T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 33/2003 17 August 2003 -
A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
* Issue 02-03/2004 of Tele Satellite International magazine is out now * More details at
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Acces...-Satellite.htm
E U R O P E
ALBANIA
MEDIA BODY CONDEMNS BAN ON ALSAT
The International Federation of Journalists on August 13 condemned a
decision by the Albanian parliament to block broadcasting by one of the
largest networks in the country and accused legislators of attempts to
"stifle free expression" in the run-up to national elections. Last week,
the parliament extended a ban on broadcasting by the Alsat network. This
verdict comes in spite of pleas by Alsat representatives to rescind a
highly suspect motion based on supposed "licensing problems". Alsat TV, a
satellite news channel, began terrestrial broadcasting in the Albania in
June and has a strong foothold in much of Europe. Journalists working with
the channel argue that the parliamentary decision has been taken due to
their position as an independent broadcaster, which has aired opposition
material in the run-up to elections in September. The IFJ is calling on the
Albanian parliament to reinstate Alsat's broadcasting capabilities
immediately, so as to avoid any knock-on effects prior to elections in less
than one month's time.
CZECH REPUBLIC
CET-21 DENIES CME CLAIMS
CET-21, the license holder of Czech station TV Nova, is refuting CME's
damages claims filed in local and international courts. The company was
formerly backed by Vladimir Zelezny who was a central figure in CME's
long-running court cases against both him and the Czech government.
CET-21's new owners MEF Holding and PPF have indicated they will fight the
latest CME claim.
DENMARK
BBC FOOD SIGNS CABLE DEAL
Denmark cable network TDC has signed a deal with BBC Worldwide to launch
the gourmet food channel BBC Food on its monthly WishChannel. BBC Food,
which launched on digital satellite in Denmark and the Nordic Region in
June, will air daily in September on the WishChannel, reaching a potential
800,000 households. BBC Food will broadcast for 12 hours, from 06:00 to
18:00. BBC Worldwide expects the deal to be the first step towards a
long-term carriage deal for BBC Food on the TDC network.
GERMANY
SABAN WANTS MORE PROSIEBEN
As the ink dries on his deal with KirchMedia for ProSiebenSat.1, US-Israeli
media mogul Haim Saban has announced his intention to buy all remaining
preference shares in the German pay-TV group. With a 36% stake and 72% of
unlisted voting shares already under his control, Saban's company P7S1
Holding confirmed the Ranger millionaire is to acquire the rest for an
average share price. Following the acquisition of a majority stake,
US-based media mogul Haim Saban will now fill five of the nine seats on the
German pay-TV network's board of directors.
KOFLER TO INCREASE PREMIERE STAKE
Premiere's managing director Georg Kofler is set to double his shares in
the pay-TV group by acquiring a further 10% from majority shareholders
Permira. The extra shares, which will bring Kofler's total interests to
20.46%, will leave Permira with 54.76%. The sale will lift him to second
largest investor in the company. Kofler's revised equity will not affect
capital stock held by Bayerische Landesbank and HypoVereinsbank, who each
bought a 10% slice of the pay-TV group. Meanwhile, Premiere said that its
next output deal with Sony Pictures, the only major Hollywood studio yet to
renegotiate its contract, will take until at least the fall to close - and
might not be ready for inking until almost the end of the year.
APPEAL OPENS IN KIRCH-BREUER CASE
Former German media giant Leo Kirch's suit against ex-Deutsche Bank head
Rolf Breuer went into the second round on August 13. Breuer is appealing
February's verdict that he violated the assumption of privacy when he gave
an interview casting doubt on the creditworthiness of the KirchGroup. A
Munich appellate court spokeswoman said that lawyers at the hearing
discussed whether more evidence is needed to determine Breuer's possible
liability in KirchGroup's demise. The presiding judge decided to watch a
videotape of the Breuer interview and to hear testimony from three
witnesses, including former Kirch deputy Dieter Hahn, on November 5.
VIVA BACK IN THE BLACK
German media group Viva has reported €1.6 million pre-tax profits for the
second quarter, with TV production subsidiary Brainpool credited for taking
the company back into the black. For the same quarter in 2002, Viva
sustained €10.8 million pre-tax losses due to share deprecation,
restructuring measures and relocation costs. In a bid to capture a greater
market share, Viva overhauled its schedule in April, introducing 10 new
shows to the predominantly musical line-up. According to recent viewing
figures, the overhaul has lifted the total 14+ audience to 5.42 million.
