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Friday, August 31, 2012

Next I-Day, listen to Vande Mataram from world's highest private FM channel - Times Of India

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Business Standard: Zee focuses on digital marketing

Zee focuses on digital marketing
In an effort to reach out to the more consumers, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) is planning to go for a digital marketing drive and is also in talks with All India Radio (AIR), popularly known as Akashvani, to air its mythological show Ramayan.
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Monday, August 27, 2012

Prasar Bharati Board may soon get financial autonomy

Source of Article: Hindu, Kasturi & Sons Ltd.

December 16, 2011

 

NEW DELHI, NATIONAL

 

For five years, power struggle holds up equipment purchases at DD, AIR

After five long years, while Doordarshan and All India Radio struggled with equipment falling apart and becoming obsolete, their parent organisation Prasar Bharati could finally get the power to approve its own purchases.

A proposal is in the works at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to give the official broadcaster some long-awaited financial autonomy and bestow decision-making powers for about half of its Rs. 5,000-crore annual budget on the Prasar Bharati Board.

"I support the proposal for devolution of powers to the Board," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told The Hindu . "I will approve it when it comes to me."

While Prasar Bharati has officially been an "autonomous" body for over a decade, its Board has hardly any financial powers to go with that title. Soon after it gained autonomy in 1997, the government decided that it would have financial powers equivalent to that of a Secretary of the Government of India. That means it can only approve purchases up to Rs. 20 crore. Any higher amount involves government approval.

The situation was even worse for the Directors-General of Doordarshan and AIR. As heads of government departments in 1997, they had powers to approve purchases up to Rs. 20 crore. Once Prasar Bharati was created, their powers dropped to just Rs. 1 crore each.

"Rs. 20 crore is nothing when you consider the cost of the equipment we need," said a senior official at Prasar Bharati. "The cost of a pair of transmitters is more than Rs. 50 crore… Our equipment is getting antiquated, but nothing can be done."

"This has been one of the major weaknesses of Prasar Bharati," said a Board member. "If you have to go back to the Ministry for every small thing, then where is the autonomy? It makes every process inordinately long and time-consuming."

In the early years, Prasar Bharati's requests were sent to the Ministry for clearance. However, an internal power struggle between the suspended CEO, B.S. Lalli, and some Board members paralysed its functioning in the recent past.

"It was only after Lalli was suspended and A.K. Jain [Member, Finance] was moved out of daily financial administration, files finally started moving," said a senior official in the Ministry. He said the first procurement requests after at least five years came to the Ministry about three months ago. "Suddenly about Rs. 170 crore [worth of procurement requests] landed up on our desks at the Ministry. Everyone is in shock…many people had not even realised that such purchases need to be cleared by the Ministry because it has been so long since the Board sent us such requests."

If the proposal to devolve financial powers to the Board was approved, Prasar Bharati would also be required to generate its own resources to meet programming expenses, said a senior Ministry official.

The government would continue to meet the salary expenses of a little over Rs. 2,000 crore a month.

Board members hope that the autonomy will extend beyond the proposed devolution of financial powers. "In name, it's an executive Board, but frankly, we meet once in two or three months. In between, the Ministry runs the whole show," said a member.

They point out that Prasar Bharati has a tiny secretariat, which leaves it dependent on the Ministry.


·  Government plans to bestow decision-making powers for half of its annual budget on Board

·  If the plan goes through, Prasar Bharati will have to generate resources to meet programming expenses

Economy - Spectrum crunch may cost Prasar Bharati R300 crore

Source of Article: Financial Express, The Indian Express Online Media Ltd

December 15, 2011
 

Acute shortage of DTH spectrum may account for a minimum loss of R300 crore for public broadcaster Prasar Bharati in the current fiscal.

Due to spectrum crunch and lack of Ku-band transponders (DTH spectrum) on satellites, the expansion and revenue-earning capabilities of the public broadcaster have been badly hit.As a result, it has to shelve plans to outsource the operational control of DD Direct Plus to private operators, as has been reported by FE earlier.

Also, as DD Direct Plus will not be able to increase the channel slots (from 59 to 150), it can not auction the same to earn

a minimum of R300 crore from private broadcasters who have been lining up to come on-board DD Direct platform.DD Direct Plus is the free-to-air direct-to-home service of Prasar Bharati which attracts a bulk of 350-plus private free-to-air channels on its platform for nation-wide reach.

Private channels have so far paid an average of R2.5 crore per year per channel, in e-auctions to Prasar Bharati to come on-board DD Direct Plus.

The original target of increasing the channel capacity of DD Direct Plus to 150 by early 2012 and to 200 by 2013 will not be met due to lack of transponders on satellites, sources in Prasar Bharati told FE.At present, DD Direct Plus offers 59 channels, a bulk of which are from private broadcasters who have paid R2-3 crore each to the public broadcaster after auctions for 365-day assured space and service. Doordarshan was looking to auction most of the new slots upon expansion to private broadcasters to earn a minimum of R300 crore before the start of new fiscal.Along with auctioning slots, Prasar Bharati was also set to hand over the operational control of DD Direct Plus to private DTH operators for a fixed fees. FE was the first to report this in August.

