David Haslingden, the CEO of National Geographic's international channels, has received an additional role as CEO of the organization's domestic channel.

From http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10012

ARABSAT, one of the leading providers of satellite communications to the Arab communities in the Middle East and North Africa, will be at CABSAT to talk about its successful launch of BADR 4 and related services.

With BADR-4, Arabsat will be able to cater to the HD needs of broadcasters once they begin to broadcast in the new format.

BADR-4 is currently the most state-of-the-art satellite to serve the MENA region and unprecedented reach serving all of the 324 million inhabitants now fully covers areas starting from Morocco and Algeria to the entire Arabian Gulf.

Now ranking as the world's ninth largest satellite operator, Arabsat offers its customers multi-mission satellite services, such as television, telephony, Internet and broadband, as well as the provision of VSAT and other interactive services that meet both current and emerging demands of its customers. Arabsat currently operates a fleet of five satellites providing capacity to media and entertainment companies, corporate and government entities, and IP and Broadband Internet access organisations.

The company also underwent a major organizational change as part of its efforts to become a more competitive player in the Middle East market.

As part of this effort, it tied up with Nilesat recently to establish the "ARABSAT Media Gateway" ("AMG") from Cairo.

Javna enables MobileCom users to receive BBC TV on their handsets

From http://www.ameinfo.com/114891.html

Pioneering in the field of Mobile TV Streaming, Javna has employed its top-notch solutions to enable Jordan Telecom's Mobile Operator MobileCom to provide its wide range of customers with live BBC television service.

Digital free-to-air TV is just weeks away. So should we all be rushing out to buy the set-top boxes that will unleash a hi-tech revolution in our homes? Um, that's a rather tricky question, actually. Adam Dudding reports.

In five weeks, a quiet revolution in New Zealand television will begin. Optus D1, the truck-sized satellite that beams Sky TV to New Zealand viewers, will start transmitting a clutch of familiar TV and radio stations in an unfamiliar format. From May 2, anyone, anywhere will be able to rig up a satellite dish and use a small set-top box to watch TV One, TV2, TV3, C4 and Maori TV (and listen to National and Concert Radio). It's the first small step as New Zealand TV goes digital.

But can't everyone in the country already watch all those channels?

In fact, they can't. About 25% of New Zealand homes have poor reception on at least one of the major channels, and thus stand to benefit from the arrival of a free-to-air satellite TV platform.

But even if you have perfectly good TV reception, you can't afford to ignore this, because in a few years the entire national network of more than 400 TV transmitters that have faithfully fed our flickering screens for 47 years will be turned off forever. Like it or not, you will be dragged into the digital TV age (although, at the risk of undermining the melodrama, it should be pointed out that Sky TV's 600,000 viewers have been happily digital for ages, and are unlikely to notice, let along mourn, the death of analogue).

So why is a consortium of free-to-air broadcasters, working under the name Freeview, making us all switch over, as well as prising substantial sums from the government (about $25 million over the next five years) to help it do so? Hurray for digital and all that, but it's not as if there have been protests calling for Shortland Street to be broadcast with a slightly crisper images and CD-quality sound.

There are several reasons, and they're mainly about money. First, the whole world is switching to digital TV, so equipment to maintain an analogue transmission network will soon get rarer and more expensive. Second, with up to 12 digital channels easily squeezing into the same bandwidth as a single analogue channel, digital is much cheaper to transmit. And thirdly, the government stands to earn a windfall (estimated at about $130m) after the analogue TV switch-off, when it auctions off the rights for all the freed-up TV frequencies, which will be snapped up for use in wireless broadband services, aeronautical and marine communications, military applications or even niche broadcasting.

By the way, Freeview's satellite debut in May is only half the story. Ten months later, the same digital channels will begin transmission on yet another platform: terrestrial UHF (that's the part of the radio spectrum, currently used by Prime and Maori TV, which you receive on one those long, squiggly, directional roof aerials). Seventeen existing UHF transmission towers in our 10 biggest cities will be converted so they can beam a digital signal that will reach 75% of the population. The idea is that eventually most of us will go for the UHF option (which can handle higher-definition HD images), and the remainder will plump for the ubiquitous (but non-HD) satellite option. It is believed that the public will switch to digital faster if both options are available from early on, allowing for an earlier analogue switch-off date (which is financially desirable for both broadcasters and the government).

Given that the exact switch-off date depends on how enthusiastically we make the change, it's just as well that there are some benefits for viewers as well as broadcasters. Apart from the potential for more channels, digital sound and picture quality are generally better than analogue, and it is easier to broadcast in widescreen format. Digital TV also supports onscreen programme listings, accessible from your remote control, and other interactive whistles and bells.

There is another sweetener too - two new TVNZ digital-only channels will be launched in the coming year: the "family-oriented" TVNZ3 and a 24-hour rolling news channel, TVNZ4. The government has given TVNZ $79m for the channels, so they better be good. But whether we like them or not, everyone who watches free-to-air TV in New Zealand is committed to irrevocable change. Here's what you need to know.

Can I just ignore the digital revolution and hope it will go away?

For a few years, while the old-school analogue signal continues to be simulcast, yes. But once the big switch-off comes in six to 10 years, you'll need to get either a set-top box or a new TV with a built-in digital receiver, unless you're already a Sky customer. (See sidebar, right, to work out when you should make the leap.)

What channels will I get on this Freeview digital TV platform?

At launch there will be the five channels listed above, and they'll soon be joined by TVNZ's two new channels, leaving space for about 13 more. Freeview GM Steve Browning expects other channels to join, but free-to-air TV seldom ends up offering as many channels as pay TV: "A good bouquet of a dozen channels will be compelling." Local and community stations may struggle with the costs of simulcasting in both analogue and on Freeview, so they may not make the shift to digital for some time. Prime, owned by Sky, will not be available free-to-air via satellite for now, mainly due to restrictions on its rights to broadcast certain sports events.

What do I need and what will it cost?

Generally, the longer you wait the less you'll probably have to spend.

Satellite: To get Freeview via satellite from May 2 you need to install a dish on your roof and buy a set-top box. The two Freeview-approved boxes will retail for $250-300, and getting a dish installed could cost as much as $400, though DIY enthusiasts could save bucks by installing it themselves. If you happen to have an existing, unused, Sky dish on your roof, you can use that for free, even though it technically belongs to Sky.