PREMIERE HITS TARGET AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Digital pay-TV platform Premiere will hit its 2003 targets ahead of
schedule, management said after a strong first half. The platform has
notched strong growth since renegotiating expensive movie contracts and
restructuring operations under new leadership. CEO Georg Kofler said that
the business will be EBITDA positive by the first quarter of 2004. The
subscriber base at the end of July was 2.7 million, an increase of almost
200,000 year-on-year and including the loss of 40,000 subscribers after the
switch-off of the analogue service in February. The annualized churn rate
is now 13.5% and ARPU €300. Premiere is pushing subscribers towards buying
set-top boxes and said 563,000 boxes were sold to customers in the first
half of 2003. About half of the subscriber base owns a set-top. Programming
costs were down 40% in the period and reworked output deals inked with
seven studios. Revenues were up 26.4% to €470.5million.
IRELAND
E! SIGNS CABLE DEAL
The E! International Network continues to expand across Europe with new
launchings in Ireland and Malta this month. The entertainment channel
debuted on NTL Ireland on August 5 on the platform's basic digital tier, Go
Digital, and in Malta on Melita Cable's Family Pack on August 1. E!
International Network's programming includes the new summer series
Celebrities Uncensored, It's Good to Be, Love Chain and 101 Shocking
Moments in Entertainment, as well as staples such as The E! True Hollywood
Story, E! News Live, and Wild On. Regional director Brad Wald, who oversees
E!'s EMEA region, adding that he would be "expanding the channel further
into Europe by year's end."
ITALY
MORE NEW CHANNELS FOR SKY ITALIA
Pay-TV platform Sky Italia, is set to increase its bouquet with a number of
factual, games and music channels over the next three months.
Aiming for a
maximum portfolio of 120 channels, Sky Italia is adding Fox XS, Biography,
MTV Hits, MTV Brand New, Italian Teen TV, Games Portal and Sky Sport 3 to
its slate. Both MTV channels will be available as the part of basic Sky
Italia package.
POLAND
FIRST INTERACTIVE TV CHANNEL LAUNCHED
The first interactive channel in the central and eastern
European region,
iTV, was launched in mid-June by broadcaster Telestar on Cyfra+ and Aster
City. Currently reaching just less than a million households, with Cyfra+
digital platform users accounting for some two-thirds of them and Aster
City cable network subscribers making up the rest, the channel has already
proved to be a success, say its owners. Telestar's plans are for the
channel to reach between 2.5 million and 3 million households across the
country by the end of the year.
SPAIN
SOGECABLE TAKES OUT LOAN
Pay-TV giant Sogecable said on August 8 that it has taken out a €1.35
billion loan to finance the completion of its merger with Telefonica's
rival satellite platform Via Digital. A dozen banks, including Banco Bilbao
Vizcaya Argentaria and JP Morgan, are underwriting the
seven-and-a-half-year credit.
UNITED KINGDOM
POSSIBLE CHALLENGE TO FOOTBALL TV RIGHTS DECISION
Financier Dermot Desmond is to launch a legal challenge to the Premier
League over the awarding of live football rights to BSkyB, estimated to be
worth almost €1.5 billion. Desmond, who holds stakes in both Manchester
United and Celtic football clubs, is currently preparing formal complaints
to lodge with the Office of Fair Trading in the UK and the European
Commission. He believes that the agreement is illegal under EU and British
competition law. Sky clinched a deal with the Premier League last week to
continue TV rights to screen live league games with England's top clubs
until 2007, which is worth around £1.04 billion. The European Commission
this week plans to investigate whether the bidding process was properly
conducted. "We need to see evidence that there was open, competitive
tendering for the packages, with a variety of bidders per package," said
Tilman Lueder, EU competition spokesman. Both Sky and the Premier League
have denied that their sale of the rights is anti-competitive. Meanwhile,
Irish channels RTE and TV3 are hoping to do a deal with the Premier League
allowing one of them to show a 15:00 Saturday match live, which would not
clash with the BSkyB deal. Under the BSkyB deal the satellite giants are
not allowed to show any Saturday 15:00 matches in order to protect
attendances at games in the lower divisions. But the restriction does not
extend to Ireland and other countries.
