SonyLIV recently set its foot in the Tamil and Telugu markets and promised 4000 hours of content. Given the fact that Sony Pictures Network doesn’t have a Television channel in these markets, the network is looking to make a big mark by creating originals and dubbing its earlier shows. Uday Sodhi, Business Head – Digital, Sony Pictures Networks India, told exchange4media that their objective is to go digital first in these markets by launching 10-15 originals this financial year.

It’s official. Television channels can now buy landing pages and it cannot be held illegal. The recent judgment of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), which sets aside the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s direction dated December 3, 2018, certainly comes as a breath of fresh air for broadcasters and distributors of television channels.

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel’s direct to home (DTH) arm Airtel Digital TV added 391,000 net subscribers in the exit quarter of FY19 registering 45.7% QoQ and 69.7% YoY growth.

The DTH operator had added 222,000 net subscribers in Q3 FY19 while in the corresponding quarter of the previous the net additions stood at 230,000.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) was up 0.6% QoQ to Rs 233. On a YoY basis, the ARPU saw a 2.2% growth from Rs 228. The monthly churn was under control at 0.8% in Q4 compared to 1.3% in Q3 and 1.1% in Q4 FY18.

MUMBAI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed Antrix Corporation not to give effect to its termination notice to direct to home (DTH) operator Independent TV provided the latter clears the dues.

Independent TV has filed an application before the tribunal seeking a direction upon Antrix to not give effect to the notice of termination dated 27th May for a period of seven days till 5th June on the condition that DTH operator will abide by suitable directions of this tribunal.

The DTH operator pleaded before the tribunal that it is facing financial difficulties for a few more weeks only. But still, it is prepared to make good the default by handing over a cheque in favour of Antrix for an amount of Rs 4 crore. The cheque is dated 5th June.

MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has posted a net profit of Rs 364 crore for the financial year ended 31st March. This is an increase of almost 5.7 times compared to a net profit of Rs 64 crore in the previous fiscal.

PAT Margin has seen a major improvement at 5.9% compared to 1.1% in FY18. The FY19 revenue of the DTH operator has jumped 8.11% to Rs 6113 crore compared to Rs 5654 crore in the previous fiscal.

It is pertinent to note that the DTH operator has revised its financials for FY18.

According to a May 2018 Crisil report, the DTH operator had reported a net profit of Rs 408 crore for fiscal 2018 as against Rs 8 crore in FY17. It had reported a revenue of Rs 5719 crore which was an 8% increase over Rs 5302 crore in FY17.

MUMBAI: Manoj Kumar Pandey on Friday was named as the new CEO of Rajya Sabha TV by the central government. Since August 2017, the role was being performed by Prasar Bharati CEO as an additional charge. Vempati wished Pandey the very best to take forward "India's best performing Parliamentary Channel".

"The highly professional team of Rajya Sabha TV under the able editorial leadership of Rahul Mahajan has set a high benchmark for serious television news analysis and discussion. I hope they will continue with the high standards of excellence in the days to come," Vempati stated.

MUMBAI: Three months since the new TRAI tariff order (NTO) came into the picture, but it might take three to six months for the dust to settle in the industry, according to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) CMO Prathyusha Agarwal.

 At Zee Melt 2019 a session was conducted-“TV revenue pie” with panellists Agarwal and BARC India EVP partnerships and growth Aaditya Pathak. The session was moderated by Provocateur Advisory principal Paritosh Joshi.

According to Agarwal, NTO has been a game changer because various channels and sectors that went unnoticed became visible. She said that with its implementation she has seen high involvement in purchases of the channels. “This relates because the subscription numbers will get transparent and you have the understanding that this person is purchasing your channel,” she added.

MUMBAI: As content consumption in regional languages is going to be the next big thing, over-the-top platforms in India are expanding their footprint in every major market. SonyLIV, which already made its foray in other local markets, has now marked its entry in South India. With over 4000 hours of language content, the video-on-demand platform recently launched its service in Tamil and Telugu. Sony Picture Network India’s (SPNI) digital arm is primarily targeting the 18-34 age group and aims to make a difference with an original-first strategy.

MUMBAI: Technology has brought development in terms of the language that marketers use, the platforms they use to target consumers efficiently, and the stories they are telling. But all this has also led to a significant ignorance of the core of communication campaigns- the humans they are being served to. The narratives are highly data-driven and often ignore human sentiments as they have evolved over the centuries. The first day of Zee Melt 2019 saw two of the speakers touching broadly on this topic of utilising human insights for creating meaningful campaigns and products.

MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms' digital venture ALTBalaji showed 6x revenue growth in its second year of operations. While the over the top platform was predominantly focusing on the domestic scene in the first two years, it is set to give its international business a major push in the next two years.