Sources said the move to shelve its plans to outsource DD Direct Plus to private operators was taken after a widespread opposition from within theorganisation. But sources in Prasar Bharati deny this. "ISRO will only be able to provide additional transponders to Prasar Bharati in 2013. Therefore, we'll have to operate with five transponders only, which means we can only increase our capacity to 75-76 channels and not 100 or 200 as planned. The plans to outsource operational control of DD Direct Plus is now virtually shelved," a senior officialin Prasar Bharati told FE.

So far, the broadcaster has successfully auctioned and allotted 26 slots to private broadcasters on DD Direct Plus raking in R63 crore in revenue. This is more than three times the amount it used to generate before migrating to e-auction mechanism in July (charging fixed rate of R80 lakh per slot). As a result, the average revenue per slot jumped to R2.42 crore.Based on the current average slot rate and projected increase, Doordarshan would have got another R220-270 crore from auctioning new slots thereby crossing the R300 crore-mark before March 31, 2012. According to Prasar Bharati officials, the slot-auction revenue alone would have accounted for nearly one-third of the planned budget allocations for Doordarshan.

Govt Under Opp Fire For 'Curbing DD Autonomy'

Source of Article: Pioneer, HT Media Ltd

December 9, 2011

 

New Delhi, Dec. 9 -- The BJP and Left parties on Thursday attacked the Government for curbing the autonomy of Doordarshan and making it an ideological tool of the Government by granting more power in appointment of Chief Executive Officer of the Prasar Bharati. Participating in the debate on the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, BJP leader Tarun Vijay demanded that appointment of CEO should be on lines of Election Commissioner to ensure autonomy of the public broadcaster. He also accused the Prasar Bharati of having wide spread corruption, ideological untouchability and ignoring the development stories and instead focusing on "irrelevant" programmes. He said that IAS lobby was dictating the programme content instead of the talented artists working with Doordarshan. A CPI(M) member criticised the withdrawal of recognition of unions and demanded that it should be immediately restored. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Pioneer. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Bill to amend law governing Prasar Bharati passed in RS

Source of Article: e-Eighteen Newswire, moneycontrol.com

December 8, 2011 (19:08)

 

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Rajya Sabha today passed a bill to amend the law governing Prasar Bharati, ensuring that recruitments done between November 1997 and October 2007 will be considered as "deemed deputation" till retirement. The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010, passed by voice vote will make the status of employees recruited between November 23, 1997 and October 5, 2007 - they are on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement - absolutely clear and unambiguous. Winding up a discussion on the Bill, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said, "We are bringing the employees under a structure, but decisions in this regard were delayed as employees had moved the Central Administrative Tribunal and the High Court." Even as members during the discussion on the Bill demanded winding up of Prasar Bharati, Soni favoured reviewing the functioning of the public broadcaster, Doordarshan and Akashvani to enable them to compete with other commercial channels. She dispelled fears on closure of DD-Urdu channel, saying, "There is a misconception that it is being shut down. The fact is that we are upgrading it and from 2010 to 2013 a total of Rs 80 crores has been sanctioned for the channel. "The UPA government has also sanctioned Rs 110 crore for strengthening transmission in border areas, especially in Jammu and Kashmir," she said, adding that DD-Kashir is being watched by people in PoK also, thus reflecting its popularity. On the recognition of unions, she said, there is a provision for this in the Department of Personnel and Training. "But for that, they have to fulfil the laid down criterion. It is up to the associations to fulfil this," she said. Earlier, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C M Jatua said there are a total of 40,173 sanctioned posts in Prasar Bharati of which 11,498 were vacant and the ministry was in the process of filling these. He said with the amendment of the Act, the status of the employees would be settled. (MORE)

Business - Elders For Winding Up Of Prasar Bharati

Source of Article: Press Trust of India – News, Press Trust of India

December 8, 2011 (17:51)

 

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Members belonging to different parties today demanded in the Rajya Sabha that Prasar Bharati should be wound up and pitched for making Doordarshan more effective and professional.


They were participating in a discussion on a bill to amend the law governing Prasar Bharati and make all recruitments done between November 1997 and October 2007 as "deemed deputation" till retirement.


The bill, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August last year, was referred to the Standing Committee whose recommendations were incorporated in it before being taking up for consideration and passage.


The Committee had recommended that in the recruitment rules and service conditions of employees of Prasar Bharati, it should be made absolutely clear that the employees on deemed deputation are senior to Prasar Bharati employees and it would not affect their promotional prospects.


Tarun Vijay (BJP) said the aim of national broadcasting is not achieved by Prasar Bharati, which is not working effectively. He sought winding up of the public broadcaster and reviving Doordarshan and Akashwani.