BSKYB POSTS ANNUAL PROFITS
Pay-TV platform, BSkyB has posted record annual revenues of over £3billion,
and its first full year of profit since launching Sky Digital five years
ago. Turnover for the year ending June 30 topped the three billion mark for
the first time, standing at £3.186 billion * up 15% on the same period last
year. The company made £190 million profit after tax, compared to last year
when the company made a loss of £22 million. The number of Sky's DTH subs
grew 133,000 in the last quarter and 744,000 over the year to reach a grand
total of 6.8 million. With cable and Freeview, the number of UK and Ireland
homes receiving Sky channels now stands at 12.2 million. Debt fell £728m to
£1.105bn, and churn was down 1% to 9.4%. Share of multichannel homes rose
to 6.4%. However, programming costs also rose 11% to £1.604 billion,
largely down to sports rights and "volume-related increases in movie and
third-party channel costs".
TVE IN SKY DIGITAL PACKAGE
BSkyB has signed a carriage deal for RTVE network TVE International, the
first Spanish-language channel to join the British company's bouquet. From
October, BSkyB basic tier subscribers in the UK and Ireland will be able to
tune into Spanish news on TVE International. This is only the second
non-English language channel available on BSkyB. The platform picked up
France's TV5 in October 2002. The BSkyB deal is the latest phase in RTVE's
international roll-out.
SKY LAUNCHES ITV DREAM TEAM
Sky Digital has launched fantasy football game Dream Team on its
interactive games service Gamestar. The iTV game is run in conjunction with
UK newspaper The Sun, which has offered the game for several years. The
game can also be played online. Dream Team is also the name of a football
themed drama series on the Sky One general entertainment channel.
MTV SIGNS NEW DEAL WITH BSKYB
MTV, the leader music channel owned by US media giant Viacom, has signed a
new deal with Sky. The deal, which will ensure carriage of the
broadcaster’s seven channels on the digital service, is reported to be
worth £20 million, £5 million less than the previous contract. The Emap
channels, the Vivendi Universal-owned Sci-Fi Channel and the BBC joint
venture UKTV, which includes UK Gold and UK History, have already been
forced to renew at reduced terms since the beginning of last year.
N O R T H A M E R I C A
CANADA
EXPRESSVU ANNOUNCES ANTI-PIRACY CAMPAIGN
Canadian satellite giant Bell ExpressVu said on August 11 that it is
stepping up its fight against U.S. TV signal theft by deactivating
satellite receivers using illegal decoding software. Bell ExpressVu also
said it will market satellite dishes with embedded signal-theft protection.
Bell ExpressVu and other Canadian broadcasters, cablecasters and
content-carriers in recent years have conducted a campaign against about
750,000 Canadians receiving U.S. satellite signals illegally. The alleged
illegal users either set up U.S. mailing addresses while receiving the U.S.
TV signals in Canada, or acquire decoders or smart cards that allow them to
snag U.S. satellite signals without paying for them. Bell Canada's
ExpressVu satellite division said it will begin "remotely deactivating
satellite receivers that illegally decode programming." In addition, the
company said it plans to track who buys its equipment and correlate their
addresses with its billing department to make sure the set-top boxes are
being used by subscribed customers. ExpressVu's Mr. McGee said his company
is working on making the technology more difficult to crack and will be
rolling out a set-top box without a card (with embedded chips) by the end
of this year. ExpressVu has 1.3 million paying subscribers. In February,
Pierre Karl Péladeau, whose Quebecor empire controls Quebec cable company
Vidéotron, accused ExpressVu of turning a blind eye to consumers who buy
satellite dishes without also subscribing to a satellite service. He said
ExpressVu uses technology that's easy to pirate, citing a Leger Marketing
survey that estimates 18 per cent of ExpressVu's dish owners in Quebec
don't pay for satellite service.
BELL EXPRESSVU ADDS EWTN
Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) has now launched in Canada on Bell
ExpressVu. EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 22nd year, is available in
more than 84 million television households in 110 countries, an increase of
six million households worldwide over last year. And with its worldwide
short-wave radio station, its direct broadcast satellite service, its
satellite delivered AM & FM radio network, its Internet website and its
publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.
TSN AND DISCOVERY IN
HDTV
TSN and Discovery Channel Canada have become the first two Canadian
specialty channels to broadcast their signals in high definition television
(HDTV). Bell ExpressVu HD subscribers can catch TSN in high definition on
Bell ExpressVu channel 675 and Discovery Channel on channel 670 from August
15.In 2003, TSN will produce several CFL games in HD along with delivering
Sunday Night NFL games (one pre-season game and every Sunday night game).
