English Entertainment
Oscar launches two DTH-enabled TVs
MUMBAI: Even as the government gives a green signal to the Tata-Star DTH venture — Space TV and Sun Network’s DTH platform, consumer electronics company Oscar has launched two DTH-enabled televisions.
On the other hand, leading colour TV (CTV) manufacturers like Samsung and LG are rethinking their entry into this space. While, Samsung has stalled its plans to enter the DTH arena, LG’s DTH enabled TV sets, which were supposed to launch in February-March this year, have not yet hit the market.
Oscar is daring to tread the path where leading players are cautiously approaching. Oscar DTH TV will be available in two models – DTH 20 and DTH 20V and will be priced at Rs 7,990 and Rs 8,290 respectively. Currently available in 20 inch, Oscar will be ready with the full range of DTH sets (including 14 inch and 21 inch) in the next three months.
“We see a huge demand for DTH TV in the next few years. It is wholesome, high quality and affordable home entertainment for large populations in rural and semi-urban areas,” Oscar chairman Satish Verma was quoted in a media report as saying.
Oscar touts itself as the first company to offer a DTH TV at an affordable price. By keeping a relatively small differential of Rs 2,000- Rs 2,500 between a normal TV and their DTH set, the company is upbeat about the sales target. “We expect DTH sets to contribute 10-15 per cent of our entire TV sales this year itself,” Oscar director Karan Verma said.
Over 70 per cent of India has no real access to cable network. Oscar’s introduction of a fully integrated DTH TV set at an affordable price will make home entertainment accessible to a large section of the Indian population. It is established that nearly one-third of the VCD market would switch to DTH this year. Oscar is also chalking out plans to export its DTH TV sets to West Asia.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
