Distribution
Hopes for unified DVD format fade as Sony, Toshiba disagree
MUMBAI: After months of negotiations, plans for a unified format for next-generation DVDs have been scrapped after the competing groups – Sony and Toshiba – failed to reach an agreement.
According to media reports, the talks between the two have been indefinitely suspended between a group of companies led by Sony Corp., which supports the Blu-ray format, and the Toshiba Corp.-led bloc, which backs the HD DVD format.
A Toshiba company official was quoted in a media report saying that their stance hadn’t changed and that the company thought that a single format was the best. The official further said that Toshiba was still open to discussions.
On the other hand, Sony also claims to be open to discussions citing that the Blu-ray Disc group’s stance hadn’t changed and that it continued to believe that its format is best for the future needs of the consumer electronics, computer gaming and PC data storage markets.
This format battle, which will be against the interests of the IT and consumer electronics industry and its customers, has been around since 2002 but it wasn’t until earlier this year that the battle started getting taken more seriously.
A media report stated that with this discrepancy in the two company’s interests, equipment makers are likely to suffer lower sales because consumers are expected to put off purchases. Content producers such as movie studios will also likely lose out because of lower demand.
Sony spokesman Taro Takamine was quoted in Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper as saying, “Next-generation optical disks that are robust enough to stay relevant for more than 10 years are required to take advantage of high-definition video and high-quality audio, and the 0.1 mm (Blu-ray) disk structure is advantageous in this regard.”
Sony’s Blu-ray disks have a more sophisticated format and play back 25 GB of data compared with HD DVD’s 15, but are more expensive to produce.
According to a media report, both companies are already developing products that feature the respective DVD formats. Toshiba plans to roll out HD DVD players by the end of this year, while Sony’s popular game console PlayStation 3, which will play Blu-ray disks, is due to be launched in 2006.
Major companies are also split in their support of the two formats. Walt Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Apple Computer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Samsung Electronics support the Blu-ray format, while Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sanyo, NEC, and Microsoft favour Toshiba.
New Delhi: Prasar Bharati has thrown open applications for fresh capacity on DD Free Dish, signalling a timely opportunity for broadcasters looking to expand reach without long-term lock-ins. The public service broadcaster has issued a dual notice for its 95th and 96th online e-auctions, aimed at filling vacant MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 slots on a pro-rata basis for February and March 2026.
The two auctions are tentatively scheduled to begin on January 27, with allotments valid from February 1, 2026. Applications for both auctions close on January 21 at 3 pm, giving channels a narrow window to get their bids in.
The 95th e-auction will cover vacant MPEG-2 slots, while the 96th will focus on MPEG-4 capacity. Participation is limited to satellite television channels holding valid downlinking and uplinking permissions from the ministry of information and broadcasting. International public broadcasters cleared by the ministry are also eligible.
As with previous rounds, channels have been grouped into buckets based on genre and language, with sharply differentiated reserve prices reflecting reach and demand.
For the MPEG-2 auction, Hindi and Urdu general entertainment channels sit at the top of the pile. The starting reserve price for bucket A+ in the first round is Rs 2,63,48,000. Movie, music and sports channels in Hindi and Urdu follow in bucket A at Rs 2,10,14,000. Bhojpuri channels and other Hindi and Urdu genres, excluding devotional content, fall under bucket B with a reserve of Rs 1,78,62,000. Hindi and Urdu news channels in bucket C start at Rs 1,33,27,000, while bucket D, which includes regional language channels, English news and devotional or spiritual channels, begins at Rs 1,13,96,000.
The MPEG-4 auction comes in at a far leaner price point. News and current affairs channels in Hindi, English or pan-India languages, grouped under bucket G1, start at Rs 13,41,000. Non-news genres under bucket G2 have a reserve of Rs 8,80,000. Regional languages such as Marathi, Punjabi and Gujarati in bucket R2 begin at Rs 4,84,000. Southern language channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, grouped under bucket R1, start at Rs 81,000, the same reserve price set for other scheduled 8 regional languages in bucket R3.
Prasar Bharati has underlined that compliance will be closely watched. Broadcasters must ensure that at least 75 per cent of their monthly programming, excluding advertisements, aligns with the declared genre and language. Any deviation could trigger show-cause notices or even removal from the DD Free Dish platform.
For channels chasing reach in a crowded market, the message is clear. The window is brief, the prices are set and the audience is waiting. On DD Free Dish, visibility still comes cheap, but only for those ready to move fast.
