MUMBAI: TV broadcasters and distribution platform operators (DPOs) have offered differing views on the mandatory reporting of every change made in the addressable system which includes CAS, SMS and other related systems.

It is consultation paper ‘The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual’, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has sought comments “whether it should be mandatory for every DPO to notify the broadcasters for every change made in the addressable system.

The response of the broadcasters and DPOs are on predictable lines with the former supporting such a move while the latter has argued that the condition is too onerous on them.

MUMBAI: Disney-owned NGC Network India is shutting down National Geographic Music HD and National Geographic People HD from 24th May. The infotainment network will launch two new channels National Geographic Tamil and National Geographic Telugu.

The broadcaster has received approval from the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) to rename these channels as National Geographic Tamil and National Geographic Telugu.

For the record, National Geographic People HD is focused on people and cultures. National Geographic Music HD, as the name suggests, focusses on music. In 2015, NGC Network India had stopped the standard definition feeds of these two channels and made them available in HD.

Currently, Discovery Communications India is the only player in the infotainment space to have a dedicated regional channel in Discovery Tamil which was launched in 2011. Since then the broadcaster has not made further moves in terms of separate regional channels for other brands like Animal Planet.

The second edition of the regional version to air on Colors Marathi from May 26, 2019, onwards.

From May 26, 2019, onwards, 15 personalities which include a politician, an admired Lavani performer and a celebrity chef among others, will be seen locked in a massive 14,000 sq. ft. house set up in Filmcity Mumbai. The regional offering from media conglomerate Viacom18, Colors Marathi, has announced the second season of its flagship show - Bigg Boss. Mahesh Manjrekar, a renowned name in the Indian film industry, will play host again with contestants from the length and breadth of Maharashtra.

BENGALURU: Enterr 10 TV’s Hindi GEC Dangal topped Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 19 of 2019 ( Saturday, 4 May 2019 to Friday, 10 May 2019, week under review). Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) re-entered BARC’s weekly across genres list in week 19 of 2019.

There were six Hindi GECs two Tamil GECs and one channel each from the sports and Telugu genres that comprised BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels during the week under review. From the networks’ perspective, there were three channels each from Star India and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd Zeel), and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, SPN, Sun TV Network and Viacom18  in the list for week 19 of 2019.

MUMBAI: The Republic TV double exit poll show that was aired on 19 of May starting 4 pm set a new record in terms of traction and engagement witnessing a dramatic spurt leading to 19.8 million watch minutes. By way of reference, during the Karnataka Election Exit Poll, the overall English news genre (which is a set 6 TV channels) together achieved 13.5 million watch minutes. Similarly, during Gujarat State Election Exit Poll the total watch time of English news genre was 12.1 million minutes across BARC measured TV homes.

MUMBAI: NDTV has posted a standalone net profit of Rs 8.04 crore during the quarter ended 31st March as against a net loss of Rs 14.51 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Revenue from operations jumped to Rs 63 crore from Rs 75.31 crore in the year ago period. Total expenses saw a significant drop at Rs 63.39 crore from Rs 93.2 crore.

For the full fiscal, the company has posted a net profit of Rs 13.32 crore compared to a net loss of Rs 61.43 crore. Revenue dropped to Rs 251.5 crore from Rs 298.5 crore. Expenses shrank to Rs 256.9 crore from Rs 361.1 crore.

On a consolidated basis, the company posted a net profit of Rs 13.18 crore compared to a net loss of Rs 18.15 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Revenue from operations dropped to Rs 102.2 crore from Rs 105.6 crore. Expenses fell to Rs 95.21 crore from Rs 128 crore.

MUMBAI: The implementation of the TRAI’s MRP regime has taken its toll on TV Today Network’s Q4 results. The news broadcaster’s standalone net profit for the quarter ended 31st March to Rs 20.21 crore as against Rs 32.61 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company’s revenue from operations to Rs 165.65 crore compared to Rs 181.1 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Total expenses saw a marginal dip at Rs 142.6 crore compared to Rs 129.9 crore.

The TV broadcasting revenue operating profit dropped to Rs 29.2 crore as against Rs 62.61 crore in the year ago period. Revenue from the segment declined to Rs 141.4 crore from Rs 158.6 crore. The radio business posted an operating profit of Rs 2.91 crore compared to an operating loss of Rs 2.29 crore. Revenue dropped to Rs 4.65 crore from Rs 6.83 crore.

MUMBAI: The distribution platform operators (DPOs) and TV broadcasters have provided their comments on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) draft register of interconnection agreements regulation for cable and broadcasting sector.

The draft regulation, which was released on 22nd April, will be applicable to all commercial and technical arrangements entered into amongst broadcaster, distributor of television channels and local cable operator for providing broadcasting services relating to the television provided through addressable systems throughout the territory of India.

In their submissions, most stakeholders have suggested that the TRAI should not exempt smaller DPOs with an active subscriber base of less than 200,000 from filing information relating to their interconnection agreements.

MUMBAI: These are exciting times at Colors Marathi. The spirited team at Viacom18’s family entertainment channel is set to unveil season two of its marquee show Bigg Boss. Following the success of the debut edition, Viacom18 Marathi Entertainment Business Head Nikhil Sane is confident of raising the bar in terms of the entertainment value for the audience. Ahead of the big bang launch of the immensely popular show, Indiantelevision.com caught up with Sane. The veteran media professional delved into a range of topics from the Marathi GEC market to Colors Marathi’s content strategy for the fiscal year.

Bigg Boss is obviously a flagship show for the network. How does it play out across that network, that is, on TV and digital?

Yeah, so obviously, the TV ratings witness a jump and that is a phenomenon for every region. So the reach numbers increase phenomenally for Colors Marathi. The exciting factor for us was the Voot numbers with a peak of 55 lakh users and a weekly average of 46 lakh viewers. BB witnessed a 26 per cent growth in viewership post the IPL. Another important factor was that last year the show was available on Voot the next day. However, this time we will stream it on Voot immediately after the show is aired on TV because the kind of response that we have been able to generate, I think it makes sense to have a digital connect with Voot on the same night. Who knows, probably next year we could offer it at the same time on TV and digital.

MUMBAI: Netflix has made a new Indian hire as it gets serious about Indian content. Priyanka Chaudhari has joined Netflix India as a director and senior counsel – IP. In her role, she will handle IP, trademark and content issues. She will be reporting to the team in Los Angeles.

Prior to this, Chaudhari was working with Balaji Telefilms as VP and senior counsel – legal. At Balaji, her legal purview included OTT, movies and TV for handling documentation, regulations, litigation and content operations.