As part of the evolution from standard to high definition, TSN also will
acquire and produce HD programming, including selected NHL games throughout
the 2003/2004 season. The program schedules for each TSN and Discovery will
be identical in both standard and high definition formats. CTV Specialty is
in negotiation with other distributors to offer the high definition signals
of TSN and Discovery Channel. CTV Specialty has ownership interests in
three of Canada's premier specialty television services, and operates TSN,
the top-rated Canadian specialty channel; RDS, the world's first
French-language all-sports channel; and Discovery Channel, an award-winning
specialty channel. CTV Specialty also manages OLN, featuring
adventure-based programming. CTV Specialty operates six specialty channels,
including WTSN, Animal Planet, Discovery Civilization, ESPN
Classic Canada,
CTV Travel, and the NHL Network.
CBC TO CONTINUE WITH HOLLYWOOD MOVIES
Canada's TV watchdog lifted a ban on August 13 on the airing of Hollywood
movies in primetime by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. The decision to
allow the public broadcaster back into the bidding for popular Hollywood
movies is expected to affect the prices paid by Canadian broadcasters for
TV rights to studio releases. The previous restrictions were imposed in
2000 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) on the CBC's English- and French-language networks as a condition of
license renewal after private broadcasters complained that the public
broadcaster was using taxpayer money to outbid rivals for Hollywood
blockbuster movie rights.
UNITED STATES
CSTV AND U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ANNOUNCE TV DEAL
The U.S. Olympic Committee will collaborate with digital network CSTV:
College Sports Television on a new series that will provide year-round
exposure to pre-Olympics competition in 39 sports. Beginning in the fall,
"U.S. Olympic Pursuit" will offer a mix of edited events, athlete profiles
and other features that will shine a spotlight on overlooked competitions
and drum up excitement for the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. Internet -
http://www.cstv.com
RAINBOW MEDIA GROUP SIGNS MGM MOVIE DEAL
Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. announced on August 13 new licensing
agreements encompassing more than 450 feature films from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Rainbow will receive the films from MGM with
various windows of exhibition on its national services, including AMC, IFC
(The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment. The licensing
terms begin in 2004 and continue through 2020. Rainbow Media Holdings,
Inc., which manages national and regional cable networks, is 100% owned and
operated by Cablevision.
NEWS CORP REPORTS PROFITS
News Corp. has posted a fourth quarter profit of $370 million, driven by
strong ad revenues at FOX, television stations and STAR in Asia. Revenues
for the quarter were up to $4.6 billion, from last year's $3.8 billion.
Operating income at the television segment was up 63 per cent to $291
million, thanks to gains at the FOX Broadcasting Company, the Fox
Television Stations and STAR. The cable network programming division saw
operating income nearly triple, from $34 million to $96 million. Meanwhile,
News Corp. on August 13 said it expects to gain regulatory approval for its
$6.6 billion acquisition of satellite television company DirecTV by the end
of this year.
AOL TIME WARNER MIGHT CHANGE NAME
The chief executive of the AOL division of AOL Time Warner is reportedly
pushing for the company to drop AOL from its name. The move, reported in
various wire reports and in the New York Times, is a dramatic turnaround
from the 2001 merger of the two companies, which allegedly saw AOL
executives insisting on those three letters being at the front of the
company name. The board is set to consider the proposal at a meeting next
month.
SUBSCRIPTIONS UP AT DISH NETWORK
During the second quarter of this year, EchoStar's satellite platform DISH
Network added some 270,000 subscribers, with revenues up 21 per cent to
$1.41 billion. The company's net income almost tripled, rising from $37
million to $129 million. EchoStar attributed the gains to a reduction of
$34.4 million in subscriber acquisition costs, as a result of a
reimbursement from a litigation settlement over previously sold set-top box
equipment. As at June 30, DISH Network had about 8.8 million subscribers.
