The contentious issue of service tax on broadcasters is expected to figure prominently on the agenda of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, which holds its annual general meeting in New Delhi this evening.
The Foundation is also likely to discuss the Convergence Bill, cable piracy and the IBF report on Tam-Intam, tabled recently. The IBF recently barred airtime sellers and production houses from becoming board members in the association. At an EGM held in the last week of October 2001, the Foundation decided to bar these from becoming primary members too, in order to focus on major issues faced by broadcasters. Today?s AGM could make a start in this direction by taking up the matter of protecting broadcasters? interests against payment defaults by ad agencies, a long pending issue.

The contentious issue of five per cent service tax on broadcasting services could well rank high on today?s agenda. The central government had, earlier this year, issued a notification widening the service tax net by adding 15 new services, which include MSOs and broadband players. The IBF is piloting a representation to the government that the recepient of the service (ad agencies apart from others) should also shoulder the additional tax burden.

The Foundation may also have another issue to look at if it takes a lead from I&B minister Sushma Swaraj?s comments yesterday. Addressing a round table discussion on broadcasting rights and responsibilities in Chennai on Tuesday, Swaraj said that the IBF should identify an ideal mix of public service and commercial broadcast and look at wider issues as well.

Well it may not have a strategic partner as yet but something is certainly cooking at the Subhash Chandra promoted Zee Telefilms Ltd. The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange today that it will be holding a board meeting on 13 December to "consider, approve and authorise a joint venture agreement with Turner International India Ltd to market and distribute TV Channels of Zee & Turner and third parties."

A JV company makes eminent sense seeing as to how different the corporate culture of the two companies are. The "cultural clash" (for lack of a better phrase) would more likely be a recipe for a quick and messy divorce. A separate company handling operations will be far better equipped to get on with the job at hand.

And the JV looks like providing some synergies which are tangible rather then speculative as is often the case with Zee. Firstly there is the strength to the Zee basket of channels that the Turner products immediately bring. With HBO, Cartoon Network and CNN added to Zee‘s bouquet, the package that the advertiser is being offered will have a huge value add.

On the movies front, HBO has a firm handle on blockbuster titles and contemporary movies while Zee MGM would provide the more offbeat and older but still well appreciated films. Cartoon Network wraps it up as far as kids are concerned. As for Zee News and CNN, a content sharing arrangement already exists so there should be no problems there.

Now if Zee TV could just be set right.

There?s more in store for lovers of shooting stars.

After last month?s spectacular Leonid meteor showers, the Geminid showers will make their way through Earth?s orbit, reaching a peak on the night between 13 and 14 December.

Although Indian stargazers may not be in for as fine a treat, many regions on the planet are in for a fine celestial display, it being New Moon night. According to experts, the Geminids are usually the most satisfying of all the annual meteor showers, even surpassing the famous Perseids of August.

Studies of Geminid displays in recent years reveal showers rich both in slow, bright, majestic meteors and fireballs as well as faint meteors, with relatively fewer objects of intermediate brightness.

Geminid meteoroids are supposedly several times denser than comet dust that comprise most meteor showers, some of them as large as two grams per cubic centimeter. Experts say that the relatively slow speed at which they travel (22 miles per second) make for better viewing.

In some countries, the show could even begin by Monday night, increasingly gradually before hitting a maximum in three days. Under ideal dark sky conditions, 60 to 120 Geminid meteors can be expected to burst across the sky every hour, on average. Some of the best viewings could be from North America, particularly eastern US and Canada, where hourly rates could even exceed 120.