Star free to increase stake in Tata Sky
Star India, a fully owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, will be able to up its stake in Tata Sky with the TRAI freeing the broadcast sector cap of 20 per cent in a direct-to-home (DTH) company. The government allows 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in DTH. “From a regulatory perspective, it is a positive for Star as it can ramp up its stake in Tata Sky [currently it has an effective stake of 30 per cent]. It will, however, be subject to a different set of regulations as it will fall under the vertically integrated company category,” said a senior executive of a leading broadcasting company.
Promoters of Zee Group will have to unload Dish TV or Siti Cable
TRAI has recommended that a broadcaster or its holding entity can be permitted to ‘control’ only one DPO. It has allowed an MSO and a HITS operator to combine, but DTH is treated as another category. This in effect means that the Essel Group will have to unload either Dish TV (DTH) or Siti Cable (MSO). Incidentally, Essel is the holding company of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL), Dish TV and Siti Cable.
Sun TV promoters also need to offload
The promoters of Sun TV will also need to get out of their cable or DTH venture if the TRAI recommendations get the government go-ahead. The group owns and operates the Sun TV channels, FM radio stations, SCV (cable) and Sun Direct (DTH). Media analysts expect Sun to unload SCV as it is much smaller than Sun Direct and faces unfair competition from Tamil Nadu state-owned Arasu Cable.
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/television/how-trais-cross-media-restrictions-can-impact-star-zee-and-sun/ | TelevisionPost.com
Star India, a fully owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, will be able to up its stake in Tata Sky with the TRAI freeing the broadcast sector cap of 20 per cent in a direct-to-home (DTH) company. The government allows 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in DTH. “From a regulatory perspective, it is a positive for Star as it can ramp up its stake in Tata Sky [currently it has an effective stake of 30 per cent]. It will, however, be subject to a different set of regulations as it will fall under the vertically integrated company category,” said a senior executive of a leading broadcasting company.
Promoters of Zee Group will have to unload Dish TV or Siti Cable
TRAI has recommended that a broadcaster or its holding entity can be permitted to ‘control’ only one DPO. It has allowed an MSO and a HITS operator to combine, but DTH is treated as another category. This in effect means that the Essel Group will have to unload either Dish TV (DTH) or Siti Cable (MSO). Incidentally, Essel is the holding company of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL), Dish TV and Siti Cable.
Sun TV promoters also need to offload
The promoters of Sun TV will also need to get out of their cable or DTH venture if the TRAI recommendations get the government go-ahead. The group owns and operates the Sun TV channels, FM radio stations, SCV (cable) and Sun Direct (DTH). Media analysts expect Sun to unload SCV as it is much smaller than Sun Direct and faces unfair competition from Tamil Nadu state-owned Arasu Cable.
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/television/how-trais-cross-media-restrictions-can-impact-star-zee-and-sun/ | TelevisionPost.com
