NEW DELHI: News broadcasters have agreed to pay reasonable carriage fees after the roll out of digitisation on 1 November, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) said on Thursday. It said news broadcasters are willing to pay MSOs 50 paise to Re 1 per set top box subscriber, per channel per year as carriage fee.

The NBA statement follows a meeting chaired by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairperson Rahul Khullar on 11 October with representatives of the MSO Alliance, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, and the NBA to discuss the progress of digitisation and the issue of payment of carriage fees by broadcasters (inclusive of marketing fees, tiering fees, packaging fees or fees or charges under any other nomenclature) under the digitised regime.

Earlier, news broadcasters were concerned about unreasonable carriage fees continuing even after the switch to digitisation. While placement fee has been specifically prohibited by Trai, broadcasters were concerned about the lack of clarity with regard to carriage fees. Broadcasters were unsure whether they were required to pay carriage fee at all after digitisation, and if required, what would be the rates.

Khullar mentioned that his predecessor had indicated what reasonable carriage fees should be in a digitised regime and stated that boundaries had been laid down and he would expect carriage deals with news broadcasters to be within these bounds. He also exhorted broadcasters and MSOs to enter into agreements on carriage fees within the "next few days" so that all is set by the time digitisation rolls out in the four metros from the 1 November.

In view of this, the NBA said despite the earlier objection of news broadcasters to the payment of any carriage fees whatsoever, they are now agreeable to enter into agreements with MSOs for an initial period of one year, for the payment of carriage fees (inclusive of marketing fees, tiering fees, packaging fees or fees or charges under any other nomenclature) in the digitised areas, at a rate of 50 paise to one rupee per set top box subscriber, per channel per year, which is the reasonable rate and boundary set by the former TRAI chairperson and mentioned as such by the current chairperson at the meeting on 11 October 2012.

NBA said, "News broadcasters are grateful to the TRAI chairperson for taking proactive action in resolving the vexatious issue of carriage in a statesmanlike manner."

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News channels, MSOs wrangle over carriage fee

MUMBAI: Setanta Sports, the international sports broadcaster, has agreed a multi-year deal to distribute its exclusive rugby programming on Multi Screen Media?s sports channel Sony Six.

Sony Six will broadcast live coverage of the RBS Six Nations, Super Rugby and Rugby Championship (formerly Tri Nations) as well as showing Setanta?s flagship rugby programme: The Breakdown.

"We are delighted to work with Sony SIX to bring our exclusive rugby programming to India. Our goal is to achieve the greatest possible exposure of rugby across the whole of Asia," said Setanta Sports International MD Roger Hall.

Setanta Sports has extensive distribution for its channel and programming in Asia with deals in Thailand (with TrueVisions), Hong Kong (with Now TV and Hong Kong Broadband), Malaysia and Brunei (with Astro), Singapore (with StarHub and SingTel mio TV), Taiwan (with Dish HD), the Philippines (with SKYcable) and Sri Lanka (with Dialog TV).

Sony Six has Indian Premier League and Ultimate Fighting Championship as its driving properties in India. It also has FA Cup and NBA to complement its key properties in addition to international football friendlies.

New Delhi: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Thursday urged Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni to order an independent audit of the systems of TAM Media Research, the agency that provides television ratings service.

In a letter to Soni, the NBA has said the audit should be conducted by a reputed third-party within a certain time-frame to evaluate and measure the TAM systems. The audit report should be made public.

The letter follows questions being raised about TAM ratings following a case filed by the New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) in New York, against TAM and its parents the Nielsen group and the Kantar Group.

The NBA has also sought a direction to TAM to suspend reporting of its ratings data until the audit is completed.

The NBA has urged Soni to take "efficient" steps to correct deficiencies in the system and to help build a robust, transparent and dependable ratings system. The ministry should continue to engage and work together on this issue and give the industry and all its stakeholders - broadcasters, advertisers, distribution companies - the confidence to be able to consume data derived from such system.

"We believe these measures and initiatives from the Government will go a long way in addressing this long pending concern and we offer you our complete support in this journey," the NBA has said.

The NBA drew attention to the "Code of Practice in relation to Measurement Based Studies" adopted by it and adhered to by its member broadcasters. The Code was formulated and approved so that the use of measurement based studies by member broadcasters is carried out in line with highest ethical commercial practices.