DIC KID’S NETWORK ON 400 TV STATIONS
This September, DIC Entertainment plans to launch a new three-hour
programming block, DIC Kid's Network, on over 400 television stations
across the U.S. The block, which will premiere on major broadcast outlets,
such as local Fox, WB and UPN affiliates, will be offered as three separate
programming feeds, including a Spanish-language version of every series for
the SAP channel. DIC has collaborated with Tribune Entertainment to
establish a marketing campaign in order to promote the network as a tool
for advertisers trying to reach the kids' market. Premiering on September
1, the DIC Kid's Network block will include six 30-minute animated series,
including Sabrina, Sherlock Holmes, The Archie's, Stargate Infinity and The
Littles.
NBC-UNIVERSAL MERGER LIKELY
NBC appears the likely choice to take over Vivendi Universal's U.S.
entertainment properties, sources said on August 15. The merger being
discussed would give NBC, owned by General Electric, majority control over
Universal movie and TV operations and USA cable networks, USA Today
reported. Sources said NBC is willing to add a small amount of up-front
cash to its offer. Potential bidder Comcast, the No. 1 cable company,
pulled out of talks because, sources said, it felt the price was too high.
MGM and Liberty Media dropped out earlier. Vivendi put its Universal
properties, known collectively as VUE, on the block because it has been in
a cash crunch for more than a year.
LIBERTY MEDIA INTERESTED IN VIVENDI UNIVERSAL ASSETS
Liberty Media, the investment vehicle controlled by US mogul John Malone,
has confirmed that it remains interested in acquiring the entertainment
assets of Vivendi Universal, despite widespread speculation to the
contrary. The auction for the assets, which include the company's Hollywood
studios, the USA network of cable channels and Universal theme parks, has
descended into near farce as bidders question Vivendi's determination to
sell the assets. The French utilities and media conglomerate has recently
said that it may consider plans to float the assets if it doesn't receive a
high enough offer.
RUSSIAN TV ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON
Russian World TV, partly owned by an agency of the Russian government, is
beginning regular programs from Russia and countries of the former Soviet
Union that will give the Washington area more than 40 hours a week of news
and entertainment. It also plans to spread to other parts of the United
States. Programs due to start August 15 will be in Russian with English
subtitles, on both broadcast television and on cable. There will be music,
films, documentaries, sitcoms and children's programs. Vladimir Ananich,
president of Russian World TV, told a news conference Thursday that he
hoped to spread its broadcasts all over the United States. He said he
expects that two hours of daily programming will begin in Chicago in about
three months. Television in cities like New York, Miami and Washington
already airs brief programs without subtitles, watched mostly by Russian
immigrants.
Internet -
http://www.rusmirtv.com/eng
A S I A
AXN TOP OF THE PACK
Sony Pictures Television International's AXN channel has ranked in at
number one among cable channels in several key Asian markets. According to
results by Nielsen Media Research, AXN was the most watched international
ad-supported cable channel in Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines for the
first six months of 2003, based on average weekly reach. The success of the
channel, whose core viewers, according to its Viewer Lifestyle Study, are
affluent, tech-savvy professionals and students, has been credited to the
premiere of new action-adventure series, such as CSI, CSI: Miami, Alias, 24
and Boomtown. AXN's Viewer Lifestyle Study 2003 was conducted in seven
major Asian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei.
CHINA - HONG KONG
HK CITY TELECOM LAUNCHES PAY-TV SERVICE
City Telecom (Hong Kong) said August 14 it has launched a pay-television
service in Hong Kong, delivering 11 channels, but with the capacity for
200. In the initial stages, the service will be aimed at Hong Kong's New
Territories area, starting with the Kwai Tsing district, the telecom
operator said. The company said it will invest, at the most, HK$15 million
on the service in its first year of operation. The basic package, priced at
HK$98 a month, is cheaper than that of the city's dominant cable operator,
i-Cable Communications Ltd., which charges HK$ 298 a month for its service.
Two smaller operators - Yes TV and TV Plus - are also operating in the
market, and there are many more to come. Those slated to start offering
their services before the year is out are fixed-line giant PCCW Ltd. and
media firm Television Broadcasts's Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting.
