tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-264794792024-03-07T14:20:45.389+05:30TV & Radio Sri LankaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger582125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-91032407691604358612016-01-19T15:25:00.000+05:302016-01-19T15:25:09.676+05:30TV1 launches Jan 21st<div style="text-align: justify;">
Maharaja's newest channel launches on Jan 21st at 5:04pm. Yet another iteration MTV, which has undergone quite a few in it's lifetime. TV1 is supposed to a English/Sinhala hybrid channel which is to be available on pay networks & fta via UHF.</div>
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The programming on this channel is not clear as yet however as per yesterday's press conference, this isn't going to a strictly youth oriented channel. At present MTV is in disarray with programming without any sense of direction.</div>
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Rumours suggest that this channel is to target the viewership of Hiru TV by making it more contemporary. </div>
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The fate of MTV indicates clearly the plight of English TV channels in Sri Lanka which are struggling to survive the cable tv onslaught. If a English channel is to survive, they should either carry current programming or none at all.</div>
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Only Art TV which steers clear of pay service providers telecasting CNN is barely holding on. The fate of ETV is still unclear. Which by the way begs the question, what exactly is ETV telecasting? Please let us know people. This latest iteration TV1 kicks off Jan 21st just might survive due to it's hybrid nature.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-69217599212311313162015-08-28T09:45:00.002+05:302015-08-28T09:45:30.352+05:30Reduce Tax on Pay Television Subscribers<div style="text-align: justify;">
Recently a news report on a local radio station said that the government is calling for proposals from the general public & private sector for proposals for the 2016 budget. Here is our proposal as per the industry we are involved in - <b>Reduce the Tax on Pay Television Subscribers</b>.</div>
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At present pay television subscribers pay a whopping 27.55% in taxes. This is killing the industry not to mention the subscriber. Pay companies must band together & demand the reduction of these taxes.</div>
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The pay tv market in Sri Lanka is being held by taxation policies such as these & this should be reduced with immediate effect. We believe the reduction of the taxes will help the industry to flourish.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-26774098501241811332015-07-03T09:21:00.001+05:302015-07-03T09:21:07.266+05:30The Curious Case of MTV Sports<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well a couple of days ago, MTV Sports suddenly reverted back to the original MTV logo that they used in days gone by. The Sports part was dropped, on-screen graphics were changed to reflect this change. The channel which touted itself as a sports channel after CSN launched a few year ago, was more of a GEC than a sports channel. </div>
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They were really never successful at acquiring sports content, in fact CSN had better sports content than MTV Sports. A run of the mill retransmission deal with Neo Sports resulted in a few Golf & Football content, non of which was "LIVE". The channel of course showcased the Olympic events together with it's sister channels, they of course telecast more less the same content that a few other channels broadcast "live".</div>
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With many sports content up for grabs like "Formula 1", etc the channel never really was interested in these. The final nail in the coffin maybe the failure to acquire the cricketing rights that was up for bidding.</div>
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It's interesting however that the channels, Facebook page & Website have not been updated & continue with the old "MTV Sports" logo. It's quite clear that internal communication is virtually non existent at the channel & looks like the administrators do not watch the channel & this has been a decision taken hurriedly.</div>
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It could also be that the channel is on it's way to be rebranded again maybe as a news channel which has been rumoured for sometime. Anyway only time will tell what the actual plans behind this channel are.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-23707313947179708172015-02-26T08:31:00.001+05:302015-02-26T08:33:18.260+05:30CSN to close March 1st<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to reports being received, Carlton Sports Network (CSN) is to shutdown from 1st March. Accordingly employees have been sent on leave & many are being compensated for the loss. Claiming to be a sports dedicated channel this channel however devoted much of its time to non sports related programming as well.</div>
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The channel has a redistribution agreement with Setanta Sports for the "LIVE" broadcast of rugby & has also used the transmitters of ITN to carry out it's activities. It should be stated that they used the license held by ITN to carry out their operations, since they commenced operations with the closure of Prime TV. With the channel closing down, we are not certain whether the operations will be taken over by another party. Prime TV may or may not return since that channel too was a failure.</div>
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We hope that the Setanta deal will be worked with another party, probably MTV Sports. CSN was on the verge of telecasting the ICC World Cup using rights stripped from SLRC which thankfully ended up back in SLRC's hands.</div>
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Even though it's sad to see a channel go, however the unethical practices of this channel were bound to return & bite them, one day or the other.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-1582911121610723872015-02-24T08:29:00.000+05:302015-02-24T08:30:52.772+05:30The demise of NTV<div style="text-align: justify;">