"It only projects the government and those associated with it... Day by day the quality is going down and Prasar Bharati is unsuccessful in presenting a correct picture of the nation. ...The aim was to bring truth before millions of Indians. But it is not working effectively," he said. He lamented that "whenever an important event happens, instead of seeing the government channel, people prefer to see private channels. "Vijay said IAS, IIS officers were controlling Prasar Bharati and suggested appointing professionals. .

 

Source:- Business



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Rajya Sabha debates Prasar Bharati bill

Source of Article: Deccan Chronicle, Deccan Chronicle Group

December 8, 2011

 

The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010, follows the Prasar Bharati act of 1990, which defines its composition, functions and powers and allows the central government to transfer officers and employees serving in Akashvani and Doordarshan to Prasar Bharati on certain conditions.

The upper house saw two adjournments Thursday morning amidst opposition demand to remove Home Minister P. Chidambaram, alleging his involvement in the 2G spectrum scam. The question hour was disrupted half way, forcing an adjournment till 12 noon.

At 12 noon, the house was adjourned again till 2 p.m. over similar protest. The Lok Sabha too saw similar protests.

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classical act: how prasar bharati has immortalised living legends

Source of Article: Hindustan Times, HT Media Ltd

November 8, 2011

 

New Delhi Hindustan Times New Delhi, Nov. 7 -- Once upon a time, there was only All India Radio and Doordarshan. Even now, the goodwill these two broadcasters enjoy is unrivalled. Using this goodwill as a platform, Prasar Bharati, since last month, has embarked on an outstanding effort to preserve for posterity the brilliance of the living legends of the Indian classical music tradition. Familiar household names, most of the legends are empanelled as "Top Grade artists" with AIR and Doordarshan. Every Friday, one of them is invited to perform before an audience at the Central Production Centre in South Delhi. "This achieves several purposes. The brilliance of the masters is recorded for the future generations, building of a central pool of resources for AIR and Doordarshan which can be broadcast across the pubcaster's channels and radio stations, popularising the classical tradition besides of course, delighting the audience," said a senior Prasar Bharati official. Already masters like Pandit Jasraj (Hindustani vocals), Debu Chatterjee (sitar), Barkat Sidhu (Sufi singer), Pandit Bhajan Sopori (santoor) have enthralled the audience. "It effectively opens up classical music and the performing arts for the public at large. Till now it has remained the exclusive domain of people who can afford expensive tickets for the shows of the masters," the official added. The entry to the stellar shows is free but strictly by invite. The qualification: anyone seriously interested in the classical arts. The venue: Prasar Bharati's 100-seat auditorium at the Central Production Centre in South Delhi. The out-of-the-box effort follows the recent fast-tracking of the process of categorisation of artists, which had jammed up in a milieu of internal bickering and a cloud of controversy that Prasar Bharati found itself enveloped by particularly after the scam-tainted Delhi Commonwealth Games last October. About 1000 artists have been suitably categorised since then. The public broadcaster, an autonomous body formed by an act of Parliament that controls Doordarshan and AIR, has classified artists into four categories: 'Top Grade', 'A', 'B' and 'B+'. Doordarshan is the most-watched channel in the country accroding to the Doordarshan Audience Research Television Ratings' weeklong survey in May 2011, where the comparative TRPs of Doordarshan and private TV channels were collected. "The only problem now is the limited number of seats in the auditorium with entry-seekers multiplying as the word has already spread far and wide," said the official. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.comn-1826334HT Media Limited

Prasar Bharati Wants Bigger Share Of Cricket Telecast Pie

Source of Article: Pioneer, HT Media Ltd

November 8, 2011

 

New Delhi, Nov. 7 -- Faced with heavy losses by broadcasting cricket matches on Doordarshan under the present system of revenue sharing, the Prasar Bharati has recommended amending the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007 so that it could get equal share of the ad revenue. At present, the private rights holder has to mandatorily share the signals with the government broadcaster, but it offers only 25 percent of revenue to Doordarshan keeping the remaining 75 percent for itself. The Prasar Bharati now wants that it should be amended to ensure that the public broadcaster gets 50 percent of the revenue for telecasting cricket matches. "Generally, Doordarshan earns about Rs 2.5 core to Rs 3 crore per day as advertisement revenue but when cricket is telecast the general programming is cancelled resulting in huge loss of revenue," Prasar Bharati sources told The Pioneer. Citing the example of the recent India England cricket match series the rights for which was sold to ESPN at the minimum guarantee of Rs 17 crore, the sources said that the private entity could not sell the proposed 6000 seconds of advertisement space. Now even if the company will give 25 percent of Rs 17 crore to Doordarshan it will amount to Rs 4 crore while the actual loss of advertisement revenue for the Doordarshan is at least Rs 13 to 15 crore for the match series, the sources claimed. Though Doordarshan does not want to deprive the subscribers of cricket matches, it wants a fair share so that the revenue loss to the public broadcaster could be reduced, they said. The Prasar Bharati has sent its recommendation to the Information and Broadcasting ministry, but the amendment bill is not likely to be tabled in the coming Winter Session. Apart from the procedural delays, the public broadcaster fears that private companies which buy the broadcasting rights will oppose this suggestion. The apprehension is based on the fact that the private parties had even gone to court in 2007 as they felt that Section 3 of the Sports Act was against their interest. Under this, it is mandatory on the part of private entities to share signals with the Prasar Bharati under a revenue sharing agreement. Though they had opposed the Act tooth and nail, the government remained firm that they could not be allowed to deprive the subscribers of the cricket matches by telecasting them only on private channels, the sources pointed out. The government's argument was based on the ground that if cricket broadcast is left alone to the private channels it would deprive the people in rural areas who are generally dependent on Doordarshan. Also, the competition from the public broadcaster checks the tendency among private channels to become paid channel which would further restrict the viewers getting access to cricket matches. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Pioneer. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Cabinet clears position of Prasar Bharati employees

