Briefs

DISCOVERY: PAY SERVICE BY APRIL

Discovery Communications India (DCI) is scheduled to convert into a basic subscription service in early April. The channel management is meeting with cable ops to decide on the subscription fee cap. Estimates are that it will be upwards of Rs 3 per sub per month. Discovery's India dedicated beam was encrypted last year. DCI chief Kiran Karnik says that it has signed on 110 advertisers and 248 brands to advertise on the channel. Carriage deals are to be signed with broadcasters in Nepal and Bangladesh in the next couple of months.

ZEE NETWORK CHIEF GETS MANDATE TO TURN AROUND ZEE INDIA TV

Vijay Jindal, the Zee Network CEO, has been given the responsibility of turning around Zee India TV, a 24 hour news and current affairs channel, which is part of the Zee TV bouquet. Zee India TV has been lagging in viewership and it was marketed independent of the other Zee TV channels to advertisers, a company spokesperson says. Jindal is expected to rework the programming, and integrate the channel into the Zee TV bouquet and make it a cost-effective vehicle for advertisers.

PHILIPS LOOKS FOR INTERNET TV PARTNER

Consumer electronics company Philps India is in talks with several Internet Service Providers to offer Internet TV services in India. The company is hoping to come to some arrangement with the largest Indian ISP, VSNL. It says the boxes will give subscribers access to the Internet through their TV sets.