News Broadcasting
Even at 15:85 revenue share in broadcasters’ favour, all-channel cable bill will cross Rs 400
MUMBAI: When reality bit, it chomped. The pay channel rate card circulated yesterday by Star India and Sony Entertainment (Zee disowned it) at the meeting with the information and broadcasting ministry has burst the bubble that was building that the CAS rollout ride may not be that rough after all.
A breakdown of the proposed price structure makes one thing clear. If this is the way pay channels will be priced, the consumers’ cable bill will total at least Rs 417 in Mumbai. And that is only if the cable trade accepts the proposition put forth by Star and ESPN-Star Sports (and one assumes Sony as well) that revenue share should be 85:15 in favour of the broadcaster.
Zee, which has disowned the document, has been on record as saying that it was comfortable with a 50:50 revenue share. However, if the global norm is taken (which swings widely depending on whom you talk to) as 70:30 in favour of the broadcasters, then the total tab is Rs 458.
The math works out thus:
The total declared cost of all the four bouquets is Rs 175. For simplicity, let us put a a notional value of the three pay channels not on the list – Nickelodeon, Hallmark and Ten Sports – at Rs 25. Therefore the total cost of the pay channels is Rs 200. This is a net value and does not include tax and the cable service provider’s margin.
The Star revenue share model is 15 per cent to the cable operator so that will be examined first. A 15 per cent margin adds up to Rs 230. To that add the FTA package cost of Rs 72 which is Rs 302. Then there is the service tax of 8 per cent and entertainment tax that varies from state to state. Since it is 30 per cent for Maharashtra, that is the value that will be taken for Mumbai. Therefore Rs 115 is the tax. The total is Rs 417.
At a 30 per cent margin to the distributor the cost is Rs 260 + Rs 72 totalling Rs 332. Add the tax and the total tab is Rs 458.
A 50:50 revenue share costing works out to Rs 372. Add the tax and the total tab is Rs 513.
The demand by big distributors like Hinduja Group MSO INCableNet for a 70 per cent revenue margin is not even being considered here as being a non-starter.
And this tab does not include the monthly outgoes for the set top boxes, whether through rentals or hire purchase.
In the end analysis, there is no running away from the fact that at these prices, consumer uptake of STBs, upon which the smooth rollout of CAS hinges, is just not happening.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