Source of Article: Indo Asian News Service, HT Media Ltd

November 2, 2011

 

New Delhi, Nov. 1 -- The union cabinet Tuesday approved amendment to the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010, making it clear that employees recruited between Nov 23, 1997, and Oct 5, 2007, are 'on deemed deputation' to the organisation till their retirement. The cabinet at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the proposal of the information and broadcasting ministry for pursuing the Prasar Bharati Amendment Bill, 2010, pending in the Rajya Sabha for its enactment and to move official amendments. An official statement said the cabinet also approved the action taken on the recommendations made in the eighteenth report of standing committee on information technology on the bill. It said the cabinet approved the amendment to section 11(2) of the Prasar Bharati Bill, pending in the Rajya Sabha, by addition of the words, "and until their retirement" at the end of the section. "This will make the status of the employees recruited between 23.11.1997 and 05.10.2007, i.e., they are on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement, absolutely clear and unambiguous," the statement said. The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August 2010. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Relief to Prasar Bharati employees

Source of Article: Business Line, Kasturi & Sons Ltd.

November 2, 2011
 

In what will come as a relief to employees of Prasar Bharati, the Union Cabinet has made it clear that employees recruited between November 1997 and October 2007 will be deemed on deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement.

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the amendment of Section 11 (2) of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010.

The Bill was pending in Rajya Sabha and referred to a Standing Committee, which submitted its report. The Bill dealt with making amendments in Section 11 of the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 which deals with transfer of services of employees to Prasar Bharati upon its creation as a Corporation in 1997.

This will be applicable to employees of Indian Information Service, Central Secretariat Service or any cadre outside Akashvani and Doordarshan but connected to Prasar Bharati. These employees vis-Ã -vis the direct recruits of Prasar Bharati had been apprehensive about their promotion prospects.

Prasar Bharati Act amended

Source of Article: Hindustan Times, HT Media Ltd

November 2, 2011

 

2011-11-02 NEW DELHI Hindustan Times NEW DELHI, Nov. 2 -- The Cabinet on ment in Prasar Bharati Act, making appointments made between between November 1997 and October 2007 "deemed deputation" till retirement, thereby giving these employees benefit of availing service like other public servants. The Cabinet gave its nod to the amendment to section 11(2) of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill by the addition of "and until their retirement" at the end of the section. "This will make the status of employees recruited between November 23, 1997 and October 5, 2007 they are on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement absolutely clear and unambiguous," an official statement said. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.comn-1793779HT Media Limited

Prasar Bharati's 1997-07 recruitments 'deemed deputation'

Source of Article: Business Standard, Business Standard

November 2, 2011

 

BS Reporter New Delhi In what would provide respite to employees at Prasar Bharati, the government today approved amendments to the law governing the public broadcaster, making it clear that recruitments done during a 10-year period from November 1997 to October 2007 will be considered as "deemed deputation" till retirement.

"This will make the status of employees recruited between November 23, 1997 and October 5, 2007 — they are on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement — absolutely clear and unambiguous," an official statement said.

The specified posts are officers and employees of the Indian Information Service, the Central Secretariat Service or any cadre outside Akashvani and Doordarshan, but connected to Prasar Bharati.

The employees under this category were apprehensive about their promotional prospects, especially in relation to those who were directly recruited for Prasar Bharati.

The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August last year. It was subsequently referred to the Standing Committee, which has since submitted its report.