There may be ways to save on the steeply priced box too. Freeview has struck a deal with two manufacturers, Zinwell and Hills, who developed specialised software for Freeview's onscreen electronic programme guide in exchange for a 12-month clear run with exclusive rights to Freeview's tick of approval. High street shops such as Noel Leeming will be selling those two brands at first, but once the year is up, any brand meeting certain specifications can earn the Freeview certification, and competition should push prices down fast.

To confuse things further, some independent set-top box vendors insist their non-certified products will work just fine. Peter Escher of Auckland firm Satlink says he will be able to sell a perfectly good box in May for as little as $100, which can do everything except use certain esoteric aspects of the electronic programme guide. Look online and in the Yellow Pages if you want to take your chances with the non-certified brands.

Terrestrial: Once the UHF terrestrial system arrives next March, a different set of set-top boxes will go on sale. There's no supplier favouritism for these units, so prices are likely to be competitive right away. They could start as high as $300, but in the UK, which is several years down the track, models now sell for just $60. You'll need a UHF aerial, which will cost about $100, though check there's not one on your roof already.

What else will I be forced to buy?

Nothing. Digital free-to-air TV may make it more appealing to buy bigger, better TVs, specialised hard-drive video recorders and internet-TV technology, but you won't actually need any of that stuff if all you want to do is watch the telly.

Will I have to throw my much-loved 1960s black and white telly away?

No. Before the big switch-off, any TV that is working now will keep on working just as usual, and after the switch-off, older TVs will still work with a set-top box.

Does digital TV really sound and look better?

If you have good reception right now and your TV isn't one of those new huge widescreen monsters, you may find it hard to spot the difference. However, the bigger and better the TV, the more the improved clarity, especially HD, will be evident. Digital TV does have its own foibles though.

Excessive compression: Limitless channels can be squeezed into a digital transmission and, taken to extremes, the results can be horrible, strange colours, blurry images and tinny sound, like watching online video on a slow internet connection. Browning says this won't happen to Freeview though, as free-to-air broadcasters are unlikely to risk losing viewers by degrading quality, and there is plenty of transmitter space for the foreseeable future without having to squeeze the data.

Satellite rainfade: Just as with Sky, satellite Freeview may lose reception if there is heavy cloud cover between your house and the satellite. However, the signal from Optus D1, which was put in orbit only last year, is stronger than that of its predecessor, so this is becoming less of a problem.

I'm a techno-moron. Will I be able to drive this set-top box thing?

Probably. "We've put a lot of work into making this really really simple," Browning says. "If you've already got a dish, you plug it in and press the on button." Day-to-day operation of the box is much the same as a Sky decoder: you change the channels with a remote, and other buttons call up the electronic programme guide. Future products such as the PVR recorder may be harder to drive, but no one will be forcing you to buy one.

From mid-April, Freeview's website, http://www.freeviewnz.tv/ will carry details of which regions will get adequate UHF coverage.

WHO SHOULD SWITCH TO FREEVIEW, AND WHEN?

May 2, when satellite Freeview launches:

People in the wopwops. If your house has terrible TV reception you should consider buying a satellite dish and a Freeview set-top box as soon as the service is launched in May. This is sensible even if you are already signed up to Sky's Decoder Rental service (which supplies free-to-air channels via Sky for $18.29/month), because the Sky dish will work and you'll need only a set-top box. Check, though that you're not breaking the terms of your Sky contract.

Gadget freaks. If you are an incorrigible early adopter who wants a new toy, you could get Freeview straight away, but remember the satellite won't be transmitting HD quality, so your big expensive plasma telly may not get a proper workout until the UHF terrestrial service launches. Be patient.

Later this year

TVNZ's first new digital channel, the "family-oriented" TVNZ3, should launch before the end of year. If you can't live without it, you'll need to sign up then.

March 2008
(Freeview's UHF terrestrial service will switch on and UHF set-top boxes will go on sale. At the same time, Freeview hopes to be accrediting Freeview-friendly PVR recorders - hard-drive recorders that will operate a bit like MySky - for both satellite and UHF terrestrial. And TVNZ's new news channel, TVNZ4, should be up and running.)

Early adopters. The technology may improve and get cheaper if you wait, but the bare bones of the new digital world are all in place.

People with huge TVs and new-generation HD TVs. The bigger your box, the more you'll be able to appreciate digital's higher quality, and the widescreen format that will be used in a growing proportion of Freeview content. Freeview on terrestrial UHF will also transmit a growing proportion of HD content.

May 2008

Bargain-hunting satellite enthusiasts. The cost of the satellite set-top box should be falling by now as the year-long exclusive deal between Freeview and its two favoured suppliers ends. Any supplier that passes a specification test set by Freeview will now get the tick.

Late 2008/Early 2009

New TV buyers. By now, most new TVs should come with a built-in UHF terrestrial digital tuner, meaning you'll not need a separate set-top box. (Note that if you live outside the UHF coverage zone, you'll still need a satellite set-top box).

Between 2009 and the switch-off day

Early adopters (again!). Eventually, all sorts of silliness will become possible, such as setting your home video recorder with texts from your mobile phone, or buying infomercial junk by pressing buttons on your TV remote. Isn't technology wonderful?

Most of the rest of us. Some will move for the new channels; some because their old TV has blown up and the new one happens to be digital. And the government will be nagging us to hurry up with an advertising campaign as the deadline approaches.

On switch-off day? (sometime between 2013 and 2017)

The stragglers. Once the analogue transmitters are turned off, anyone without a set-top box or an integrated digital tuner in their telly won't be able to watch free-to-air TV any more. If the UK experience is anything to go by, the government will have to spend a bit of money helping vulnerable groups such as the elderly or the disabled make the transition.

Never

Current subscribers to Sky's pay TV who are happy with the service. Sky already transmits free-to-air stations within its pay-channel packages, and unlike Freeview, Sky has imminent plans to move to HD quality programmes via satellite. There seems little reason to have both.

TV - but not as we know it

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10430520

Steve Ellis knows he's a geek. A highlight of his day is the arrival of the latest issue of the Linux Journal. But he doesn't mind the label because he has something most of us don't - a PVR.

That's personal video recorder aka digital video recorder. Why? To watch TV - but not as we know it. Ellis is living convergence. That's when TV, computer, phone and other media meld and morph into something new.

His purpose-built PVR is a powerful computer connected to a TV screen. It's also connected to a small satellite dish on his roof - a dish which can see seven satellites over New Zealand and deliver about 50 TV and 20 radio channels to his Titirangi home.

