There r 503 registered TV channels in India upto March-end

[Mr.Bhat]

Even as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended that there should be no cap on the number of television channels in the country, its quarterly report for January to March 2010 shows that 18 new television channels were registered taking the total to 503.

These include 147 pay channels being broadcast or distributed by 24 broadcasters, according to the Trai Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report.

During the quarter, three new pay channels were launched and two channels were converted from FTA to pay by the broadcasters.

<table style="text-align:center;" width="100%" border="1" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>S.No Name of the Broadcaster</td><td>Name of the channel</td><td>Status (New /Converted)</td></tr>
<tr><td>Zee Turner Limited</td><td>Zee Salaam</td><td>New pay channel</td></tr>
<tr><td>MSM Discovery</td><td>Discovery Science</td><td>New pay channel</td></tr>
<tr><td>MSM Discovery</td><td>Discovery Turbo</td><td>New pay channel</td></tr>
<tr><td>Asianet Communications</td><td>Asianet</td><td>Converted from FTA to Pay channel </td></tr>
<tr><td>Asianet Communications</td><td>Asianet Plus</td><td>Converted from FTA to Pay channel </td></tr></tbody></table>

During the quarter, the distribution of following 11 channels changed / shifted :-

<table style="text-align:center;" width="100%" border="1" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>S.No Name of the Channel</td><td>Distributed earlier</td><td>Distributed now</td></tr>
<tr><td>Zee Sports</td><td>Zee Turner</td><td>Taj Television India</td></tr>
<tr><td>Ten Sports</td><td>Zee Turner</td><td>Taj Television</td></tr>
<tr><td>The Disney Channel</td><td>Star Den</td><td>Sun Distribution Services</td></tr>
<tr><td>Disney XD</td><td>Star Den</td><td>Sun Distribution Services</td></tr>
<tr><td>Hungama TV</td><td>Star Den</td><td>Sun Distribution Services</td></tr>
<tr><td>FX</td><td>Fox Channels India</td><td>Star Den</td></tr>
<tr><td>FOX Crime</td><td>Fox Channels India</td><td>Star Den</td></tr>
<tr><td>Baby TV</td><td>Fox Channels India</td><td>Star Den</td></tr>
<tr><td>Nat Geo</td><td>Fox Channels India</td><td>Star Den</td></tr>
<tr><td>Nat Geo Adventure</td><td>Fox Channels India</td><td>Star Den</td></tr>
<tr><td>Nat Geo Music</td><td>Fox Channels India</td><td>Star Den</td></tr></tbody></table>

During the quarter, Channel Plus (Now Sun Distribution Services) has reported an increase of 7 per cent in the rates of all their channels for Non-Cas areas in pursuance of the tariff amendment order - the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Second) Tariff (Ninth Amendment) Order, 2008 for Non-Cas areas. The aim of this tariff amendment order was to provide inflation linked adjustments of 7 per cent in the rates of channels for cable TV services.

There are six private Direct-to-Home licensees having a subscriber base of 21.3 million viewer homes. This is apart from Doordarshan’s DD Direct Plus which is the only DTH player for free-to-air channels.

The total number of set-top boxes installed in Chennai and the Cas notified areas of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai increased from 7,45,953 in December 2009 to 7,62,238 in March 2010.

The maximum number of pay TV channels being carried by any cable operator is 122 (Up by only two) and the maximum number of FTA channels is 161 channels (up by six).

The maximum number of TV channels being carried by any of the reported MSOs is 259, and 100 in the conventional analogue form.

Interestingly, the only one new licence was issued to a Teleport Service Provider, taking the total to 61

[greatsadiq]

Good Info Mr. Bhat