NEW DIGITAL TV AND PPV SERVICES IN SEPTEMBER
Chinese television stations are scheduled to launch a batch of new channels
in September, featuring digital broadcasting and pay-per-view service. This
will mark the start of China's ambitious digitization plan. According to a
recent scheme formulated by the State Administration of Radio, Film and
Television (SARFT), China will soon promulgate its own high resolution
digital TV standards, sign up one million cable digital TV subscribers and
kick off 10 commercial broadcasting channels nationwide by the end of this
year. The plan is for China to stop sending analogue signals by 2015, and
the State Administration also plans to transmit high-definition digital
programs of the Beijing Olympics to the world in 2008. China, with a
population of 1.3 billion, boasts 370 million TV sets and 1.2 billion TV
viewers, the largest number in the world. But the present cable network in
major cities is only capable of transmitting 40 to 50 channels
simultaneously at most, leaving no room for further development, while
digital TV provides a better solution by allowing for 400 to 500 channels,
said Wang Xiaojie, a senior official with SARFT.
FALUN GONG JAMMING CONDEMNED
China on August 15 condemned the Falun Gong cult for hijacking again the
satellite signals of government-run Sino Satellite, which violated the
basic principles of relevant civilian communications. The TV satellite,
belonging to the Sino-Satellite Communications Co, was taken over by
illegal TV signals transmitted by Falun Gong cult followers twice, on
August 12 and 13. The illegal signals hindered the Chinese audience from
watching routine programmes of China Central Television, China Education TV
Station and 10 provincial TV stations. This week's hijackings were not the
first time Falun Gong cult activists had broadcast illegal TV signals to
cut into transmission using Sino Satellite. The satellite was taken over on
September 21 last year, during the Middle Autumn Festival when people
should have been enjoying entertainment programmes on TV with their
families. Their attacks in late June last year also disrupted people in
many remote villages in China from being able to watch the World Cup finals.
INDIA
NEW PLAYERS TO LAUNCH DTH SERVICES
Three years after the Indian Government legalised the beaming of television
programmes via satellite, directly to viewers' homes, without the help of a
cable operator, the option has finally become reality. As of this week
there are two possibly three players geared to exploit the DTH market.
One of them a member of the Zee TV group has promised to launch the
service by September 1, if some procedural hurdles are cleared. One
satellite TV player who has always promised to bring DTH services to India
is the Star TV group, but it is currently trying to sort out with the
Government, issues linked to how much Indian equity it has put into the
company it has started for the purpose, Space TV. The other private sector
player to leap into the DTH sector is the Zee TV group which also owns the
SitiCable cable network. The group has said it is all set to offer DTH
services having lined up four transponders (to deliver 48 channels) and
booked others to offer about 144 channels in all. Its service is expected
to cost Rs. 150 a month for starters, with the dish and the decoder/smart
card box costing around Rs. 3,000. The Information and Broadcasting
Ministry cleared the DTH plans of Doordarshan. DD has asked the Indian
Space Research Organisation to provide the required transponder on one of
its INSAT satellite platforms. The attraction for the Government channels
is that the `footprint' of the satellite based DTH transmission will reach
most parts of the subcontinent at one go including neighbouring nations.
HUMAX WINS CAS DEAL
Korea’s digital set-top box manufacturer Humax said on August 13 it has won
an additional $6 million order to export the satellite broadcasting
converters to India. The South Korean firm was awarded a $6 million order
in May to sell its products to Heathway Cable & Datacom, an Indian firm
which holds about 80 channels for three million viewers in nine major
Indian cities. The Indian company is owned 30 per cent by Hong Kong's Star
TV. Humax's products are equipped with a conditional access system (CAS)
developed by NDS.
STAR OPEN TO 51% STAKE FOR PARTNER
Star India has indicated to the government that it is open to restructuring
the equity of Media Content and Communication Services (MCCS), the company
that has applied for a licence to uplink the Star News channel, so that an
Indian shareholder becomes a dominant partner with 51 per cent stake.
According to a source close to the development, this will be done to
prevent the government rejecting MCCS’s application for uplinking. Star
India set up MCCS in June to meet regulations that stipulate a 74 per cent
Indian shareholding in a news channel uplinking from India. The present
Indian shareholders of MCCS are advertising professional Suhel Seth, with a
30 per cent stake, Merrill Lynch Vice-Chairman Hemendra Kothari (25 per
cent), Hindustan Times Editor Vir Sanghvi (5 per cent), lawyer Raian
Karanjiwala (4 per cent), television personality Maya Alagh (5 per cent)
and actor Jeetendra Kapoor (5 per cent). Star has also indicated to the
government that it should give the company enough time to comply with
rules
if there are any changes.