Govt amends law, gives relief to Prasar Bharati employees

Source of Article: e-Eighteen Newswire, moneycontrol.com

November 1, 2011 (16:06)

 

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) In a relief to Prasar Bharati employees, government today approved amendments to the law governing the public broadcaster, making it clear that recruitments done between November 1997 and October 2007 will be considered as "deemed deputation" till retirement. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod to the amendment to section 11(2) of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill by the addition of "and until their retirement" at the end of the section. "This will make the status of employees recruited between November 23, 1997 and October 5, 2007 -- they are on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement -- absolutely clear and unambiguous," an official statement said. The specified posts are officers and employees of the Indian Information Service, the Central Secretariat Service or any cadre outside Akashvani and Doordarshan but connected to Prasar Bharati. The employees under this category were apprehensive about their promotional prospects, especially in relation to those who were directly recruited for Prasar Bharati. The Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in August last year. It was subsequently referred to the Standing Committee which has since submitted its report. The Standing Committee had said that the concerns of the employees about their promotional prospects should be taken care of. The Committee had recommended that in the recruitment rules and service conditions of employees of Prasar Bharati, it should be made absolutely clear that the employees on deemed deputation are senior to Prasar Bharati employees and it would not affect their promotional prospects.

Cabinet Clears Amendments To The Prasar Bharati Bill

Source of Article: United News of India, HT Media Ltd

November 1, 2011

 

New Delhi, Nov. 1 -- The Union Cabinet today cleared the proposal to make some official amendments to the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010 pending in Rajya Sabha in Parliament. One of the amendments is to Section 11(2) of the Act to make the status of the Prasar Bharati employees clear. Now words and until their retirement have been added at the end of the section, which would make the status of the employees recruited between November 23, 1997 and October 5, 2007, as on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement absolutely clear and unambiguous. The Cabinet also approved the action taken on the recommendations made in the Eighteenth Report on Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010 of the Standing Committee on Information Technology. The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010Bill 2010 had been introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August, 2010. UNI NAZ ASH 1452 Published by HT Syndication with permission from United News of India. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Cabinet to take up changes in Prasar Bharati Bill

Source of Article: e-Eighteen Newswire, moneycontrol.com

October 31, 2011 (22:36)

 

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) The union cabinet is likely to discuss tomorrow a proposal to make amendments in the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Bill 2010 in view of the recommendations given by the Standing Committee on the information technology. "It is expected to be discussed in Tuesday's cabinet meeting,"a source said. The provisions the cabinet would discuss would largely relate to recruitment rules and service conditions of Prasar Bharati employees. At the inception of Prasar Bharati, employees had been absorbed from All India Radio and Doordarshan but had been given the status of employees on "deemed deputation" till their retirement. The employees under this category had expressed apprehension about their promotional prospects, especially in relation to those who were directly recruited for Prasar Bharati. The Standing Committee had said that the concerns of the employees about their promotional prospects should be taken care of. The Standing Committee had recommended that in the recruitment rules and service conditions of employees of Prasar Bharati, it should be made absolutely clear that the employees on deemed deputation are senior to Prasar Bharati employees and it would not affect their promotional prospects. The Standing Committee had also made recommendations on the financial structuring of the Prasar Bharati in its report. Two agreements proposed to be signed with the Maldives are also expected to be taken up at the meeting.

Business - I&Amp;B Ministry Accuses Nimbus Of Arm Twisting Prasar Bharati

Source of Article: Press Trust of India – News, Press Trust of India

October 21, 2011 (19:14)

 

New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) Intervening in the slug-fest between Nimbus and Prasar Bharati over broadcasting rights of ongoing India-England cricket series, the I&B Ministry has asked the BCCI to take immediate action to ensure that All India Radio gets the feed for live commentary of matches.


The All India Radio (AIR) has been unable to air live commentary as Nimbus, which is demanding 50 per cent of the ad revenues of AIR, refused to share the feed. "This action on the part of Nimbus appears to be an effort to arm twist Prasar Bharati," the Ministry said in a letter to the BCCI.


The Ministry has suggested the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) that "radio broadcast rights of sporting events should not be clubbed with TV broadcasting rights and should be made available directly to AIR at a negotiated price as far as India is concerned". According to Nimbus Communications, AIR has refused to follow the 50:50 sharing of advertising revenues, which has been mandated by the Sports Broadcasting (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act.


AIR and Doordarshan come under Prasar Bharati. However, according to the letter by the Ministry to BCCI, the provisions of the Sports Act apply only if the rights holder for TV telecast broadcast the match either on television, cable, DTH, or the radio broadcast right holder actually broadcasts the commentary over the respective medium in India. "As regards to radio, no private broadcaster is allowed to carry the commentary of sporting events of national level in India...the provisions of Sports Act relating to sharing of the signal do not apply to radio coverage," the letter said. The provisions relating to revenue sharing therefore also do not apply in case of radio coverage, it added.


Source:- Business


"Data Provider disclaimer and copyright notice: © [2006] The Press Trust of India Ltd (PTI) or its Licensors. This is the "Internet Securities, Inc. (trading as ISI Emerging Markets TM) " service which includes content provided by PTI (PTI Content). PTI reserves all rights, including copyright, in the PTI Content. The information, text and images that form part of the PTI Content are for personal use only and may not be re-written, copied, re-sold or re-distributed, framed, linked or otherwise used whether for compensation of any kind or not, without the prior written permission of PTI.
The subscriber will honour editorial advisories including but not limited to kill notes, corrections, embargoes, hold etc. that may be issued from time to time.
PTI Content is published for information only without assuming a duty of care. PTI is not in the business of providing professional advice, and gives no warranty, guarantee or other representation about the accuracy of the information or images contained in the PTI Content. PTI is not liable for errors, omissions in, delays or interruptions to or cessation of access to PTI Content through negligence or otherwise".

