NetworkPlay Signs On Airtel For CPM Advertising On DTH; Eyes Mobile, Video

From http://www.medianama.com/2009/08/223-networkplay-signs-on-airtel-for-cpm-advertising-on-dth-eyes-mobile-video/ on August 25, 2009

By Nikhil Pahwa

Capital18 funded advertising network NetworkPlay.in has inked a deal with Airtel DTH for advertising on DTH in India. Interestingly enough, NetworkPlay CEO & MD Rammohan Sundaram told MediaNama that the company is going to sell CPM based advertising on DTH. This obviously means that Airtel DTH needs to be able to measure the impressions and relay the data back to the advertiser – there has to be a feedback loop with Airtel DTH. So far, interactivity has been limited on DTH. The company will offer video and image based advertisements on the DTH boot screen, iTravel, iShop, iMatinee, iCity, iNews, iPizza, iAstro and other Airtel DTH services. According to Sundaram, Airtel DTH service has a penetration of over 1.3 Million households and growing at a rate of 16 percent month on month, and reaches a SEC A & B audience in over 4000 towns in India. The total DTH userbase in India is 13 million; Tata Sky (4 million) and Dish TV (5.07 million as of March 31, 2009) are the top operators.

Sundaram says that the tie-up with Airtel is exclusive and they have been working on the deal for 6-7 months now; they are also actively pursuing deals with other DTH operators as well. The company is looking to launch Video and Mobile advertising solutions in the next couple of quarters, but Sundaram declined to comment on further plans.

Of late, we’ve seen a significant amount of collaboration between Internet, Mobile and DTH companies, with multiple services like ticketing, shopping, matrimonial, job classifieds and others being enabled on DTH. The increasing digitization of platforms means that digital services can be enabled across Internet, Mobile, IPTV, DTH etc; it doesn’t have to be about the world wide web alone.

The Hindu Business Line : I&B Ministry moots five-year tax break for digital TV services

via The Hindu Business Line : I&B Ministry moots five-year tax break for digital TV services on June 19, 2009

Our Bureau

New Delhi, June 18 The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has suggested a five-year tax holiday for those offering digital television services.

The Minister, Ms Ambika Soni, met the Minister of Finance, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, with the I&B’s budget proposals.

The Ministry is suggesting the tax holiday for digital cable, direct to home, satellite-based cable Headend in the Sky (HITS) and similar service providers distributing digital content. They could be taxed for 30 per cent of their profits for the following five assessment years in a block of 15 years, suggest the Ministry.

The Ministry has also asked for the fringe benefit tax (FBT), currently at 20 per cent, to be reduced to five per cent for both print and electronic media, and an exemption from FBT for the film industry.

Service tax of around, 12 per cent, applicable on advertising revenue of television broadcasters should also be exempt,

Ms Soni told Mr Mukherjee, bringing them at par with the print media which enjoys this exemption.

For newspapers, the I&B Ministry would like the government to waive the levy of service tax on road and rail haulage for imported newsprint.

Ms Soni has also asked service tax, entertainment tax and value added tax to be replaced by unified single Goods and Servi

Bharti rules out foreign investment in DTH biz

18 Jun 2009, 0124 hrs IST, Rashmi Pratap, ET Bureau

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom operator, said that its direct-to-home (DTH) venture, Bharti Telemedia does not require the approval of the Foreign Investment Board (FIPB), as the investment has come from Bharti Airtel’s internal accruals.

Responding to questions raised by FIPB regarding foreign investments in Bharti Telemedia, the company said there is no cash flow or investment from any foreign entity into Telemedia either directly or through Airtel.

In a letter to FIPB, Telemedia said FDI investment into Airtel has been in accordance with the norms and cap in the telecom sector and duly approved by FIPB. “Further, there is no FDI investor who has invested in Airtel specifically for downstream investment in the DTH sector. Accordingly, Bharti Telemedia did not apply for FIPB approval as it was not seeking fresh FDI or overseas investment,” it added.

This communication has come in response to a query from FIPB, which said approval for Bharti’s DTH services was “subject to compounding” (confirmation) by the Reserve Bank of India. Bharti said that “compounding” was not applicable in this case as only Indian money has been invested in Telemedia and no foreign money was routed to the company.

The government had earlier said the shareholding structure provided by Bharti Telemedia did not have FIPB approval and this was not in accordance with existing FDI policy. Last year, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry had also raised questions about Bharti Telemedia not having FIPB approval for foreign investments coming into it on a pro-rata basis through investing firms, including Airtel.

According to the FDI guidelines for DTH, total foreign equity holding in a company should not exceed 49% and the FDI component within the foreign equity should not exceed 20%. Airtel has 40% stake in Bharti Telemedia, while the remaining is held by an “Indian company of the Bharti group”, a Bharti spokesperson said.

Bharti also pointed out to FIPB that under the revised FDI policy, as per Press Notes 2 and 4, announced in February this year, Airtel qualifies as a company “owned and controlled” by resident Indians and there is no indirect FDI into Telemedia through Airtel.

Under the revised Press Notes, a company is considered Indian if Indian promoters have a stake of at least 51%. Moreover, the investments made by such companies in any joint venture or downstream venture will be treated as Indian. Since a major part of SingTel’s 31% stake and Vodafone’s over 4% share in Airtel is routed through majority-owned Indian companies, Airtel is owned and controlled by Indians.