LITTLE DEMAND FOR SET-TOP BOXES
Cable TV subscribers are fighting shy of buying set-top boxes, which is
necessary for viewing pay channels after the conditional access system
(CAS) is implemented from September 1 in the four metros. With a little
over 15 days left for the CAS rollout, the inadequate deployment of set-top
boxes would mean that the government would not be able to deliver on its
promise of a smooth CAS rollout. While multi-service operator (MSO) Siti
Cable said it had sold 4,000 set-top boxes all over the country, INCable,
another MSO, said it was yet to launch its set-top boxes in the market. It
is clear that the number of set-top boxes deployed till now was woefully
short of the 2 million that was being projected for covering a majority of
the cable and satellite TV homes in the CAS-notified areas of New Delhi,
Mumbai and Kolkata and the whole of Chennai.
PAKISTAN
INDIAN TV CHANNELS BAN HITS CABLE OPERATORS
Despite the present good relations between Pakistan and India, Islamabad
has imposed fresh curbs on Indian TV channels causing much problems for
local cable operators. According to the Cable Operators Association of
Pakistan (COAP), the official regulatory body Pakistan Electronic Media
Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned the showing of Indian channels
throughout the country despite its recent promises to remove curbs on them.
The fresh directive by PEMRA has come a surprise to COAP as the official
body had earlier agreed to the pleas of COAP to allow them to show Indian
entertainment channels, while continuing the ban on Indian news channels.
A F R I C A
PAN-AFRICAN TV ARRIVES VIA SATELLITE
Africans have long had access to foreign TV or local programs, but not to
TV from their neighbours. In the early 1990s, the South African partnership
of M-Net and MultiChoice began the first home-grown satellite broadcasts to
reach all of English-speaking Africa. With its path eased by falling state
barriers to private broadcasters, the partnership now operates in 50
African and adjacent island countries, and has spawned at least two rivals,
TV Africa and a new network launched by the venerable South African
Broadcasting Corporation. The networks say their audience is growing 10
percent a year and has an increasing thirst for African stars and themes.
M-Net and its rivals have been screening more and more African-made shows.
But only 4 percent of Africa’s 900 million people own televisions, although
many more have access to TV in private homes, and very few can pay for a
satellite dish (which starts at $200) or a monthly subscription. So the
networks also rely on ad revenue and broadcast free to an audience they say
is greatly increased by those who watch a communal TV. SABC launched
Africa-2-Africa in 1998 as the first satellite network produced “for
Africa, about Africa or by Africa.” Five-year-old TV Africa reaches as many
as 100 million viewers in 20 countries with its “proudly African”
prime-time slots featuring African movies and shows. M-Net is the largest
of the new networks, with 1.3 million pay-TV subscribers.
KENYA
NEW LAW COULD HURT TV STATIONS
Beginning January, 20 per cent of the content broadcast on Kenyan
television and 30 per cent on radio will have to be locally produced.
Information minister Rafael Tuju told reporters the new rules were aimed at
creating jobs for Kenyans as well as protecting the culture of the East
African nation. In addition to the state-run Kenya Broadcasting Corp.,
whose television and radio operations are the only ones with a nationwide
reach, there are five private television and more than a dozen private
radio stations operating out of the capital, Nairobi. All the TV stations,
including KBC, rely heavily on a cocktail of foreign programming, ranging
from U.S., Australian and Latin American soap operas to sit-coms and series
from the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South
Africa. It was not immediately clear how the requirement would affect
Kenyan-licensed broadcasters who transmit foreign satellite programming
terrestrially. Program directors at the leading private TV stations have
frequently said the abundance of foreign programming is due to their
limited budgets; African broadcasters tend to pay relatively little for the
rights to mainline U.S. series that have already recouped costs in major
foreign markets in Europe and Asia. Currently, most TV and radio stations
run 24 hours a day except for the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation which
closes down at midnight. The chairman of the Media Owners Association,
Wilfred Kiboro, said the move to dedicate a percentage of broadcasting time
to local content could force many TV stations to only operate for a few
hours or close down altogether.
SOUTH AFRICA
NEW TEEN CHANNEL LAUNCHED
South African satellite broadcaster MNet has launched new teen channel GO!
to beef up its younger-skewing kids bouquet of KTV and Kworld. On air
between 18.00 and 22.00, GO! broadcasts a mix of drama, comedy, music and
animation, usually with a strong US accent. US imports in the GO! line-up
include Evolution, Gilmore Girls, Clone High and Jackass. Head of KTV,
Kworld and GO!,
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