Ellis hardly ever watches live TV and hasn't for years. That's because the OpenMedia myPVR he's designed and sells, is constantly recording an array of programmes Ellis has selected, at touch of his remote, from the onscreen electronic programming guide. All his favourite programmes are automatically there, stored on his PVR for viewing when it suits. He can also watch what he wants while recording several programmes showing at the same time. Best of all he has a skip-forward button on his remote so he doesn't have to watch obtrusive ads.

"I'm not tied to the time of broadcast or where I watch," says Ellis. "I know I'm a geek, but myPVR is easier to programme than a VCR and I can copy a programme to my laptop to watch sitting on the deck or stream it to another room in the house."

This is the new way of watching TV - watching what you want, when you want, where you want, and without the ads. It's similar to what some 16,000 Sky subscribers are doing with their My Sky boxes and what will eventually be available for Freeview, the new digital TV transmissions that begin blasting off a satellite to New Zealand homes in early May.

But don't adjust your set just yet. You've got six to eight years to decide whether this brave new world is for you. By then you will have made some choices, because there will be a day in this near future when your current free-to-air TV signal will be turned off.

If you're one of the 600,000 or so Sky Digital subscribers don't worry. You're already part of the digital TV revolution. But if you're not, you're receiving an analogue signal and that's the one that will be turned off. The start of this transition from analogue to digital begins in early May when the first Freeview digital signals - from TV One, 2, 3, C4, Maori TV, plus Radio New Zealand National and Concert - start broadcasting alongside the existing analogue transmissions, a simulcast that will go on until the big turn-off day comes.

When that happens one could, of course, go back to reading. But as time and technology wait for no one, sooner or later you are going to have to do something. Here are some things to consider.

Box with a view

One good reason to switch to Freeview in May is if your current reception of TV One, 2, 3, C4 or Maori TV is lousy. The new transmissions come from the new Optus Satellite and will deliver a much better picture. "Digital quality is better than analogue quality, there's is no doubt about it," says Steve Browning the general manager of Freeview, the consortium of broadcasters comprising TVNZ, CanWest MediaWorks, Maori TV and Radio New Zealand.

Of course he's going to say that. But there are differences and come May, the most striking will be for TV3 and C4 digital viewers who will receive pictures broadcast in widescreen format. That's as long as they have a widescreen TV - TVs that are wider than they are high, more like a movie screen. TVNZ and Maori TV will follow with widescreen broadcasts later in the year.

But if you want state-of-the-art picture quality, wait until March 2008 when terrestrial digital TV comes on stream. That's TV broadcast from highish hilltops to conventional roof aerials, rather than from satellite to dishes. Terrestrial broadcasts will be high-definition (HD) signals with much more detailed pictures which, as long as you have a high definition TV, let you see the wrinkles on actors' faces.

Sky has plans to start HD broadcasts for its subscribers early next year too, and for the free-to-air Prime TV which will be available as a digital terrestrial broadcast. Waiting until March 2008 is also a good idea because while you may be getting lousy reception on some channels now, it may be fixed with the new digital terrestrial broadcasts. But terrestrial broadcasts will reach only about 75 per cent, so for the rest, satellite will be the only option. When, or if, Freeview broadcasters transmit from the satellite in high-definition rather than standard-definition remains unclear.

How free is free?

The big advantage of Freeview is that unlike Sky, it's not pay TV, it is free-to-air. But the downside is your existing TV needs a new receiver to get it. Enter the Freeview set top box. At the May digital satellite launch these will retail for about $300. Adding about $150 for the satellite dish and an hour or so for installation means the total cost will be between $500 and $550. That's more than initially thought, but while early adopters will be stung, prices will fall - especially with the arrival of "grey market" boxes on the market. Those are boxes that aren't Freeview certified. Some will work better than others. Buyer beware.

By March 2008 we should also be seeing new Freeview-ready TVs - sets with the digital terrestrial tuner built-in. By then, as well as terrestrial set top boxes, digital recorders or PVRs will also be available for both the satellite and terrestrial service. These not only replace videotape, they also allow you to record via the electronic programme guide that comes with the digital revolution. No more looking in the Herald or the Listener for listings when you have one of these. All programmes for the next eight days are there on screen with a synopsis of each programme. Click on the programme you want with your remote and it will be recorded. Click again and your choice will automatically be recorded every week.

For free-to-air broadcasters, PVRs are a bit of nightmare. What happens when they become the norm? "We don't believe it will mean the end of the traditional ad break," says TVNZ spokesperson Megan Richards. "There is research to suggest that viewers absorb the substance of ads even while fast forwarding, but we have for some time been broadening our approach to the whole question of advertising revenue."

Surf's down

One of the main reasons for moving from analogue to digital TV is freeing the airways for lots more channel surfing. But at the May launch and for some time to come, the digital show will be less rather than more. Notably absent is Prime (owned by Sky) which will not be available on Freeview satellite. That's because some of the satellite signal bleeds into Australia allowing some Australian viewers to receive it, breaching contracts for delayed broadcasts of Australasian sports. "I don't own the right to show them in Australia," says Sky chief executive John Fellet.

Also missing in May are new digital channels. TVNZ is expected to launch a new Family channel in October, with a 24-hour news and sports channel to follow next year. At the May launch CanWest will make C4 a 24-hour channel and is also in discussions with other parties to launch a new channel some time in 2008.

Absent too from Freeview satellite are any regional or niche broadcasting channels such as Triangle or AltTV. What's holding them back is money. While the current Freeview broadcasters have been given $25 million by the Government to help with the costs of their digital simulcasts, the rest got nothing.

Adding to the not-happening list is the lack of a return path or back channel on Freeview. That's the bit - usually via a phone line, but also possible wirelessly - that lets viewers buy movies on demand, place bets on horse-races with a click of the remote, and connects you to the internet. Whether Freeview will get a back-channel or whether, given the poor state of broadband here, it would work, remains to be seen. But the lack of new channels and the absence of Prime are a good reason to wait until March before diving into digital TV.

Turf wars

Today if you wanted to run both a Sky box and a Freeview box in your home, you can't. It's a problem to do with something called horizontal and vertical polarity and a mistake made with the new Optus satellite used by both Sky and Freeview. According to both Sky and Freeview the problem will be fixed by the May launch date. "One of our goals is to teach our box to look at both polarities," says Fellet.

It's also not going to be a problem if you want to use a disused Sky dish to access Freeview. Strictly speaking the dish is Sky's property, but Fellet says the company is not going to make an issue out of it - except perhaps where there are dual installations in home and through a Freeview installer's mistake the Sky box stops working.

