To make its presence felt over the web, All India Radio's Shillong station has launched a website, http://www.airshillong.org in May 2009.Commenting on the purpose of launching a website, AIR Shillong station director N Shadap says, "The website was launched in the last week of May. This is to enable transparency and enable people to know what our initiatives are. It would keep the listeners updated about programmes on a daily basis and increase our listenership base."
The website has an updated commercial rate card for advertisers to keep a tab on the advertising rates online. There is a categorisation of programmes for spot buys and sponsorship of in house programmes with rates varying according to the duration. The website also mentions the rate of booking and rates for hiring the AIR studio in the Meghalaya capital.
Airshillong.org has information on the concessions available for different advertisers, like a 15 per cent discount to state and central government departments, 15 per cent to public sector undertakings, 50 per cent for spots on blood donation, leprosy, cancer, AIDS etc.
The website was outsourced and was designed in coordination with the AIR officials. Still working on adding more content to the website, AIR Shillong plans to integrate interactivity with listeners in the near future.
AIR Shillong is one of the few stations to have ventured into an individual website for their station after the Information and Broadcast Ministry resolved in late 2008 to create website for each AIR station.
MUMBAI: To make its presence felt over the web, All India Radio's Shillong station has launched a website, http://www.airshillong.org in May 2009.
Commenting on the purpose of launching a website, AIR Shillong station director N Shadap says, "The website was launched in the last week of May. This is to enable transparency and enable people to know what our initiatives are. It would keep the listeners updated about programmes on a daily basis and increase our listenership base."
The website has an updated commercial rate card for advertisers to keep a tab on the advertising rates online. There is a categorisation of programmes for spot buys and sponsorship of in house programmes with rates varying according to the duration. The website also mentions the rate of booking and rates for hiring the AIR studio in the Meghalaya capital.
Airshillong.org has information on the concessions available for different advertisers, like a 15 per cent discount to state and central government departments, 15 per cent to public sector undertakings, 50 per cent for spots on blood donation, leprosy, cancer, AIDS etc.
The website was outsourced and was designed in coordination with the AIR officials. Still working on adding more content to the website, AIR Shillong plans to integrate interactivity with listeners in the near future.
AIR Shillong is one of the few stations to have ventured into an individual website for their station after the Information and Broadcast Ministry resolved in late 2008 to create website for each AIR station.
DTH stands for Direct To Home. DTH services are yet to capture the Indian market. DTH services have not grown in India as expected. The growth rate of cable TV services was much faster in India. If we have to analyze the reasons why DTH service providers are unable to capture the market in India, the first striking factor is the initial cost. Though many service providers say that the set top box is free, the initial cost is an obstacle for many. They expect the subscribers to pay a minimum of 6 months to 1 year in advance.
Whereas that was not the case with the cable TV operators. They happily brought multichannel entertainment to your home with as little deposit as Rs. 200 and the monthly subscriptions ranged from Rs.100 to Rs.200 depending on the place you are living. People did not have to plan their budget too much to have this pleasure. Almost every family was able to afford this facility. On the other hand when it comes to DTH services only big brands like Sun, Airtel, Big TV etc., provide DTH services. For many people in the middle class and lower middle class this is a luxury. They are ready to compromise on the quality of the TV signals rather than make a hole in their pockets.
They are happy with the average performance cable TV because cost is huge factor. Besides that with their cable TV they do not have to do too much of thinking because everyone gets the same channels. You do not have to rake your brain to find a package that had all the channels your family loved and yet keep the monthly subscription under control. This is too much to handle for the average family.
One of the most successful DTH services now in India is Sun DTH. The secret behind their quick success is that they tried to match their services very close to the cable TV operators not in terms of the quality of the channels but in terms of the way, it operated. They put together well thought out packages to suit the regional taste. When you go for Sun DTH you did not have to do too much of thinking. Moreover, they made their initial cost very low; it is the lowest in this segment. DTH services in India especially in the south it caught fire after the arrival of Sun DTH. Until then it was part of elite entertainment. Now even the middle class families can afford DTH services. However, the stigma of DTH services is still too strong to capture the millions of households that are still with cable TV. If the other DTH players too make their services more competitive and their packages more simple, we can find better growth in this area. Indian market for DTH is really huge and with proper strategies in place, they can capture the market.