"As you are aware TAM has been reporting viewership data to the industry despite serious concerns over their systems and methodology of measuring TV audiences. Data continues to be skewed and is seriously affecting broadcasters and their business."

"While Indian Broadcasting Foundation was instrumental in the formation of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the responsibility of implementing BARC will see the light of the day only if the ISA and the AAAI jointly take serious efforts to launch it in the immediate future. Content and its quality no longer is a creative judgment or product of talent or ability but has been severely compromised with the sole aim of gaining viewership ratings," the letter said.

MUMBAI: The National Basketball Association (NBA) will launch the first-ever NBA 3X in India.

The free interactive event will combine basketball and entertainment to bring an unprecedented NBA experience to fans in four cities from 15 September - 21 October. The event will visit Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Mumbai and this will mark the NBA?s first event in Hyderabad.

NBA 3X, presented by Sprite, will feature a 3-on-3 basketball tournament with 400 teams expected to participate; performances from top musical artists or well-known DJ each day; and a variety of on and off the court activities for fans.

NBA India senior director of development Akash Jain said, ?NBA 3X presented by Sprite will combine NBA-style entertainment, 3-on-3 basketball, and music to engage youth and build our fan base in India. This is the largest fan program we have ever hosted in India and the wide range of basketball and lifestyle elements will provide memorable experiences for our fans.?

The 3-on-3 tournament will have two age divisions: 16-18 and 18-23 years. The winners in each city will be flown to Mumbai to compete in a National Championship on 21 October. The National Champions in each division will qualify to participate in a 2013 FIBA/NBA Asia 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

Seven-time NBA Champion Robert Horry and the Golden State Warriors dance team, the Warrior Girls, will be in Delhi to tip off the event from 15-16 September.

Horry, who played 16 seasons in the NBA for four teams, will also attend the Mahindra NBA Challenge Finals in Bangalore and conduct an NBA Cares event in Delhi with Love in Action -- a Delhi-based NGO which uses the sport of basketball to provide life-skills education to children from slums.

The musical artists and DJ?s performing include hip hop and Bollywood artist Hard Kaur; electronic and dance music duo VJ Nikhil Chinapa and DJ Pearl; singer Anushka Manchanda, past winner of Channel V?s music talent hunt search Pop Stars; along with two of India?s top DJs - Clement and Ajit (Goa).

NBA 3X will bring NBA-style entertainment to fans in India. Fans will participate in free contests and activities with the chance to win NBA merchandise. They can participate in basketball clinics, play NBA video games, measure themselves against cut-outs of NBA players, and interact with Horry and the Warrior Girls.

NBA 3X is being supported by adidas, HP, Spalding and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). Sprite will send two participants from the national champion team in the 18-23 division to NBA All-Star 2013. These two participants may get a chance to be part of the global pool of players from which NBA All-Stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will select to be part of the Sprite Team Sudden and Team Intense competition during NBA-All Star 2013.

In addition, the first Sprite Basket Blast 2012 will take place in select cinemas across select cities in India from September through October.

Fans can purchase a Sprite Combo at participating cinemas to enter a lucky draw to get a chance to travel to NBA All-Star 2013. Four Winners will be selected and win trips to All-Star.

Adidas is supporting all participants with their best-in-class on-court jerseys and will also create an NBA Shop at each venue to showcase the latest NBA products. In addition, adidas will mark the return of the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose, of the Chicago Bulls, with the launch of an exclusive Rose collection and a series of activations to engage youth.

HP will create an interactive technology experience for fans visiting NBA 3X presented by Sprite. Fans can utilise HP products to access NBA.com, NBA social media, basketball training videos and create their very own NBA Avatar. Spalding will provide all basketball equipment.

Coca-Cola India director, integrated marketing communications Wasim Basir said, ?We are extremely pleased to announce brand Sprite?s association with the NBA 3X initiative. Sprite is an exciting and vibrant brand that has always maintained a meaningful connection with its consumers through engaging initiatives. We look forward to working together with the NBA to develop more innovative basketball experiences that will resonate well with our consumers in India and give them the opportunity to be closely involved with the sport."