There's also little chance that TVNZ or CanWest would prevent their channels - One, 2, 3 and C4 - from showing, as they currently do, to Sky subscribers. From a free-to-air broadcaster's point of view, the more viewers you have the better it is for advertising sales - so making it difficult for Sky subscribers to view those channels makes little sense.

The situation is a little different with regard to TVNZ's two new digital channels for which the Government has given $79 million over the next five years to create. TVNZ seems to be saying it will not allow its new channels to be received by Sky's subscribers. "Sky's box would potentially have the technical ability to pick up our channels," says TVNZ's Megan Richards. "But carriage as part of their service will require a licence, protected by the Copyright Act."

Fellet doesn't agree. "If they are free-to-air and not encrypted any satellite receiver can pick then up."

There's a sense of jockeying for position in the broadcasters' dialogue, especially in the way Sky intends to make Prime available to viewers - without joining the Freeview consortium. "The bottom line is we'll make Prime available as digital terrestrial and feed them [Freeview] all the information they want for their programme guide," says Fellet. "Whether or not we join Freeview, I don't know we'll necessarily do that."

CanWest's chief operating officer Rick Friesen says the TV3 and C4 broadcasters' broad philosophy is that they want as many viewers as possible, regardless of the way the channels are received.

From a viewer's point of view one hopes court battles about who can view, or copy, what don't eventuate. Free-to-air channels should be just that. But in the brave new digital world, copyright battles are never far away.

And PVRs like OpenMedia's myPVR which can burn programmes to DVD and also edit out the ads are going to cause headaches. Then there's the issue of whether it's legal to copy the latest episode of Desperate Housewives to your iPod, so you can watch it on the bus going to work.

Welcome to convergence.

War of words over cash for TV website

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10430812

TV3 boss Brent Impey is furious at claims by his TVNZ counterpart Rick Ellis that the new TVNZ Ondemand website service is part of charter obligations.

The chief executive of CanWest MediaWorks New Zealand - owner of TV3 and C4 - has attacked the website, which allows viewers to download programmes, as an example of more murky accounting of the charter.

The site allows broadband users to download programmes, including old archive material and some prime-time shows, at a charge of $4 an hour.

CanWest is developing its own download site through its new relationship with MSN and says it is a commercial venture.

"It is fundamentally wrong for the taxpayers to fund this new commercial operation for TVNZ," Impey said.

The criticism is not new - private sector broadcasters have long complained that state broadcasters mix up commercial and non-commercial ventures and elicit unfair advantage.

Impey recently attacked TVNZ and the funding body NZ On Air for committing $36 million over three years for a new TV One soap opera, The Point, which was subsequently dropped.

But Ellis drew attention to the crossover of commercial and public service, saying Ondemand was a charter obligation and he hoped it would be making a profit in three years.

Ellis launched Ondemand last Tuesday. The site allows downloads of 300 videos and 100 programmes. Some of those chargeable programmes have already been publicly funded by New Zealand On Air.

CanWest is working on developing downloads of some of its programming through its new online relationship with ACP Magazines at the redeveloped MSN website. Impey says: "As soon as they use the word charter it means it is being used to access charter money. It is either commercial or it is charter-funded by the state."

TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said everything TVNZ did was aimed at meeting the charter and getting a commercial return. "That is the model we have to work with."

The Ondemand website as it stands is not receiving direct government subsidies. The charges for programmes such as Shortland Street were only to recover the money paid to producers, she said.

But a programme supplier for Ondemand confirmed that the charge picked up by TVNZ was not just to pass on to producers - a significant proportion would be retained by TVNZ. Terms of how much TVNZ kept were variable among different producers. Where producers made money they had to return some to New Zealand On Air.

Under Ondemand primetime programmes screened from 7pm to 9.30pm will attract a $2 charge for a half-hour programme and $4 for an hour.

Website row

* Ondemand is a new TVNZ website which allows broadband users to download programming, including old archive material.

* TVNZ boss Rick Ellis has described it as part of the Government-owned network's charter obligation.

* TV3 boss Bent Impey says it is wrong for TVNZ to be making profits from programmes already funded by taxpayers through NZ On Air.

* TV3 owner CanWest is developing its own download site in partnership with MSN.

TVNZ’s rights management cracked by online users

From http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/BB3915FB25A8B8A8CC2572A70008A722

Users unhappy with seven-day limit remove it

Only a few days after TVNZ officially launched its ondemand site for downloadable content, users have discovered how to remove the Digital Rights Management (DRM) that prevents some downloaded material from being viewed after seven days, the television company admits.

TVNZ’s site, which offers downloadable TV programmes and films, utilises Microsoft’s PlaysForSure DRM for Windows Media. By using a utility called Fairuse4wm, users who have paid for and downloaded content can strip off the DRM that prevents them from viewing some content where the licence expires after seven days and which ties that content to a single machine.

The principal architect for TVNZ’s interactive technology group, Ade Krzyzewski, confirms it is possible to remove the DRM in this manner. He says it’s the reality of today’s technology and adds that TVNZ was aware prior to the launch of ondemand that the DRM could be removed.

While he can understand viewers being frustrated with the DRM, Krzyzewski says the limitations were placed on TVNZ by the production houses making the material in the first place.

“We don’t own the content,” Krzyzewski says, referring to the pay-per-view material. However, despite being sympathetic towards users fed up with DRM requirements, Krzyzewski says TVNZ is willing to enforce the restrictions.

“It’s a matter of balancing two interests, trying to ensure the best for both producers and viewers,” he says.

Krzyzewski questions if it’s worth the $2 savings considering removing the DRM is potentially illegal and the content can be easily relicensed.

Once the DRM licence expires, the file remains on a computer — it does not “self-destruct”, Krzyzewski says. The only thing that happens is that users’ ability to view the file goes, unless they re-license it for watching for another seven-day period.

He is also at pains to point out that around 90% of content on TVNZ’s
ondemand site is free and without DRM.

“We have also tried to make sure that as many people as possible can access the content even if they don’t have Windows through the use of Flash-based media players,”Krzyzewski says.

Asked what counter-measures if any TVNZ is planning to take, Krzyzewski says the broadcaster has to wait for Microsoft to release a patch for PlaysForSure that’ll stop Fairuse4wm from working.

However, Microsoft released patches last year to that end, but the authors of Fairuse4wm were able to circumvent these and the program continues to work today.

There are other measures TVNZ could take to prevent users from cracking DRM restricted content, but Krzyzewski describes these as “draconian for viewers” and says the broadcaster is unwilling to implement them.

But, if the situation gets out of hand and paid content is cracked on a regular basis, it may undermine the business model of ondemand for TVNZ.

Kordia director quits to head up BayCity

Tony Baird has resigned as a director of state-owned transmission company Kordia after being appointed managing director of the BayCity group of companies, which includes rural Internet provider Farmside and a new firm that will wholesale satellite broadband connections.

Mr Baird has held senior positions with Alcatel and Nortel in Britain and has worked as director of networking technology at TelstraClear.

Last week a new sister company of Farmside, BayCity Communications, which is still in the process of being registered, announced it had reached a deal with Thai firm Shin Satellite that gives it exclusive rights to wholesale capacity on Shin's Ipstar communications satellite to customers in New Zealand.

BayCity agreed to an ambitious commitment to buy a minimum of $100 million-worth of bandwidth and hardware from the Thai firm over the next 12 years. Shin Satellite executive chairman Dumrong Kasemset says BayCity is expected to sell 60,000 Ipstar connections over the next five years under the arrangement.

Ms Tiscenko wouldn't comment on speculation last week that Kordia might buy Farmside, which is believed to employ 40 staff and which is the largest specialist supplier of fixed-line, wireless and satellite broadband services to farmers and other rural customers.

Kordia has also declined to comment. Farmside is understood to have privately denied the buy-out rumour.

Television industry lacks skills, says Patel

From http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=59391

THE television industry lacks qualified and experienced workers, says Fiji TV acting Group chief executive Tarun Patel.

He was responding to the interim government's call for expressions of interest to those interested in obtaining a free to air license in Fiji.

Mr Patel said the interim Government should first conduct a feasibility study to identify what customers want and the level of capacity that the market held for terrestrial services.

"It will be a waste of resources if government issues a free to air licence to an operator who will duplicate the services of Fiji TV is already offering to the people of Fiji. Government should ensure that the new licensees offer services that customers want that Fiji TV is not offering at present," he said.

Mr Patel said if new licensees competed for content directly with Fiji TV, programming costs and related delivery costs would be artificially increased, increasing the cost of sales, reducing profitability and affecting program offering in the long term and consumers would lose out on compelling content.

He said the interim Government should also ensure that the new licensees would not operate only in areas where it was profitable. Mr Patel said the interim Government should seriously consider setting up a public service television that would not compete with commercial television services.

"These services should offer more cultural, educational, women's issues, information, language, health, agriculture programs.

"Public service TV that is funded is to be independently managed to avoid interference from government," he said.

He said issues that the regulators should be mindful of were, would there be enough bandwidth available when digital transition would happen, which would require licensees to simulcast in analogue and digital for a period of time.

Mr Patel said this was where technical expertise came in and another area that government needed to be prepared for.

He said Fiji TV started operations in 1994 and was issued a 15-year exclusive licence for both free to air and pay TV. He said in 2000 Fiji TV was given a new license after the interim Government at that time removed the exclusive licence given to the company. Interim Commerce minister Taito Waradi said the current government was totally behind the policy objective to free up the market and dismantle monopolies.

He said they were starting with areas that were not necessarily bound to exclusivity.

Loral sued over sale of $300 million in equity

From http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/BUSINESS/703250318/1003

Loral Space & Communications Inc., a satellite company that emerged from bankruptcy in 2005, has been sued by investors claiming the company's sale of $300 million in equity to its largest shareholder was unfair.

BlackRock Inc., the second-largest publicly traded U.S. money manager, is among investors claiming Loral Chief Executive Officer Michael Targoff and board members breached their duty. Shareholders couldn't vote on the transaction with MHR Fund Management LLC, a deal that undervalued the company's stock, investors said last week in a Delaware Chancery Court complaint.

Loral in October announced plans to sell $300 million of perpetual convertible preferred stock to MHR, an entity owned by former Chairman Mark Rachesky.

New York-based Loral said it would consider alternatives after shareholders argued for better terms, then changed the deal so shareholder approval wasn't required and completed the transaction, the investors said.

"While the transaction between Loral and MHR is garbed as a simple sale of preferred stock, in fact, it operates as an unfair transfer of wealth to a controlling shareholder," investors said in the complaint.

The transaction acts as a "stealth poison pill" by discouraging third parties from ever attempting to take a stake in the company, the investors claimed. The deal also gives MHR a "stranglehold" over Loral's ability to make significant business decisions, they said.

The transaction gives MHR the right to convert the newly issued preferred stock to create a majority interest in Loral's voting stock.

Sea launch loss unlikely to reach $25-$50 million

From http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=9826

MILAN, Italy—Relatively little damage to the launch platform owned by Sea Launch Co. means the total insured loss will be less than the $25 million to $50 million estimated by its marine insurers.

Despite the massive explosion on board the floating platform on January 30 leading to the $250 million insured loss of a Boeing satellite, the platform experienced little damage, according to Kjell Karlsen, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sea Launch at the 14th International Space Insurance conference in Milan. The platform is insured for $260 million in the hull and marine insurance market, led by Lloyd's of London, said Mr. Karlsen. Marine insurers have estimated the loss to be between $25 million to $50 million, but Mr. Karlsen believes the cost will be less although the loss review is not yet completed.

Sea Launch is believed to be the only launch provider to insure its operations for physical damage. The company plans to be up and running and carrying out two launches by the end of the year, according to Mr. Karlsen.

Accessing to Internet via satellite in Vietnam

From  http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2007/03/677070/

VietNamNet Bridge -

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4006028a28.html

A new internet service is now available in Vietnam which allows users to receive broadband access to the internet anywhere, anytime, without being tied to a physical connection.

The new service comes in the form of a small satellite terminal which accesses the internet via the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN).

The Norway-based communications, IT and media company Telenor and their partner Immarsat, have cooperated with the Vietnam Maritime Communication and Electronics Company to be the first BGAN service provider in Vietnam.

Weighing just one kilogram and not much bigger than a laptop, the satellite terminal slips neatly into a carry bag. Connecting their laptop with the terminal, users will be able to receive a broadband connection of up to 512kps.
 
At a press briefing in Ha Noi, Rodolfo Ramizer, Regional Manager for Telenor, said that his company’s partner Immarsat have launched two commercial communication satellites with third planned for the end of this year.

He also added that there are currently about 2,000 satellite terminals around the world. Based on the rapid growth rate of tele-communication in Asia, Telenor believed that they can sell more than 1,000 terminals in this region.

Vietnam is one of the ten key markets of Telenor in Asia. 100 satellite terminals are expected to be sold this year. The company intends to provide other hi-tech services such as satellite mobile phones to Vietnam in the near future.

TVB ends year with revenues up

From http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117961737.html?categoryid=19&cs=1

O'seas satellite pay TV operations sees dip

HONG KONG -- Television Broadcasts had a 1% increase in revenues to HK$4.2 billion ($538 million) for the year ended Dec. 31.

TVB's revenue from overseas satellite pay TV operations -- which includes TVB Satellite Platform USA, TVB Australia and the Chinese Channel in Europe -- dropped 1% to $31.4 million. Revenue from its local terrestrial TV broadcasting dropped 1% to $284.1 million.

TVB has long been the leading free-to-air broadcaster in Hong Kong.

The channel is optimistic about the 2007 advertising market, according to its results, in part because digital TV broadcasting should debut in Hong Kong in the last quarter and also because of opportunities from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

PTV rally draws thousands of Thaksin backers

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/24Mar2007_news03.php

Operators and supporters of satellite-based People's Television (PTV) staged a rally at Sanam Luang yesterday amid extra tight security to attack the Council for National Security (CNS) and the government for banning its broadcasts.

The rally attracted around 3,000 people, including visitors who planned to take part in the Traditional Thai Sports Festival at Sanam Luang, which was later cancelled.

Some 1,800 fully kitted out riot police from the Metropolitan Police Bureau and Crime Suppression Division along with city municipal officials moved in on the rally-goers at about 5.30 pm to maintain law and order.

Some angry demonstrators reportedly threw bottles at the officers.

PTV executives asked the demonstrators not to attack the police as they said it might be used as an excuse to break up the protest.

A middle-aged woman was seen taking off her pha-tung wrap-around tubeskirt and waving it to chase away the police.

Early in the day, a brief scuffle broke out between the rally supporters and some 80 city municipal officials who tried to dismantle the stage. The two groups briefly clashed before police were called in to control the situation. Municipal officials were then pulled out to reduce tensions. No one was hurt in the scuffles.

City police commissioner Pol Maj-Gen Adisorn Nonsi yesterday led senior police to inspect the venue.

Phra Nakhon district director Roengsak Horaruang said the stage had been set up without permission. The venue was reserved for the sports festival which was to run until April 7. He said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) filed a complaint with police against PTV's organisers for encroachment.

The rally organisers arrived at Sanam Luang at around 3am yesterday and completed the makeshift stage at 5am.

PTV executives Veera Musikapong, Chatuporn Prompan, Jakrapob Penkair and Natthawut Saikua, took turns criticising the Council for National Security (CNS) and the government for earlier blocking the station's broadcasts.

They said they would dismantle the stage after the rally ended at about 10pm.

Meanwhile, Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, urged the PTV organisers to clearly state that their rally was part of political activities of the Thai Rak Thai party.

He said no one was convinced by acting Thai Rak Thai party leader Chaturon Chaisaeng's earlier remarks that his party had nothing to do with PTV.

The station was set up by a group of former Thai Rak Thai executives.

Copies of Mr Thaksin's photo with a message "We can wait" were distributed to the participants. One protester was seen holding a Shinawatra family photo.

CNS chairman Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin yesterday put soldiers on high alert and enforced the Pathapee 149 (Protect the Land 149) riot control plan

PTV to hold weekly anti-govt rallies

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=117641

(BangkokPost.com) - Operators of the pro-Thaksin satellite channel People's Television (PTV) will stage a rally again next Friday, after managing to attract sizeable crowds yesterday at Sanam Luang.

PTV executive Jakrapob Penkair said Saturday that he expected the upcoming rally to draw about 10,000 supporters of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The rally that was held on Friday attracted around 3,000 people, including those who planned to take part in the sports festival that was planned to be held at the venue.

Mr Jakrapob said they plan to hold a rally similar to this for another three to four weeks to talk to supporters but denied that this was a move to try to oust the government and the military's Council for National Security.

He also denied that operators try to tell supporters to wait for Mr Thaksin's return later this year. He said Mr Thaksin would definitely return to Thailand but he cannot say when.

Meanwhile, CNS chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin said he was not worried about the PTV's protest, saying that people would soon get bored with it because there was nothing interesting plus the weather is hot.

Beware, cable pirates

From http://www.wadi.ae/test.php?pag=1&id=2978

To protect the intellectual property rights of local cable operators, authorities have launched a campaign to clamp down on expats bringing in direct-to-home satellite receivers

DUBAI UAE cable distributors have launched a campaign against channel piracy with the help of local authorities to catch those who have opted for illegal satellite pay-TV connections. They are targeting expats, especially from the subcontinent, returning to Dubai with direct-to-home (DTH) satellite receivers.
So far over 200 such receivers have been confiscated by the Customs at the Dubai International Airport following a ban notice on the same that was issued three weeks ago. This was just prior to the Cricket World Cup — a mustsee event for many expats from the subcontinent.
Arab Digital Distribution (ADD) and E-Vision in conjunction with the authorities, such as Arabian Anti Piracy Alliance (AAA) and Dubai Customs have in the meantime stepped up monitoring of illegal redistribution of signals through illegal receivers and illegal viewing in public areas.
“One of the recent additions to channel piracy has been the illegal import of Indian DTH receivers and smart cards,” says Vinod D’Mello, Executive Vice-President, Group Strategy and Planning, ADD, provider of e-Pehla packages. He says that the alliance is taking measures to reduce illegal viewing of TV channels to safeguard the intellectual property rights (IPR) of local cable operators during the high-viewership season.
“The UAE government has instructed the Customs authorities to confiscate the receivers at the airport,” says D’Mello. “In the last few days, there have been repeated seizures and the people who have bought these receivers from India have been left ruing their lost money.”
Earlier, there were no restrictions on Indians bringing in these receivers, commercially available from Dish TV and Tata Sky in India, to Dubai.
In UAE, and also across the GCC, these satellite receivers are able to pick up direct broadcast transmissions from India due to an extended satellite reception in the region.
Many expats from the subcontinent prefer these portable Indian satellite receivers for practical reasons as they offer more than 150 homegrown TV channels for a price that is three times cheaper than the price package available here.
Meanwhile, cable distributors here have expressed confidence in the ongoing battle against signal theft, dismissing reports that a large section of their customers had unsubscribed or degraded their subscription.
“A few among them may have been prompted to go in for such illegal receivers,” says Humaid Rashid Sahoo, CEO, E-Vision. E-Vision is in partnership with ADD in providing e-Pehla. “We are confident that our customers will appreciate the high level of service quality and customer service that E-Vision provides,” adds Sahoo.
“There may have been a small percentage of our subscribers who have discontinued their subscription, but the majority has been content with our programming quality,” says D’Mello.
Officials from ADD and E-Vision say that they continue to receive reports of individuals and institutions violating the law across the GCC. Their only warning to unauthorised viewers and distributors is that the practice is illegal and can lead to prosecution under UAE laws.
The IPR infringement penalty is imprisonment, deportation and a fine up to Dh 50,000.
Unwary passengers
But most of the returning expatriates carrying these items are unaware of the ban which was implemented three weeks ago, the same time the cricket fever pitched in.
“I saw a notice posted just after the immigration counter. It said that receivers such as the one I was carrying was not allowed and it should be declared,” said a returning Indian expatriate who was asked to surrender his receiver. “I know people have been carrying these before, I thought it’s not a problem.”

Digital migration stalls pay-TV roll-out 

From http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A421005

MULTICHOICE and Sentech could remain the dominant forces in pay-television at least until the end of next year, as licence approvals are put on hold so as not to “undermine” the communications department’s implementation of the digital migration strategy.

This could also mean applicants would have to wait for the end of a moratorium, or change their applications to utilise cable as opposed to satellite delivery, according to the department’s draft strategy document released last week.

“Other than the licensing of the existing subscriptions operators, MultiChoice, M-Net and the introduction of new cable-based subscription services, other subscription television services using spectrum, including satellite and terrestrial means, are not to be licensed… and shall be subject to a moratorium until December 31 2008,” the document reads.

This is likely to entrench the power of the current players.

“If the strategy is implemented it is likely to further entrench MultiChoice’s status as dominant player in the pay-TV market and will also give Sentech time to set itself up as a market force with control over the country’s terrestrial-based broadcasting network,” said Renaissance Specialist Fund Managers portfolio manager Khulekani Dlamini.

At the beginning of next year, the department said, it would review whether such a moratorium should be extended.

The department said its draft strategy aimed to give 90% of South Africans access to digital television by November 2011, when the analogue signal would be switched off. The department previously announced it would switch on the digital signal in November next year, giving just three years for roll-out.

The department did not commit to subsidising the cost of set-top boxes required to decode the signal. It estimated, however, there were 4,5-million people unable to afford a box “at any cost”. Department spokesman Albi Modise said the strategy would be open for stakeholders’ comment until April 5.

Kenya: Switch Over to Digital TV Will Open a World of Opportunity

From http://allafrica.com/stories/200703231222.html

The change in the mode of television transmission from analogue to digital by 2015 provides opportunities and challenges to governments, broadcasters and viewers.

This switch-over to the use of compressed digital which means more TV channels with better quality reception was agreed on by more than 100 countries from Europe, Middle East and Africa at an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) conference in Geneva last year. 

Like any new technology, this digital swap will be appreciated as a progressive move by some and castigated by others as unnecessarily disruptive.

The death of our traditional analogue system will mean buying a new television set or a box to convert the new digital signal back to the old analogue signal. People are bound to be cynical - "Why should I pay for what I have not ordered? My colour TV is good enough".

FOR OUR PART OF THE WORLD, THIS is the first major change in TV technology. Many years back Europe had to change the horizontal scanning rate from the 405-line to 625-line standard. Between 2008 and 2012, the UK will effect a switch-over to digital. Traditional TVs will be rendered obsolete.

Here in Kenya, most people have gone from black-and-white to colour. But certainly abandoning the B&W "Zebra TV" set is a choice; going digital is not. The coming of colour did not mean dark. What we had worked, though not trendy anymore.

Because frequencies are infinite natural resources, the new platform will mean more channels.

Broadcasters will have to restructure and reform, terminologies which often mean loss of jobs for some people. The government is likely to privatise the entire TV transmission or give the job to the State-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

With DTV (digital TV), there has got to be a multiplex operator to route the increased channels to various destinations. It will be a kind of a clearing house for media houses which will henceforth concern themselves only with the production of content.

So while there may be layoffs within the technical departments of media houses, the same people could take up jobs with the new outfits, multiplex providers and content distributors. The latter would use satellite, terrestrial (overland transmitters) or cable to reach viewers.

It makes a lot of sense. The huge investment by individual broadcasters on tall metal monsters on country hills and the congruent eyesore antennae sprouting from house roofs will be a thing of the past. One carrier and one aerial gets you all.

The downside of the multiple channels is media houses working overtime to produce content.

Hopefully this will not lead to the scenario we are beginning to experience with the FM stations, who, for reasons maybe to do with costs or lack of innovation, are beginning to stereotype heavily.

The morning drives are dragging all of us into a weird world of sex, sleaze and slander in the name of democratisation of information. The music is the same and more time is always slotted for less-costly programmes like phone-ins.

The changeover may require that the government provides some subsidy or run a scheme to support those who will not afford to buy new TVs or the conversion boxes. For one who toiled hard to acquire the first battery operated B&W, going digital will certainly be a nightmare.

THE SHIFT MAY, THEREFORE, MEAN further marginalisation of many viewers. Digital TV means lots of channels, some scrambled to be decoded in a pay-per-view arrangement for premium programming like sports and educational content. Different people will be getting different content from the same airwaves.

The government could easily turn this into a great educational opportunity for all. The Ministry of Education's e-learning initiatives could be rolled out countrywide, lack of electricity and other enabling infrastructure notwithstanding.

The TV will soon be thinking it is a computer. It will be interactive and you can dig out archive programmes and send email through the box. If it has all along been talking to you, the time to talk to it is now round the corner.

The ministry of Information has started on a right footing by instituting a board comprising media owners and industry professionals from both government and the private sector to oversee the digital switch-over.

It would greatly help if all parties concerned understood the impact of this change and thus prepare adequately. This is one of the issues they will have to address immediately.

ISRO to launch foreign satellite as primary payload first time

From http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200703251325.htm

Bangalore, March. 25 (PTI): India for the first time will launch a foreign satellite -- an Italian one -- as a primary payload on a home-grown rocket, as space scientists prepare to further demonstrate the country's cost-effective launch services capability.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched foreign payloads as piggybacks in the past; next month's mission would see the space agency launching the 360-kg AGILE spacecraft as a primary payload.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse rocket of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, would blast-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota with AGILE and India's Advanced Avionics Module (AAM) as secondary payload.

The launch is scheduled between April 20-30.

"It will send a right message to global community. This contract (to launch AGILE) was obtained against competition, and once we are able to launch it on time and at a good price, I think this (foreign payload launches) will start coming more and more to us", ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI here.

AGILE is a space scientific mission devoted to gamma-ray astrophysics supported by the Italian Space Agency, with the scientific and programmatic co-participation of the Italian Institute of Astrophysics and the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics.

The 180-kg AAM is aimed at testing some of the advanced avionic package for use in the future PSLV flights, the space agency said.

Officials said PSLV configuration for next month's flight would be modified to use only the core vehicle (without the six solid propellant strap-on motors).

Battlelines drawn, DTH players are homing in on more customers

DUBAI (Reuters) - Somali authorities have ordered Al Jazeera television to stop reporting from the African country, the Arab satellite broadcaster said on Thursday.

The television showed what it said was a letter from a Somali security body ordering the broadcaster to cease its activity immediately. The letter gave no reason for the measure.

There was no immediate comment from Somali officials.

"Al Jazeera, while expressing its disappointment of the decision to close our office ... reasserts its commitment to the principles of the free press and defends the right of viewers to know what happens across the world with impartiality and integrity," Wadah Khanfar, Al Jazeera's director general, said in a statement.

Al Jazeera's office in Mogadishu was one of four outlets briefly closed by authorities in January after martial law was declared in Somalia after a government and Ethiopian military drive against the Islamists who had controlled the capital since June and moved on to capture large areas of the country.

A United Nations human rights expert last month condemned what he called threats to press freedom in Somalia, citing the arrests of three journalists in the breakaway enclave Somaliland and the brief closure of the four outlets.

Government officials had accused the four outlets, also including two of the largest local independent broadcasters, of being biased during the war, a charge which they all denied and of heightening tensions by airing unconfirmed reports.

Somalia orders Al Jazeera, local radios off the air

From http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070323-035345-6713r

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Senior officials of the Board for Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are meeting on Thursday to discuss the ongoing row with Nimbus amidst growing indications that the contract with the Harish Thawani-promoted outfit could be terminated if the crucial bank guarantee is not provided.

BCCI has given Nimbus time till March 24 to provide bank guarantee worth Rs 900 crore. Failure to do so will mean termination of the contract it entered into with great fanfare in February 2006. “There has been a breach of contract. Nimbus will first have to provide bank guarantee before we can start discussing compensation issues regarding encryption,” a senior BCCI official attending Thursday’s meeting told ET.

Nimbus officials are working overtime to convince BCCI and are hoping that the cricket body will give them a waiver of over Rs 300 crore for the losses due to non-encryption by Doordarshan. The BCCI meet is likely to discuss this demand and possibly grant the waiver though not without securing some concession from Nimbus.

Mr Thawani was feted for his bold, aggressive move when be grabbed the lucrative BCCI rights for about $612 mln beating back a strong challenge from Zee Sports and ESPN-Star Sports. Though the price was considered excessive, analysts and industry experts believed that Nimbus would not find it difficult to recover the money in this cricket-mad country. Just over a year later, things seemed to gone awfully wrong for the former ad sales agent who founded Nimbus to realise his dreams of becoming a media and entertainment tycoon.

Nimbus was supposed to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 900 crore by March 1. When it failed to pay up, BCCI sent a notice on March 10 and fixed March 24 as the deadline for the guarantee. In an ominous sign for Nimbus, banks, who till last year were ready to help the company are now shutting the door. “This year, the revenue model of Nimbus needs to be re-examined, and the collateral provided are not as strong as last year.

Secondly, bank guarantees provided last year were given to Nimbus, whereas this year it will be given to Neo Sports. This is a high risk proposition, considering the volatility of the sports business as well as the constant controversies that Nimbus and BCCI seem to be getting into,” said a banker on condition of anonymity.

At the heart of this battle between Nimbus and BCCI are the losses likely to be suffered by Nimbus due to non-encryption by Doordarshan. As per the government of India ordinance, Nimbus’ channel Neo Sports is supposed to share all India matches with the state broadcaster. Like other channel firms, Nimbus did not like it but went along with the decision. But during the just-concluded West Indies and Sri Lanka series, Nimbus found that its signals were being beamed by DD on its satellite network reaching outside India to other parts of Asia. Nimbus cried foul and demanded that BCCI compensate for the losses it is likely to suffer. The losses are now at Rs 155 crore and are likely to climb further. Nimbus wants compensation of over Rs 375 crore.

But there is a catch here. BCCI officials are categorical that Nimbus will have to fulfill its part of the bargain before it gets any concessions. This means that it will have to furnish the crucial bank guarantee to BCCI before the weekend.

Here, the cricket body is caught in a bind. It does not want to terminate the lucrative contract with Nimbus but will emerge as a laughing stock if it gives into Nimbus’ demand for concession without securing anything in return. There is also an even bigger problem. Other broadcasters, who had lost out to Nimbus last year, are threatening legal action if BCCI doles out any concession.

“We might look at challenging BCCI’s decision to offer compensation to Nimbus, if the amount is significant, as then it is only fair to re-tender the contract through a fresh round of bidding,” a sports broadcaster said. Zee Sports bid at $530 mln for the BCCI rights losing out to Nimbus. Any reduction of over Rs 300 crore for Nimbus is likely anger Zee and likely to lead to demands for re-tendering.

According to Nimbus sources, the bank guarantees have not been furnished, as they are awaiting the decision on the quantum of compensation that BCCI will allow them. “If the quantum of compensation, is not agreeable by us, we are considering walking out of the contract.” A person close to Nimbus said that the contract had a clause which says that if there is any change in material circumstances due to the order of the government or any other regulatory body, that impacts Nimbus’ revenue, “then BCCI would provide Nimbus reasonable and appropriate substantial reduction in compensation and other support”.

Zee Sports which is the rights holder for all the off shore matches, have also written a letter to BCCI asking for clarifications on their contract with the DD encryption. Zee Sport’s executive vice-president, Himanshu Mody said, “We have presented our concerns to the BCCI on the losses that would be incurred due to feed sharing with DD, but haven’t started dialogue with it on the issue”.

Channel puts up decent score

From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Media__Entertainment__Art/Entertainment/Channel_puts_up_decent_score/articleshow/1790907.cms