A few ago we witnessed the birth of a brand new channel called NTV. The channel had pathetic coverage and even more pathetic was it's content. Mainly consisting of repeats of popular TV shows, this channel was doomed from the start. Apart from a few shows the only watchable content was some classical songs that they played from time to time.</div>
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The idea behind the channel was good but the execution was a mess. The channel had no chance in the face of competition from Pay TV services and local FTA English channels.<br />
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It's actually good to have a state operated English language, but the next time this is tried out maybe more locally produced English content is the way to go.<br />
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NTV had potential but no vision. R.I.P NTV!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-37821450751575293272015-02-06T13:34:00.000+05:302015-02-06T13:38:25.923+05:30All about the World Cup, or is it?<div style="text-align: justify;">
Three years after the entire fiasco regarding the awarding of Cricket rights was played out, SLRC has been thrust forward as the official broadcaster of all things cricket involving Sri Lanka. CSN which was unceremoniously stripped of the rights over non payment of dues to ESPN Star Sports and has now been relegated to a sports channel that only has sports as part of their branding.</div>
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This was bound to happen, the high handed tactics used to obtain the same rights has now been used against them. It's sad though as the only television channel brave enough to dwell into the sports genre & did show a spark of promise only fall victim to changing political culture.</div>
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It's arguable whether it is correct to specifically target a channel with taxes designed for it. However we should remind ourselves that CSN didn't play fair too.</div>
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The future for CSN seems bleak, the channel may rebrand itself or may sell out. Then there remains the question on the legality of the CSN transmitters.</div>
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The good news is that SLRC with it's superior coverage will be telecasting the World Cup & it seems that in the future private broadcasters will be able to bid for major sporting events. This move was expected too since, if we could call the previous regime's pet "CSN", then the present one's pet is most likely the Maharaja trio of "Sirasa TV, Shakthi TV & MTV Sports".<br />
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One thing is certain, this is more political poker than a fight for World Cup rights!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-69307314845877630092015-01-29T13:48:00.000+05:302015-01-29T13:48:02.912+05:30Star Movies India pulls out<div style="text-align: justify;">
After a few years in Sri Lanka, Star Movies India which replaced Star Movies Asia will be pulled out from Sri Lanka tomorrow. Star Movies India which is the only version of Star Movies operated by Star India, all others are operated by Fox International Channels was introduced due to a regionalization drive undertaken by Fox International. Star Movies Asia was rebranded Fox Movies Premium.</div>
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Now due to this move Sri Lankan movie fans are left without access to the movies that are distributed for broadcast by studios to Star Movies India & which is also released to Fox Movies Premium in the rest of Asia. The only access we have is access to movies released to HBO Asia which has faithfully stood by this region.</div>
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Due to this move a surge in movie piracy is expected. It's sad to note that a multinational like Fox would make moves that result in the increase of piracy.</div>
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Fox International should take immediate steps to release Fox Movies Premium to Sri Lanka since Star India is no longer interested in the Sri Lankan market. It should be noted that Fox Movies Premium is available in Maldives which also has access to the entire stable of channels operated by Fox in Asia. Sri Lanka should be included in the Asian feed for all Fox distributed channels and Indian feeds of Star should be halted.</div>
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Literally Star India should be kicked out of Sri Lanka.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-56821030098340254172015-01-12T13:59:00.001+05:302015-01-12T14:01:42.708+05:30ICC World Cup broadcast rights held by CSN in danger<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's a new year, new week and a new president. Even though we don't care too much about politics, it invariably has on effect on our day to day lives.In the midst of these political changes, we can't help but wonder regarding the status of CSN's World Cup broadcast rights and rights for the whole of cricket in Sri Lanka.</div>
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SLRC the state broadcaster with arguably the best coverage was robbed of it's broadcasting rights owing to political interference. Now under it's new chairman SLRC is itching to broadcast the World Cup and get back it's status as the National Sports broadcaster.</div>
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CSN has been awarded the rights, SLRC wants the rights. So what should happen? We sincerely hope that CSN will be stripped of World Cup broadcasting & all cricketing rights and these should be restored back to SLRC. Mr. President we hope to see the announcement soon.</div>
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In addition every sporting event for which CSN unethically obtained rights, should be stripped from them. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-74615307366110660562014-12-31T17:40:00.001+05:302014-12-31T17:40:13.138+05:30Happy New Year 2015<div style="text-align: justify;">
