News Broadcasting
Broadcasters moot Rs 25 as FTA package price at CAS meet
NEW DELHI: It was back to the slang match ways for broadcasters and cable operators yesterday at the meeting of the task force on conditional access systems. The suggestion from the broadcasters that the monthly subscription fee for the basic tier of channels should be Rs 25 drew a heated response from the cable fraternity.
ESPN Software India MD Manu Sawhney, who spoke on behalf of the broadcasters at the meeting chaired by I&B ministry joint secretary Rakesh Mohan, set the cat among the pigeons with his remarks on what should be the pricing for free to air (FTA) channel package.
Furious cable operators, meanwhile, retorted that they would accept such a pricing if brodcasters were will to drop their base rate for ad spots to Rs 20.
The acrimonious meeting, which went on for over three hours, also witnessed some grandstanding by the cable fraternity who threatened to go on strike if the FTA pricing was not kept in the Rs 150 range. Mohan, however, said that a finance ministry report on what the FTA price should be had suggested Rs 40 to Rs 50 as being reasonable. That fits in with the information available with indiantelevision (and reported earlier) that a Rs 70 to Rs 80 range for the FTA price was what the government was thinking of adopting. It needs noting here that the government is proposing a Rs 30 per subscriber flat service tax which is how the total adds up to that mentioned above.
Mohan, however, accepted a plea by the cable ops to revisit the issue and examine it again.
Await more details in a report that follows soon…
News Broadcasting
News18 India to air Sabse Bada Dangal on 4 May counting day
Channel promises fastest results, live trends and analysis across five states.
MUMBAI: Ballots will do the talking and screens will do the shouting. As counting day approaches for high-stakes Assembly elections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, News18 India is gearing up for an all-day broadcast of its flagship election show, Sabse Bada Dangal, on 4 May from 6 am onwards. The Hindi news channel plans to deliver continuous, real-time updates as votes are tallied, combining live counting data with on-ground reporting and studio analysis. With political fortunes set to shift through the day, the coverage will track every swing, surge and surprise as trends turn into results.
The broadcast will feature a mix of senior political leaders, analysts and experts, offering instant reactions and decoding the evolving electoral picture. Expect heated debates, quick takes and detailed breakdowns as the numbers settle across all five states.
For News18 India, counting day has long been a high-visibility moment. The network is banking on its reporting reach, editorial bandwidth and technology-driven coverage to stay ahead in what is often a fiercely competitive news cycle.
With multiple battlegrounds and shifting narratives, the day promises both drama and data in equal measure. And if all goes to plan, Sabse Bada Dangal will once again turn the counting of votes into prime-time spectacle.
