Film production house Eros International’s new release Aa Dekhe Zara will become the first film to be available on demand for Direct
to Home (DTH) service users less than two weeks after its cinema hall release, as multiplex owners and movie producers continue to squabble over sharing revenue from box office sales. Recently, DTH service providers came to the rescue of another film — production house UTV’s Oye Lucky Lucky Oye — which lost out on revenues from multiplexes because of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Eros, with a deal with Dish TV in its pocket, spent Rs 3.5 crore on marketing the movie. “Unfortunately, due to the ongoing boycott of new films by multiplex owners, the movie could only be released on single screens and not in the multiplex chains,” said Eros International chief operating officer and commercial director Jyoti Deshpande.

To make up for the loss of box office sales at multiplexes, the movie production house has inked a revenue sharing deal with Dish TV to showcase the movie. “We have not decided on the pricing of the movie yet. But, movie producers are waking up to the importance of DTH industry, which has 11 million subscribers, of which Dish TV has about 5 million,” said Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor.

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HCL Infosystems and NDS have joined hands to enable local cable TV operators to launch digital services and increase their market
share. The tie-up offers solutions that provide operators with the ideal foundation for migrating to digital and a comprehensive roadmap for the future, making it easy for operators to offer a wider range of new services, including IPTV and a variety of next-generation, converged solutions.

George Paul, executive vice-president, HCL Infosystems, says, "With this tie-up we aim to offer technology solutions that are affordable, scalable and highly relevant to cable operators in India. We are sure that our collaboration with NDS, as part of our growing consortium of co-operating vendors, will significantly promote the growth of the Indian digital cable TV market."

Sue Taylor, senior vice-president and general manager, NDS - Asia Pacific, said, "With HCL and NDS, operators will get access to a choice of solutions. Our open standards-based solutions help operators keep costs down while offering a future roadmap that maximises choice."

HCL, an ICT system integration company, offers technology from a choice of industry-leading suppliers and vendors, giving operators flexibility to choose the path to digital TV that is right for their budget and strategy.

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