AIR- wants new voices, DD hunts for smarter faces

Source of Article: Hindustan Times, HT Media Ltd

October 21, 2011

 

2011-10-21NEW DELHI Hindustan Times NEW DELHI, Oct. 21 -- In a major makeover bid to arrest the fading sheen of public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio, Prasar Bharati has embarked on a hunt for new faces and new voices. "Acting on a large number of complaints on quality issues, we have started a process of inducting fresh newspersons in DD and AIR, besides a complete review of the existing ones," a senior Prasar Bharati official told HT. "Hindi in an English accent and vice-versa, dull monotones, tired-looking faces... Such complaints have been growing against news anchors and announcers in DD and AIR in recent times. The difference in news presentation compared with private enterprises is palpable," he said. A panel of independent experts is already going through the induction and review process, and making suitable recommendations. The process has been underway for the last two months and may end soon. "People can expect a lot of changes very soon as the new induction and review system have already started. It will now be based entirely on merit. Even the present crop of faces and voices of DD and AIR will have to apply again and go through the merit-based review system," the official added. DD and AIR also need fresh review of news content, which has negatively impacted its credibility rather than just the government line. DD and AIR are free from profit motive, and has more freedom to air news with social relevance. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.comn-1725808HT Media Limited

National Network - I&B seeks powers for easier removal of Prasar Bharati CEO

Source of Article: Indian Express, The Indian Express Online Media Ltd

 
October 9, 2011

 

Express news service

The Union Ministry of Law has cleared key amendments to the Prasar Bharati Act which, once legislated, would empower the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to cite "inefficiency" as the reason to remove a CEO. Currently, a CEO can't be removed without the clearance of the Supreme Court and the consent of the President.

 

The I&B Ministry intends to take the amendments to the Cabinet for approval soon. Sources didn't rule out the possibility of an ordinance being issued to give effect to the changes.

The move to curtail the powers of the Prasar Bharati CEO comes in the backdrop of the controversy over financial irregularities involving former head B S Lalli, who was also indicted by the Shunglu Committee over broadcasting contract for the Commonwealth Games.

 

Another amendment would provide for constitution of a board comprising, among others, the Vice-President, chairperson of the Press Council of India and the I&B Minister, to appoint and remove a CEO for inefficiency.

 

Another important amendment proposes to fix the age limit beyond which the chairperson, members and CEO of the Prasar Bharati Board won't be able to continue.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Doordarshan to simulcast Zee's Ramayan series - Business Today - Business News

Doordarshan to simulcast Zee's Ramayan series - Business Today - Business News

After tasting success with Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate, public broadcaster Doordarshan has now tied up with Zee TV to simulcast the mythological Ramayan series being aired in a new avatar every Sunday morning at 11 am since August 12.

This is clearly its attempt to revive the glory of Sunday morning slot with a one-hour slot on DD National (DD1) timed along with ZEE TV's telecast at the same time.

Prasar Bharati to get aggressive on revenue growth

Indiantelevision.com News Headlines Prasar Bharati to get aggressive on revenue growth
Prasar Bharati, India's public broadcaster, is putting in place plans to increase its revenues.
Aggressive marketing of advertising slots, putting to use spare infrastructure, bringing about an improvement in content, augmenting DTH services and sharing of towers are among the measures being taken by the broadcaster to bridge the substantial gap between its revenues and expenses, according to sources in the broadcaster.

Shortage of staff in Prasar Bharati affecting its functioning

Shortage of staff in Prasar Bharati affecting its functioning
There are nearly 8,469 vacancies in AIR and 5,753 posts vacant in Doordarshan and the shortage of staff was affecting the functioning of Prasar Bharati.

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Why Email Marketing is King by Arthur Middleton Hughes | 9:00 AM August 21, 2012


