The decision to bring HITS has been taken with the consumers’ interests in mind since it will enable quality TV transmission at an affordable price. Consumers will soon get a cheaper option of watching digital television with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting proposing to charge zero annual licence fee from Headend In The Sky (HITS) service providers. The Ministry has sent its final guidelines to the Union Cabinet for ratification.
HITS involves delivery of digital television signals directly to cable operators via satellite. Cable operators then pass on the digital channels to consumers, using cable lines. Compared to existing digital broadcasting platforms such as DTH and Conditional Access System, HITS has the advantage of spreading digitalisation throughout the country at one go because of the country-wide footprint of satellites. “No annual fee is prescribed as such, services need to be incentivised to bring down the cost of digitisation of cable services and to ensure financial viability of HITS operators and enable them to compete with DTH,” said a Ministry source.
DTH players unhappy
DTH players are, however, not too happy with the move as they have to pay 10 per cent of their annual revenues to the Government as licence fee. “HITS services are being seen as a competition to the DTH services, then how can there be difference in Government levies. If the objective is to provide affordability then DTH operators should also be allowed to provide these services without payment of the licence fee,” said one of the DTH players. They also said that introduction of HITS will add to the capacity crunch on satellite transponders which could stall their plans to introduce high definition TV. Senior officials in TRAI said that the decision to bring HITS has been taken with the consumers’ interests in mind since it will enable quality TV transmission at an affordable price. “With the operationalisation of HITS, the competition between DTH and digital cable network will work for the ultimate benefit of the consumer,” TRAI officials said.
The guidelines finalised by the I and B Ministry is in line with the recommendations of the TRAI whereby HITS operators will have to obtain a licence from the Government by paying an entry fee of Rs 10 crore. The companies will need to have a minimum net worth of Rs 10 crore for applying for a licence. Uplinking will be allowed in both C-Band and Ku-Band only from India. The Ministry has permitted HITS players to have up to 74 per cent foreign direct investment.
Courtesy - Business Line
Thursday, November 12, 2009
TV viewers may soon have wider choice of channels
Wider choice of digital channels and better service at affordable prices could soon be a reality with headend-in-the-sky (HITS) policy likely to come up before the Union Cabinet on Thursday. To be implemented on a voluntary basis, HITS will provide digital mode of delivery of content and will enable distribution of multiple channels via satellite after aggregating them on ground from different satellites in an addressable format.
The policy -- that has been under consideration for over a year now -- is likely to bring down costs of conversion from analog to digital format from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 1,200 crore according to government estimates. As per estimates by broadcast regulator TRAI, the cost of conversion of about 6,000 existing analog cable headends from one-way analog cable network to one-way digital cable network works out to Rs 15,000 crore. Among the advantages of the system are deeper penetration of the cable market into rural areas where it has been absent because of unviability. The government hopes that this will reduce the cost of set-top boxes and further consolidation of the cable market and attract funding by improving the return on investments.
The government has been keen to ensure that the policy does not mean additional financial burden on the subscriber. "The ministry is keen that it should not entail extra cost on the subscriber and is in talks with various representatives to ensure that," a source said. The ministry has already proposed a rationalisation of duty on digital set-top boxes to bring down costs further. HITS will benefit subscribers with a wider choice of digital channels, better picture quality and value added services at affordable prices. HITS will provide greater channel capacity from the present capacity of channels placed in prime and non-prime band.
Courtesy - Times of India
The policy -- that has been under consideration for over a year now -- is likely to bring down costs of conversion from analog to digital format from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 1,200 crore according to government estimates. As per estimates by broadcast regulator TRAI, the cost of conversion of about 6,000 existing analog cable headends from one-way analog cable network to one-way digital cable network works out to Rs 15,000 crore. Among the advantages of the system are deeper penetration of the cable market into rural areas where it has been absent because of unviability. The government hopes that this will reduce the cost of set-top boxes and further consolidation of the cable market and attract funding by improving the return on investments.
The government has been keen to ensure that the policy does not mean additional financial burden on the subscriber. "The ministry is keen that it should not entail extra cost on the subscriber and is in talks with various representatives to ensure that," a source said. The ministry has already proposed a rationalisation of duty on digital set-top boxes to bring down costs further. HITS will benefit subscribers with a wider choice of digital channels, better picture quality and value added services at affordable prices. HITS will provide greater channel capacity from the present capacity of channels placed in prime and non-prime band.
