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Murdoch: Still hungering for
DTH
There was great speculation whether
Rupert Murdoch would do it again - raise the DTH issue,
which has got Star TV into trouble time and again in the
past, what with rivals rushing to ministers and getting
them to unenthuse over-excited information and broadcasting
ministers about allowing it in India. But Murdoch apparently
seems to have been undeterred by the past, when he met with
I&B minister Arun Jaitley. He popped the same proposal:
allow DTH. In a different garb though.
The minister - in a meeting with journos - said that Murdoch
has proposed that he will use DTH for long-distance education
in India in conjunction with the Internet, a proposal former
ISkyB number 2 Urmilla Gupta has been flaunting for some
time now. Jaitley said that Murdoch told him that he was
considering tying up with some Indian Universities to promote
distance education and health training.
In a forty minute discussion with the Minister, Murdoch
said that he was in favour of an open skies policy wherein
he expected the Govenment's whole-hearted support. Murdoch
also highligthed the fact that Ku-band broadcasting is not
harmful and it is the wave of the future and India cannot
be left out of it. True, because even a so-called totalitarian
(in Murdoch's words) state like China is experimenting with
DTH.
When asked about the restructuring of Star TV, he said that
the process was still on but there was no time-frame for
its completion. Mr Murdoch further revealed that he had
picked up a small stake in a Bangalore based IT company
about which no details were disclosed by him.
Murdoch told reporters that Star TV is considering going
in for an for an Initial Public Offering but a time frame
for it has not been set as yet. He later met Information
Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan with whom he discussed
infotech policy outlines, and also discussed the old bubear,
DTH, and convergence in India.
Later at night, Murdoch attended a bash thrown by Star TV
on behalf of Janata Ki Adalat host Rajat Sharma where even
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was supposed to turn
up.
After the party, he flew into the night in his private jet,
headed for Hong Kong to ensure his partnership with C&WHKT
is fine fettle and sort out other issues relating to Star
TV in Asia.
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