GROUP OF MINISTERS GIVE DD DTH NOD
Direct to home television in Ku-band has been
given the green signal by the Indian government. Last week,
the group of ministers (GoM), which had been set up to study
the modalities of lifting the notification that imposed
a ban on Ku-band equipment sales in India two years ago,
agreed to allow the introduction of DTH in India. But with
a rider: the first and only licensee for DTH would be the
state-owned Prasar Bharati.
The GoM said that DD would have a monopoly
for two years, three years less than it had sought from
the group. The government is slated to give the Prasar Bharati
a letter of intent which will nullify the ban notification
issued by the department of telecommunications earlier.
The government also said it would study the legal aspects
of lifting the ban and approach the election watchdog, the
Election Commission before converting the in-principle go-ahead
into a final clearance. In fact, the Prasar Bharati has
already approached the commission for its nod.
The move by the government was welcomed the
next day by a protest march by a bunch of Congress representatives
carrying TV sets on the streets in mock display.
Will DD be able to create its own DTH platform?
One school of thought says no. This one says that DD has
no expertise in digital Ku-band broadcasting and is already
reeling under a bagful of woes, apart from dropping revenues
and viewership. And it will find it extremely difficult
to cobble together a strong enough programming lineup.
The other school says that DTH should be
a cinch for DD. However, it will have to opt for technology,
programming, marketing and distribution partners. Speculation
is that Sterling Sat's C.Sivasankaran is among the front
runners to partner it with Zee TV's Subhash Chandra and
Modi Entertainment group's Lalit Modi not too far behind
it. If this is true, then it effectively means Star TV's
DTH project ISkyB is unlikely to see light for another three
years at least. The network has been dropping or transferring
employees from ISkyB.