In a business world obsessed with gaining more customer intelligence, you would think that email marketing would get more respect. But just look at media spending. According to eMarketer, this year U.S. companies are spending about $64 billion per year on TV, $34 billion on print ads, and $39 billion on Internet advertising. And how much are they are spending on email? For that, we have Forrester data: only about $1.5 billion.
Of course, compared to other media, email messages are dirt cheap to send. With TV you are spending on ad agencies, creative studios, and cable channels. With print ads, you are helping to keep newspapers and magazines alive. Direct mail costs more than $600 per thousand pieces. With email, there are almost no costs at all. But its low cost only makes the argument stronger that email marketing is the most cost-effective advertising method available today.
Certainly email beats the competition from a measurability standpoint. With TV you do not know who is watching your ads. Ditto with print. Even with direct mail, you cannot be sure that your mail has been delivered, or that anyone reads it when it gets there. With email, you know within 24 hours exactly which messages have been opened, by whom, what links the openers clicked on, and what part of your message was working.
A properly structured email message provides this benefit to the marketer because it provides benefits to consumers. A TV, print, or direct mail ad is what it is. On email the ad is much more. Because of electronic links, those who open your emails can do their own research: they can explore and see any of the thousands of products that you sell. They can see the colors and sizes. They can, and they do, read ratings and reviews. They can put products in their shopping carts and buy them.
"Fine," say the TV folks, "but shopping cart sales through emails are seldom more than 5% of total sales. Nothing to write home about."
What these detractors seem to willfully ignore is that emails create impressions that lead to sales through other routes. Some of these routes can be tracked. The recipient can open it or delete it. If she opens it, she can click on it, perhaps buy something or print out a coupon and take it to a store. Finally, if she puts things in her cart but does not buy, you can send her an abandoned shopping cart email that usually yields 29% of lost sales.
But note that, in many cases, she also does things that are hard to track. She can get in her car and drive to a mall to buy the product. She can pick up her phone and order it. She may be prompted to do research on Google for better prices of similar products, or discuss the offer with her spouse or a friend, leading to a possible purchase later. These are all the behaviors that provide the rationale for TV or print advertising. My point is that emails prompt the same kinds of behaviors. Thus, there is an off-email multiplier. For every purchase in an email shopping cart, we can fairly assume that there are some number of other non-tracked profitable purchases that occur because of the arrival of the email — a number that quantifies all the non-tracked behaviors that email recipients engage in.

If you are going to make a case for investing more heavily in email marketing, you have to determine this off-email multiplier to account for all the sales your emails can be expected to generate. How can that be done? A retailer I've worked with which has 900 stores and is very active with email campaigns recently did a great study. It took a group of 105,000 customers in its loyalty club database, divided them into three groups of 35,000, and marketed to the three groups differently, as shown in the chart below (click to see a larger version). Thanks to the loyalty program, it was able to see all subsequent purchases by these customers.
hugheschart2.jpg.jpeg
Direct mail has a higher response rate than email. But note that direct mail costs about 100 times as much. Meanwhile, the data collected by the retailer allowed it to calculate its off-email multiplier (a simple matter of dividing the percentage of online sales by the percentage of in-store sales generated by email-only marketing). It is 3.76. In other words, for every email shopping cart sale, this retailer gets 3.76 other, typically non-tracked sales due to the email.
What might your off-email multiplier be? Zero is of course possible, but studies to date suggest that a number between two and three is typical.
Once you factor in your off-email multiplier, it's a very safe bet that email will beat all your other marketing methods in terms of return on investment. As email marketing gains more respect, marketing intelligence will meet customer intelligence.

Mobile video is linchpin for marketing success


Marketers in all verticals have been incorporating mobile video into their efforts. Whether the goal is to drive brand awareness or purchase intent, mobile video is on the rise and companies are increasingly allocating their television advertising dollars to the emerging channel.
Companies are strategically incorporating mobile video as part of a bigger portion of their TV and video initiatives. 2012 has been the tipping point in mobile video adoption and marketers are really starting to take notice.
“TV has been the linchpin of brand building for over 50 years as video ads have what it takes to make an emotional impact – sight, sound, motion and emotion,” said Ujjal Kohli, CEO of Rhythm NewMedia.
“And the consumer is in a lean-back state to receive the message,” he said. “Mobile video has all that and adds five breakthrough advantages over TV including interactivity, precise targeting and frequency control, equal viewing throughout the day avoiding the crush of prime time when ads are skipped, tight linkage to social media and capability to instantly measure ad impact.
“Mobile video is gaining rapidly in scale, and we think it will be the best brand medium ever.”
Driving adoptionAs with any new medium, early adopters are already using mobile video actively.
However, it is important for bigger brands to jump on board as well.
“We have large advertisers that reallocated TV money to mobile video,” Mr. Kohli said. “They think it is better than online video as it is full screen and immersive. 
“And those are why mobile video has an unprecedented 90 percent completion rate,” he said.
According to Mr. Kohli, consumer packaged goods and telecommunication companies, as well as the travel, entertainment and automotive industry are the leading spenders in mobile video so far.
“More than 200 major national brands have advertised with us so far and we see that number growing,” Mr. Kohli said. “Also, the average spend level per campaign is going up strongly.
“And finally, many more brands are discussing upfront buys with us, where they commit their budget for the year in advance, in return for reserving premium inventory, which is limited,” he said. “By premium we mean video ads run in front of video content that is top tier.”
Mobile videoCompanies such as Dr. Pepper, Visa and Lay’s have all incorporated mobile video into their campaigns.
For example, earlier this year Lay’s looked to increase its social presence by running mobile video ads within Hulu’s iPhone application.
The campaign let consumers to the company’s Facebook page and, ultimately, drove Facebook “Likes.”
The mobile video campaign promoted the company’s classic potato chips. The 35-second video centered around a women who is munching on the snack (see story).
Additionally, PepsiCo’s Dr. Pepper ran mobile video ads that let consumers learn more about the brand and connect with social media (see story).
Most recently, Visa made mobile a big part of its Olympic sponsorship with an effort that encouraged consumers to get involved in the social-media-driven Go World campaign.
Visa flaunted its Olympic sponsorship through video-heavy mobile ads (see story).
“If the goal is brand awareness or brand recall or purchase intent, mobile video is the linchpin for marketing success,” said Saurabh Bhatia, chief business officer at Vdopia. “Across these parameters, mobile video is the best performing ad unit hands down.
“More than 33 million unique users watched video on their mobile devices just in fourth quarter of 2011,” he said. “If you add reach of mobile video advertising – including non-video content like gaming, apps and mobile Web – this numbers reaches more 70 million, which is huge.”
According to the executive, 2012 has been the tipping point in mobile video adaption by marketers.
“By 2013 mobile video will account for 64 percent of total mobile traffic,” Mr. Bhatia said. “Mobile video streaming traffic will surpass all Web and Internet traffic by 2015.
“Also, the key trend that we are seeing is growth of HTML5 video adaption,” he said. “My prediction is that local, mobile, video advertising will emerge as a key advertising parameter and will start eating into the share of local cable and local OOH Media."
Source:  by Rimma Kats 

