Go digital. That seems to be the mantra amongst Indian TV channel managers these days. ETC Networks Ltd‘s etc channel is taking the same tack. The switch to a digital feed commenced on 15 July and is scheduled to be completed in September, says Yogesh Shah, director ETC Networks. etc is available to subscribers under dual illumination at present.

"We have imported state-of-the art digital boxes and have started their rollout. Within the next month an additional consignment of imported boxes will be distributed across the country to ensure the transition from analog to digital and keep up the existing viewership figures," says ETC Networks Ltd director Yogesh Shah.

Shah said that the company was going all out to stabilise itself this year. Last year ETC had pumped in major investments into acquiring film rights and setting up a news division. The latter was shut down and rationalisation of the company‘s operations is under process. "This year the focus is on getting our operations right," says Shah. Market sources reveal the channel has close to Rs 130 million as payments outstanding from advertisers on its book.

On the uplinking front, Shah says the company is still evaluating bids for earth station and playout equipment from various suppliers.

The stage is set for the Enter Media 2001 conference to be held in Mumbai on 7 and 8 August.

The seminar for the media and entertainment sector organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will be the culmination of an online interactive initiative that began at the end of June whose aim it was to identify the key issues which the industry needed to address.

According to the chairman of the task force set up to organise the conference, Biren Ghose, CEO of UTV Interactive, the conference‘s principal aim is to identify two or three key issues that have a realistic chance of being addressed if proper thought and planning is put into the effort. It will be an issues workshop which amalgamates a public as well as industry perspective.

At the conclusion of the conference a report will be presented which will set a six to 12 month time frame to resolve the issues identified. Towards this end the state and central government will be petitioned to participate in the resolutions made at the seminar. inputs from other institutions as well as efforts from within the industry will all be utilised to work towards getting definitive results, Ghose says. He gives the example of how the music industry managed to set aside its internal differences in setting up the Indian Music Initiative (IMI) against piracy.

To delienate the key issues, message boards on a Enter Media 2001/CII website will be specially created. These message boards - to be gathered from industry executives and the public at large - will represent a "market snapshot" across each of the industry verticals. The idea is to define constraints and highlight possible solutions, according to the chairman of the task force set up to organise the conference, Biren Ghose, CEO of UTV Interactive.

Others on the taskforce include Shyam Benegal (Films), Pritish Nandy (CEO Pritish Nandy Communication), Abhik Mitra (Music), Sumantra Dutta (Star India Ltd, Radio), Vijay Mukhi (Technology), Pallavi Jha (CII Chairperson - Maharashtra), Rana Kapoor / Vijay Jain (Banking), Rajesh Jog (Venture Capital) and SK Chakraborty (Industrial Development Bank of India). The venue of the conference is the ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton in Mumbai‘s western suburb of Andheri.

Star India‘s new programming strategy for Friday nights has hit the right notes from Day 1 itself, as per information provided by the company.

Market research agency AC Nielsen‘s TAM data for the first day of their screening on Friday 27 July, saw STAR Plus launch 3 new shows with a bang. The TRP ratings of the three shows, Kya Masti Kya Dhuum, hosted by Sonali Bendre, Khullja Sim Sim, hosted by Aman Verma and the horror show, Ssshhhh?Koi Hai?, have been very positive, according to a company release.

Market research agency AC Nielsen‘s TAM data show all three shows have made an immediate impact with Kya Masti Kya Dhuum opening its account at 7.23 TVRs, Khullja Sim Sim at 9.80 TVRs and Ssshhhh?Koi Hai? at 5.85 TVRs.

The Tam data is for nine cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kanpur.

The release draws attention to the fact that the Sony Entertainment gameshow Jeeto Chappad Phaad Ke‘s special episode, despite filmstar Urmilla Matondkar in the hot seat, failed to garner a decent viewership. According to the release, JCPK‘s ratings the same night is 1.9 at 78.