a potential landmine field. A central broadcasting standards council should have been set up which will monitor content nationally. This is something the industry has been demanding."

Additionally, what has got Mansukhani‘s goose is the fact that the government (read: DD) is forcibly blocking up three channels to prop up the inefficencies of the state owned broacaster through the amendments.

"Almost 40 per cent of TV sets in India are not cable TV ready," he says. "They can receive only 10-12 channels. By blocking three channels in the prime band the government- in partnership with DD - is limiting the industry from placing the channels of their and the consumers‘ choice. DD has consistently been losing revenue to private channels and this amendment is a blatant effort by the broadcaster to improve its position, reduce competition through a government mandate."