More news - http://www.satnetforum.com/showthread.php?tid=1293
The company has developed new liquid crystalline design televisions that can directly receive DTH signals and is aiming for a 20 June launch.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 20 June 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 Rs500-600 crores (Rs5-6 billion) 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% at Rs176.5 in a weak Mumbai market.
More news - http://www.satnetforum.com/showthread.php?tid=1284
Red FM Mumbai swept the fourth Indian Excellence in Radio Awards with a total 11 awards, including Best FM Station Award. The Indian Excellence in Radio Awards were given away at a ceremony in Mumbai on May 27, 2009. A total 28 awards were given in 13 categories.
Besides the Best FM station Award, Red FM also won a Gold for the Best Breakfast Programme (Hindi); RJ of the Year (Hindi); and Best Radio Promo - In House (Hindi), among others.
Abraham Thomas, chief operating officer, Red FM, says, "Our continuous streak of victory at industry forums like these, prove that we are doing something right with our innovative promotional concepts, immensely talented jocks and programming & marketing strength."
Second in the awards tally was Radio Mirchi, which bagged eight awards, followed by Big FM with six awards. Radio Mirchi won RJ of the Year (Gujarati), besides Best Radio Promo - In House award in Tamil, Gujarati and Bengali markets. Big FM won RJ of the Year in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu markets. Radio City won the 'Best Radio Promo - In House (Telugu) Award.
Suryan FM Chennai won Gold for Best Breakfast Show (Tamil), Big FM won Gold for Best Breakfast Show (Telugu). Radio Mango also bagged an award. The Most Effective use of Radio in an ad Campaign was give to Mindshare Fulcrum- GroupM for 'Close Up - Paas Aao Na'.
More News - http://www.satnetforum.com/showthread.php?tid=1242
Sports minister Manohar Singh Gill has sparked off a fresh controversy between the Government and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by slamming an SMS betting game that asks for wagers on the number of runs scored every ball which he said could give rise to a fresh bout of corruption in the game.
The minister said the BCCI was using a cash-rich IPL to mint money by encouraging betting. He said the SMS game in IPL which requires fans to make ball-by-ball predictions for cash prizes was nothing but a "commercial use of cricket for business gains". The game has been introduced by BCCI.
Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner, IPL, when told about Gill's remarks, said, "A lot of effort has gone into this concept and into making this possible. It is a valid point (that it could be perceived as gambling on a match). But the margin of something like that happening is one in a million. If this game works, fine. If not, then we will leave it aside."