The Rise of India’s Digital Consumer and What it Means for the Future - comScore, Inc

Digital Scarcity Improves the Economics of Online Advertising (comScore Voices)

Digital Scarcity Improves the Economics of Online Advertising (comScore Voices)

The Rise of India’s Digital Consumer and What it Means for the Future - comScore, Inc

The Rise of India’s Digital Consumer and What it Means for the Future - comScore, Inc

In India, 1 in 4 Online Minutes are Spent on Social Networking Sites - comScore, Inc

In India, 1 in 4 Online Minutes are Spent on Social Networking Sites - comScore, Inc

Thursday, August 16, 2012

National Network - Govt bid to tighten grip on Prasar Bharati

Source of Articles: Indian Express, The Indian Express Online Media Ltd

October 5, 2011

Express news service

The government is set to bring an ordinance to amend the Prasar Bharati Act which would give it more say in the functioning of the public broadcaster by simplifying the procedure to remove its chairman, chief executive officer (CEO) and other members.

Following the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Prasar Bharati, the Union Law Ministry was learnt to be finalising the draft ordinance, which is likely to be taken up by the Cabinet in a couple of weeks.

As per the draft ordinance, the government proposes to add two more permanent members — technology and marketing — to run the public broadcaster more professionally and enable it to compete with private broadcasters.

The move to curtail the powers of the Prasar Bharati CEO comes in the backdrop of a raging controversy about financial irregularities involving the then CEO B S Lalli, who was also indicted by the Shunglu Committee in connection with the broadcasting contract for the Commonwealth Games.

As per the Prasar Bharati Act, the chairman and other members can be removed only through a presidential reference to the Supreme Court, which must hold an inquiry into the charges and make a recommendation to the President accordingly.

But the draft ordinance would provide for the appointing authority — the Vice-President, chairman of the Press Council of India and a nominee of the President of India — to have the power to suspend and remove the chairman and other members.

Also, while the Act says that the chairman and other members can be removed only on grounds of misbehaviour, the draft ordinance says they can also be removed for inability to enforce the Act, according to official sources.

According to the ordinance, while the upper age limit of the chairman and the CEO would be 70 and 65 years respectively, it would be 55 years for other members, who would have a three-year term that could be extended by a year.

Sources said the ordinance would also provide for setting up a management council which would look after operational affairs while the Prasar Bharati Board would look after policy matters.

Govt seeks to curb Prasar CEO powers

Source of Articles: Asian Age, Asian Age Holdings Ltd.

October 3, 2011
 

New Delhi, Oct. 2: The government is mulling curbing powers of the Prasar Bharati CEO in the backdrop of charges against former head of the public broadcaster B.S. Lalli with regard to Commonwealth Games contracts, an official said on Sunday.
Once amendments in the Prasar Bharati Act for the purpose come into force, the process to remove its CEO will become easier, the senior I&B ministry official said. The amendments will also empower the ministry to order telecast of an event on Doordarshan, he said. "During the Commonwealth Games in 2010, Lalli took all the decisions which resulted in a CBI case into award of the broadcasting contracts," the official said. "It was felt that despite the presence of oversight committee Lalli managed to take all decisions because of the powers the Prasar Bharati Act confers on the CEO," he said.
A GoM, which studied the matter, has suggested that the relation between the ministry and Prasar Bharati be relooked, he said. Sources said that one of the key amendments that the ministry has moved for the Cabinet's consideration is inclusion of a clause according to which "inefficiency" is a criterion for the removal of the CEO.
— PTI