News Broadcasting
Zee bouquet to cost Rs 55 post-CAS
MUMBAI: While other broadcasters are humming and hawing about the pricing mechanism for their pay bouquets in a post-CAS scenario, Subhash Chandra’s Zee Telefilms has decided to take the plunge. Zee today became the first to announce its pay bouquet price at Rs 55, which will be its maximum retail price in the post-CAS environment.
The channels would be available on a la carte basis also, a company release says, without providing any details.
What this announcement appears to also indicate is that Zee is telling the market that all its channels will be offered in the pay mode. That may well rule out any Zee channel being pushed into the basic free-to-air (FTA) tier post-CAS.
The Network has also announced that out of the total revenues generated from the consumer price, upto 50 per cent will be shared with the MSOs and cable operators.
Siticable Network Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zee has already become the first company to obtain permission from the information & broadcasting ministry to launch its digital HITS for distributing pay TV signals under the CAS environment.
HITS consists of the downlinking of all pay channels, their re-encryption in a common CAS standard and uplinking of this beam. This would enable the MSO or the cable operator to receive all pay channels from a single dish resulting in low capital expenditure at his end. Further, the consumer would need a single set top box for receiving all the pay channels rather than multiple boxes if each broadcaster delivers to home in individual encryption standard.
Siticable plans to offer its services from May 2003 and has signed an agreement with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for providing the satellite segment services. Implementation of HITS will ensure timely roll out of CAS in the four metros and provide the platform to roll out CAS on a nationwide basis, the release says.
Zee group CMD Subhash Chandra was quoted as saying: “This is going to redefine (the) cable TV distribution business in the country. Everyone in the value chain – broadcasters, MSOs, cable operators and viewers – will benefit from our HITS model.”
“The Zee Turner bouquet will be priced at Rs 55, which is going to be the maximum retail price. 50 per cent of this consumer price would be retained by the distribution chain, which will include MSOs and cable operators. The cable operators may also pass on some percentage out of Rs 55 to the viewers, if they want.
“At Zee, we remain positive about our ability to convert the emerging opportunities into operating profits, especially with CAS now becoming a reality. The company is pursuing with determination its target of driving growth and shareholder value by capitalising on this opportunity.”
Zee believes that implementation of CAS, for which the I&B ministry has set a 14 July deadline, will result in a dramatic shift in the way revenues are distributed between various players in the television broadcasting value chain. Broadcasters would be able to capture 40 per cent of the total consumer spend on television (the company estimates it approximately Rs 80 billion), as against the present 8-10 per cent. MSOs would get distribution margin from broadcasters ranging between 20-25 per cent, while cable operators would get a FTA fees and delivery margins from pay channels ranging between 25-30 per cent.
“We are happy that CAS will bring transparency into the television distribution system, and viewers would be able to pick and choose channels they want. Viewers would also be able to enjoy world class value added services like pay-per-view and video-on-demand besides Internet services through the digital set top boxes,” Chandra said. “As a company Zee Telefilms Limited will capture additional revenues at Siticable level as it operates HITS as an MSO, which other broadcasters may not be able to capture,” Chandra concludes.
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.