Courtesy - Times of India
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Ardent fan praises Super Star Rajinikanth
Vijay TV's Kamal 50 has turned out to be a super hit show among the fans of the Universal Hero and also Superstar Rajinikanth. The show was a tribute to Padmashri Kamal Hasan for having successfully completed 50 years in Indian cinema. Vijay TV, in its own exclusive way, launched a spate of events that ran for nearly six weeks. This event, the first of its kind for any star, was carried out in different phases and telecast on Vijay TV recently.
One of our Galatta visitors Mr. Ram, after having watched the show on Vijay TV, has sent us his views on Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Vijay TV. He has praised Super Star Rajinikanth for having been a true friend to Kamal by being there at his side always. Here is his mail praising the one and only Super Star.
Dear Editor,
I watched Kamal Hasan’s 50th year Mega event via YouTube. We all know about Rajnikanth and his humanity. However, during Rajni's speech, I was completely taken aback and was shedding tears. There will none in the world who can speak high words about another co-star whom the media and fans considers a competitor. It is quite obvious now that Rajni’s feat can never be achieved by anyone else. An actor is also a human being but it is only Rajni who can maintain being the super star, a good human and leading by example. Even in past generation, I do not recall any actor who has this charisma and good heart. I was speechless after hearing Rajni’s talk. In fact, Kamal who normally does not praise co-artists above him, mentioned that Rajni need not have to so humble and underplay himself.
Let me tell this... Never in the Indian filmdom can any one beat Rajni in any way... Almost everyone is distant second compared to him. He is just awesome! And surely there are not enough words to appreciate Rajni, the real human being.
Ram
Thank you Mr. Ram for letting us know your thoughts! Keep visiting Galatta!
- Galatta
One of our Galatta visitors Mr. Ram, after having watched the show on Vijay TV, has sent us his views on Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Vijay TV. He has praised Super Star Rajinikanth for having been a true friend to Kamal by being there at his side always. Here is his mail praising the one and only Super Star.
Dear Editor,
I watched Kamal Hasan’s 50th year Mega event via YouTube. We all know about Rajnikanth and his humanity. However, during Rajni's speech, I was completely taken aback and was shedding tears. There will none in the world who can speak high words about another co-star whom the media and fans considers a competitor. It is quite obvious now that Rajni’s feat can never be achieved by anyone else. An actor is also a human being but it is only Rajni who can maintain being the super star, a good human and leading by example. Even in past generation, I do not recall any actor who has this charisma and good heart. I was speechless after hearing Rajni’s talk. In fact, Kamal who normally does not praise co-artists above him, mentioned that Rajni need not have to so humble and underplay himself.
Let me tell this... Never in the Indian filmdom can any one beat Rajni in any way... Almost everyone is distant second compared to him. He is just awesome! And surely there are not enough words to appreciate Rajni, the real human being.
Ram
Thank you Mr. Ram for letting us know your thoughts! Keep visiting Galatta!
- Galatta
Monday, November 9, 2009
I&B to expedite clearance process for TV channels
In a bid to expedite the clearances for downlinking and uplinking permission of private satellite television channels, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has commenced a process of monthly meetings to hear complaints or answer queries relating to such issues. The meeting would be held on the fifth of every month with the Director in charge of Broadcasting, Supriya Sahu, between 11 am and 12 noon to entertain any difficulty experienced by applicants in getting the clearance. "The applicants can use this opportunity to submit any relevant information/documents pertaining to their applications or uplinking/downlinking guidelines as also clarify any issues," according to a note circulated by the Ministry. "This initiative should facilitate the completion of documentation and response to queries that may require answers by the applicants and also obviate the need and practice of unnecessary visits to the Ministry by applicants."
The meetings are part of the process of an "absolutely transparent process" of granting permission as required under these Guidelines. The process of granting permission includes mandatory clearances from Ministries/Departments like Finance (Department of Revenue), Department of Space, Home Affairs, etc. The step was taken after the Ministry learnt that certain individuals claiming to be experts were offering consultancy for getting permission for Uplinking and Downlinking of channels. Senior Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com ‘categorically’ that the Ministry did not recognize any such consultants and they had no role in getting permission from the Ministry which had "a transparent set of rules and procedures and they are scrupulously followed."
-Indiantelevision
The meetings are part of the process of an "absolutely transparent process" of granting permission as required under these Guidelines. The process of granting permission includes mandatory clearances from Ministries/Departments like Finance (Department of Revenue), Department of Space, Home Affairs, etc. The step was taken after the Ministry learnt that certain individuals claiming to be experts were offering consultancy for getting permission for Uplinking and Downlinking of channels. Senior Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com ‘categorically’ that the Ministry did not recognize any such consultants and they had no role in getting permission from the Ministry which had "a transparent set of rules and procedures and they are scrupulously followed."
-Indiantelevision
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