News Broadcasting
Zee TV chieftain Subhash Chandra backs government’s CAS initiative
Subhash Chandra, chairman of Zee Telefilms, one of the biggest broadcasting companies in India, today set the cat amongst the pigeons when he said that he endorses the government’s decision in attempting to implement the conditional access system (CAS) as it will result in increased subscription revenues for the Zee Network over a period of time.
“We support CAS as it is in the overall interest of the industry,” Chandra told select journalists in Delhi on Thursday, a day ahead of a meeting being organised by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation on CAS which has started worrying most broadcasters.
According to Chandra: “Even if 50 per cent of the (38 million) cable homes in the country go in for set top boxes and I get assured revenue out of it, as a broadcaster I am happy.”
Chandra added that like all broadcasters he’s also “skeptical” of CAS. “But I don’t fully subscribe to some broadcasters’ point of view that CAS is not needed at all in India and is not implementable,” he added.
He also said that his company is talking to various financial sources, including banks, to fund part of the investment needed for seeding the market with set top boxes (STBs).
“Because ultimately the subscriber will have to pay for the STB we’ll have to see how to make the payment easy for him. If banks finance us we can supply the STBs to subscribers on lease for a nominal monthly rental,” he explained.
Pointing out that through CAS Zee Network would see a substantial hike in subscription revenue, Chandra said, “We at Zee closed the last financial year ended march 31, 2002 with about Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in subscription revenues. Over the next four-five years we expect this amount to go up to at least Rs 500 crore.”
Chandra also feels that the advent of CAS will benefit the average cable subscriber who will have the option of taking a basic tier of service comprising free-to-air channels and additional tiers of service on payment of some extra amount.
“CAS would pave the way for various tier of services, including two-way addressability and broadband services, becoming a reality in India over a period of time,” the bidi-smoking chairman of Zee Telefilms said.
Asked what does he think the basic tier service will cost (to be determined by the government as per the amendments to be carried out in the Cable TV Regulation Act, 1995, he said, “I would feel anything between Rs 100- 120 would be a fair amount.”
“We at Zee don’t see ourselves reverting to being free to air because of CAS. However, we can look at a Zee TV channel with a different set of programming for being part of the basic tier.”
Chandra also said that the cable industry would have to make an investment of about Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) if 50 per cent of the cable and satellite homes are fed with STBs which cost about Rs 4000. He also said that CAS is a win-win situation for everybody -the subscriber pays for what he wants to watch, the cable operator gets an assured income and the broadcasters would not crib about under-declaration by cable operators.
“At present, I think underdeclaration (by cable operators) amounts to almost 83 per cent,” he added.
Asked by indiantelevision.com, whether he foresees Zee TV, a mass-based entertainment channel, reverting to being free to air to protect its viewership (as all pay channels mandatory have to come through a STB, as per the cabinet decision), Chandra said, “We at ZEE don’t see ourselves reverting to being free to air because of CAS. However, we can look at a Zee TV channel with a different set of programming for being part of the basic tier.”
Chandra feels that the Indian pay channel market is currently worth about Rs 8,000 crore which is likely to to grow to about Rs 12,000 crore in four to five years with the arrival of CAS.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