http://satnetforum.com/showthread.php?tid=1198
Radio on DTH splits broadcasters
Should radio be a part of the direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting bouquet? The question has the country's media industry sharply divided.Though some DTH platforms offer radio (mainly state-owned All India Radio and satellite radio WorldSpace), the government is yet to take a decision on whether to allow such a service. One of the issues raised by some media players is that FM radio licences are city or town specific, and that offering FM stations on DTH could be a violation of government norms. Replying to a consultation paper floated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the matter, WorldSpace has said that carriage of radio channels as part of DTH TV service is well-accepted in most parts of the world, including the US, Europe and the Middle East. According to WorldSpace, radio channels that are approved by the competent authorities to offer national level services may be permitted to provide content to DTH operators in India. FM radio player Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL) wants radio on the DTH platforms for greater reach. Unlike TV signals, radio requires lower bandwidth. "So, there won't be much additional burden on carrier capacity and on transponder bandwidth," ENIL has said. On the other hand, Radio Mid-Day, another private FM radio player, has said that DTH service providers "cannot provide our Mumbai radio stations to their customers outside Mumbai." Also, any service by DTH "to provide our channels should be after taking our prior consent and after paying requisite fee," it said. Dish TV, the first DTH operator, has said that DTH operators should not be allowed to provide radio channels as it may be a violation of the licensing conditions and uplinking/ downlinking guidelines. If DTH operators are allowed to offer radio stations, many government norms need to be reviewed and changed, Dish TV has said. The Zee Turner Alliance, too, has opposed the idea. "DTH platform owners should not be permitted to carry radio channels as the licensing for the radio services is separate and distinct," it has said. It has argued permitting radio channels on DTH would result in infringing of territorial limits specified by the existing radio licences. Other DTH service providers, including TataSky, Reliance Big TV, and Sun Direct, have however, stand in favour. TataSky has stated that it is a common practice in many other countries to offer radio on DTH and even on cable. There is no conflict of business interest with an existing radio system as DTH is a paid service, it has said. Reliance has compared this scenario with the telecom sector. "Like in the case of telecom service providers, which can provide mobile TV in addition to traditional voice and data, DTH operators can carry TV signals containing audio and video, and also audio signals of a radio channel," Reliance has argued.
Sri Lankan state run SLBC, which airs BBC World Service programmes in FM, has deliberately jammed BBC Tamil 17 times and BBC Sinhala 8 times, between 27 November and early January 2009, according to a statement by the BBC World Service Press Office Monday. The BBC said it was suspending the programming agreement with the SLBC from Tuesday.
Full text of the statement issued by the BBC World Service Press Office follows:
BBC World Service is suspending its FM programming to the Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC from Tuesday 10 February due to deliberate interference of its broadcasts by the Sri Lankan network.
BBC programmes and individual news reports in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been blocked by SLBC and have not been broadcast to listeners in Sri Lanka.
The BBC noted 17 instances of interference to BBC Tamil and eight similar instances to BBC Sinhala broadcasts between 27 November 2008 and early January 2009. Sometimes whole current affairs segments of BBC programming were not broadcast on SLBC.
The BBC expressed its concern directly to SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe in a series of letters and meetings throughout December and early January.
The BBC made it clear to SLBC that such interference and blocking meant that BBC programming was being editorially compromised by SLBC's actions and this was contrary to the BBC's contractual agreement with SLBC.
Despite the warnings, last week there were several further instances of interference to BBC programming in all three languages being broadcast on SLBC. There have been three instances of interference on BBC Tamil output, one on BBC Sinhala and two instances on the English language programming in the past 10 days.
BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman says: "We are dismayed that the BBC's programmes in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been interrupted on the SLBC network. We are equally disappointed to see that our programmes continue to be interfered with even after our representations.
"We have no choice but to suspend broadcasts until such time as SLBC can guarantee our programming is transmitted without interference," he says.
"In order to cover news events in the most comprehensive and balanced way for our audiences, the BBC adheres to specific editorial values that include impartiality, editorial independence and seeking a relevant range of views on any topic. In this way we can meet our audiences' high expectations and maintain our reputation as the world's most trusted international broadcaster."
He said: "The BBC has had a very cordial and effective partnership with the SLBC since 1998 – part of a strong relationship with listeners in that country that goes back to the 1940s. We are keen to keep this relationship going provided that SLBC adheres to the agreements we have with it. But at the heart of these agreements is the guarantee that our programmes in English, Sinhala, and Tamil are broadcast uninterrupted. If this can not be guaranteed we can not continue our relationship.
"We are prepared to have further discussions to resolve this issue and will investigate any specific detailed complaint SLBC may have about BBC output. So far, no specific complaint has been raised."
The BBC's services in all three languages remain in Sri Lanka via short wave; on bbc.com/news, bbcsinhala.com and bbctamil.com via the internet; and news bulletins in English are available via the Sri Lankan commercial broadcaster MBC.
Short Wave frequencies and timings of BBC services follow:
