NEW DELHI: Revenue leakage through cable TV signal theft has been the bane of India's broadcasting community. Now media advisory consultancy Chrome Data Analytics & Media is taking a stab at giving broadcasters a tool to keep a tab and rein in piracy.
The agency today announced the introduction of Chrome Piracy Track (CPT), an unprecedented proprietary service with the mission to eliminate channel piracy. Chrome estimates that the entertainment, television and film industry loses more than $4 billion annually to pirates. Classically channel piracy constitutes unauthorized access to any channel, via any device, outside of what is contractually approved by a broadcaster or its representatives, says a Chrome release.
This situation arises due to three broad motives, the most blatant being a direct benefit from evasion of subscription fees. Currently, there is inadequate infrastructure to track piracy, especially across analog networks. The ground networks run the risk of losing customers to DTH/competitors during major sporting events if the live event is not being broadcasted.
These acts of piracy are primarily executed either through demodulation of channels on a DTH box or via operator-to-operator feeds. CPT can thus, prove to be an indispensable tool for broadcasters to track piracy of their channels.
Scanning 101 million homes, through 24/7 surveillance supported by 3.6 lakh respondents, covering a network of 12000+ Chrome DM Panel homes, “the Chrome DM team, with over six years of experience in the field, has finally cracked the complexities of tracking piracy at its roots. CPT is executed by tracking the DTH logo watermark on screen and the FP (finger print) number for cable and DTH, respectively,” reveals Chrome Data founder & CEO Pankaj Krishna.
He adds, “Chrome DM is committed to provide excellence across all its verticals. As a team we are happy to generate innovative tools like CPT to ensure transparency in the industry and to make the broadcasting segment more addressable. I’m confident that the features of CPT will act as a deterrent to curtail piracy and minimise the loss."
