Kolkata may bill cable TV consumers from 10 December

Kolkata is likely to start the billing process from 10 December.

Suresh Sethia, Director, Siticable, said, “We have been prepared for a long time but since some MSO's were not ready, we had to wait.  Now, everyone has agreed to bill as per package from 10 November. We will put the bills on the system. The operators will distribute the same to subscribers. The bills will mention amusement tax and service tax components separately.”

Govt set to deliberate on TV ratings guidelines

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI's) recommendations are seeing movement to enable them to serve as the gold standard for television ratings. Currently with the law ministry, the file relating to TV rating guidelines is expected to be presented to the Cabinet very soon.

The TRAI had come up with its own analysis and recommendations around how TV ratings should be done in India following  discussions with the various stakeholders in September 2013; with the Union Cabinet expected to deliberate and give it sanction soon it could well be en route to become law. 

Doordarshan to expand DTH offerings from 59 channels to 120

Doordarshan is betting big on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform. The public broadcaster has completed 10 years in the DTH arena, having started with DD Direct in 2004, showcasing 17 channels.

With digitisation panning out to Tier II and III cities after metros, Doordarshan is now all set to increase the number of channels to about 120. The objective behind this increase is to gain maximum customers as there are a large number of free-to-air channels.

TEN Sports hopes to earn Rs.120 crore from India-S. Africa series

TEN Sports, the sports network from Taj Television Ltd, is hoping to earn close to Rs.120 crore from coverage of the upcoming India-South Africa cricket series between 5 and 26 December.

The series to be played in South Africa will have two test matches and three one-day internationals (ODIs).

Confusion over DAS area mars Hyderabad’s transition to digital cable

The government’s digitisation drive in Hyderabad has been riddled with confusion with multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) still groping in the dark over the boundary wall of the Digital Addressable System (DAS) in the city. 

If one goes by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s (MIB) affidavit in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, then the jurisdiction area for DAS implementation is the areas covered under the erstwhile Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (MCH). 

MCOF to meet MSOs to discuss billing issues

Maharashtra Cable Operators’ Foundation (MCOF) has opted for in order to make the entire digitisation process a smooth ride. In a new initiative, the apex body of cable operators in Maharashtra has sent a letter to all the MSOs inviting them to a meeting where they would discuss about the proper implementation of digitisation.

When both the parties meet, they are expected to discuss issues related to: interconnect agreement, billing, Consumer Application Form (CAF), package activation, a la carte channels choice, disconnection of set top boxes (STBs) without notice, misleading and false  information given about the LMO to the customer over call center, ownership of STB and uniform rates.

Google Launches Election Portal in India

Search giant Google has reportedly started an election portal, cashing in on the election fever in India. According to a post by Google on its official blog, the portal will be a one stop destination, where voters will be able to get all information about the elections and answers to queries.

In its first phase, the portal will reportedly cover elections from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram. This would include news from the top media portals in both English and Hindi.