Airtel launched its DTH services in October last year. It competes with Tata Sky, Reliance Communications’ Big TV, Zee’s Dish TV and Sun Direct in this segment. The company hasn’t yet started disclosing revenues from DTH services separately. “We will start disclosing the operational and financial performance of DTH operations next year, once they become material,” Airtel CEO and joint MD Manoj Kohli said recently.

BenQ Offers Free DTH Connection With LCD Monitor TV

via BenQ Offers Free DTH Connection With LCD Monitor TV on http://www.efytimes.com

Wednesday, June 17, 2009: BenQ has launched its 22-inch LCD monitor TV, SE2231, targeting high-density urban markets. BenQ has also announced an introductory offer of free DTH connection, installation and six months subscription with every purchase of LCD Monitor TV SE2231.

The newly launched LCD monitor TV displays all TV contents such as high definition broadcasts, blu-ray movies, camcorder videos, console games and PC applications like documents, games, Web browsing and picture viewing. The LCD monitor TV comes equipped with 10,000:1 Auto Contrast Enhancement (ACE), 5ms rapid response time and HDTV 1080p compatibility.

Ideal for all TV and PC applications, BenQ LCD monitor TV SE2231 immaculately renders native 1920 X 1080 resolutions which enhance visuals to 1080p/24Hz, while increasing PC productivity and TV entertainment.

The Auto Contrast Enhancement optimises contrast levels through automatic adjustment of the display backlight for original black levels. Such contrast accurately amplifies dark detail definition to reveal never-noticed elements in the dark visual of games or movies.

BenQ’s Senseye Human Vision Technology, which is an image enhancement engine, produces exquisite life-like clarity and vibrancy for human eye. Four Senseye preset modes (cinema, dynamic, standard and custom) offer one-touch fine-tuning for both PC and TV content. Digital sound emitting from dual 3-watt speakers can be adjusted to classic, pop, rock and jazz with preset audio modes.

Available in two stylish high-gloss colours, ebony and black, BenQ SE2231 is toned with a silver polish frame. The back side of LCD monitor TV offers a curved form in mirror black.

BenQ LCD Monitor TV SE2231 MRP (maximum retail price) with the free DTH connection offer is Rs 16,999 and is available through all BenQ dealers. This offer is valid till stocks last.

BIG TV to kick start advertising campaign

From www.ciol.com on June 15, 2009

MUMBAI, INDIA: Big TV, Reliance Communication’s DTH service, is all set to kick start a two month long advertising 360 degree integrated campaign. The new campaign will deliver the value benefits a customer can derive through Reliance BIG TV and its entertainment niche, focusing on the brand’s larger than life canvas.

For the campaign, Big TV has engaged Corcoise Production which is headed by Prasoon Pandey while TVCs will be directed by Prashant Issar. A team from Leo Burnett led by Nilesh Tivary and KV Shridhar will lead the multi-crore campaign, which will be launched across the country covering electronic media, print, over 30 FM radio channels, OOH media, over 800 online portals and a host of social media. The advertising campaign will cover all the genres on a pan-India level with 1500 GRPs and over 10,000 radio spots.

Videocon eyes 1.5 mn subscribers for DTH: Official

Source Reuters on Hindustan Times on June 8, 2009

Videocon Industries Ltd is targetting 1.5 million subscribers for its direct-to-home (DTH) service, riding on its large network of consumer appliance dealers, its top official said.

The company has developed new liquid crystalline design televisions that can directly receive DTH signals and is aiming for a June 20 launch, Chairman Venugopal Dhoot told television channel NDTV Profit on Monday.

“No set-top box is required,” Dhoot said. “We are also giving this (technology) through different models.”

“We have already invested around 500-600 crores (5-6 billion rupees) and further investments will be made as required,” he added.

The electronics and appliance maker also plans to rope in foreign investors once the service acquires a sizeable customer base, he said.

Videocon will be entering a market that already has large competitors including Sun Direct, Tata Sky, Dish TV, majority owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and Reliance Communications Ltd’s BIG TV.

At 2.57 pm, shares of the company were down 3.89 per cent at 176.5 rupees in a weak Mumbai market.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by Sunil Nair)

Dishtv Partners With atom

From www.efytimes.com

Saturday, June 06, 2009:  India’s atom technologies, a provider of mobile/IVR payment solutions, has partnered with Dishtv to offer phone/mobile payment solutions to over five million Dishtv subscribers across India. This service offers the convenience to the Dishtv subscribers to recharge their accounts instantly through the phone over the atom platform using their credit cards/debit cards, anytime, anywhere.

atom platform provides a secure and automated environment to end customers and they need not worry about getting their credit card details exposed to any human being, explained the company.

“To provide more convenient and risk free payment options to our rapidly increasing subscriber base, we have put into service the atom platform, which will encourage more customers to pay using their phones,” said Salil Kapoor, chief executive officer, Dishtv. “Our subscribers can now enjoy best deals in an automated and secure environment. Our association with atom Technologies for using the innovative Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology will offer more convenience to our subscribers by providing them with additional option of making payments.”

“We are confident that our solutions will help Dishtv in serving their subscribers better, ease their recharge collection process and reduce their cost overheads as cost per transaction will come down for them. The solution will also enable Dishtv to process multiple transactions concurrently thus saving the subscriber’s time,” said, Dewang Neralla, director, atom technologies.

Related stories at

• http://www.ciol.com/technology/mobility/news-reports/dishtv-ties-up-with-atom-for-m-payment/8609120648/0/