We take this opportunity to wish all our fellow bloggers & the Management/Staff of all Media Institutions a</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>"Very Happy & Prosperous 2015"</b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-80750688031625782802014-07-22T12:53:00.003+05:302014-07-22T12:54:00.845+05:30Exclusive - MTV Sports/New 1st faces identity crisis<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the wake of the launch of ADA Derana 24x7, MTV Sports / New 1st is facing an identity crisis. The channel which has a News 1st logo and MTV Sports logo displayed and telecasts everything ranging from sports, entertainment, etc doesn't seem capable of deciding what content to telecast. Initially MTV Sports biggest crisis was that they telecast many entertainment and less sports programming. After reports of the launch of a probable 24x7 news channel, then the News 1st logo was added compounding the problem even further. It seems that MTV/MBC was taken off guard and never expected a competitor to foray into dedicated news broadcasting.</div>
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So the only solution for MTV/MBC is to launch a channel for 24x7 news channel FTA, since ADA Derana is only available on Dialog TV at the moment, however expected to be on other platforms & FTA soon. Further MTV Sports should be dedicated to only sports or renamed as "MTV Sports & Entertainment". If it's renamed as "MTV Sports and News" it could be work but then again their news brand is "News 1st" which would be hard to incorporate into the name.</div>
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However the channel at the moment doesn't seem to have a sense of direction and has multiple logo's with all types of programming. It's facing an identity crisis and if rumors are to be believed there are a few that suggest that there are some severe management disputes over the direction of the channel. It looks like the Derana's are causing the Maharaja's to crack.</div>
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Let's not forget the bogus International Desk at News 1st where those who sit in there homes in Sri Lanka are asked to report as if from a major world city and the ones who do report from overseas are just some Sri Lankans who study or work in those countries who are known to staff members and are asked to read out a report prepared in Sri Lanka.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-62410067551284016362014-06-12T19:19:00.000+05:302014-06-12T19:19:11.273+05:30Football extravaganza start in a few hours<div style="text-align: justify;">
In a few hours the biggest football extravaganza will kick off "LIVE" from Brazil. Local television viewers have the options of watching the broadcasts on Free-To-Air television via the state owned SLRC channels Rupavahini & Channel Eye, or on pay television services via Sony Six, provided the service provides the said channel - If not then it's best to call your service and urge them to add the channel immediately.</div>
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The event which lasts until July will be undoubted followed by the sports loving lankan public where football has its fair share of hard core followers. The timings may not be very viewer friendly with many matches starting at 1:00am, 3:00am and a few at 9:00pm, however this isn't going to stop the lankan public from catching the action.</div>
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We hope local pay services such as Dialog TV which happens to be the only HD enabled service will provide Sony Six HD for its subscribers.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-57685889459334077912014-05-22T12:27:00.003+05:302014-05-22T12:29:37.266+05:30Thinetha TV - Sri Lanka's first satellite HD channel, press release<b>Press Release: Thinetha TV</b><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Sri
Lanka's First HD Satellite Television Channel "Thinetha TV" Commence
Soon<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Steps have
been taken to initiate a satellite television channel called "Thinetha TV"
with the view of informing the world on economical and social trends achieved
by Sri Lanka after the 30-year-long war. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">All
programmes, which are telecasted in a national level television channel, are
expected to be telecasted in this channel. Accordingly, programmes such as news
and current affairs, tele dramas and musical programmes, documentaries, youth
and women's programmes, sports and live shows will be telecasted. All these
programmes will be new creations of Thinetha TV. A special attention has been
paid to create these programmes to be complied with the World Television
Charter, which is also signed by Sri Lanka, and to media ethics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">This will
be the first satellite transmitted television channel of Sri Lanka, which
covers 116 countries around the world. It expects to cover Asia, Europe, Middle
East, Africa, and Australia. The channel, which aims to provide local
information to migrant Sri Lankans and to uplift their taste, expects to
telecast programmes in Sinhala, Tamil and English. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Further
details can be gained through internet on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thinethatv">www.facebook.com/thinethatv</a> web page. <span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-5588113882796382232014-05-02T13:31:00.001+05:302014-05-02T13:43:34.355+05:30Dish TV's Sri Lanka strategy<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Dish TV testing transmissions under a company known as Dish TV Sri Lanka, lets take a look at their possible strategy in Sri Lanka. It's quite clear that Dish TV has been testing some local FTA channels including some Pakistani channels indicating that this is part of a larger regional strategy. With Pakistani channels having no downlink permission in India, the easiest would be for Dish TV to operate the service using Sri Lanka since there is no permission required for any channel to downlink in Sri Lanka.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dish TV we believe are targeting Sri Lanka and the Pakistan region at the same time, which explains why there are Sri Lankan & Pakistani channels being tested.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's quite likely that Dish TV will only uplink Sri Lankan channels and Pakistani channels using Dish TV Sri Lanka and they will merge these with their present Dish TV offerings from India to provide a combined service to Sri Lankans as well as Pakistani subscribers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The drawback to this is that 100% of the channels will be Indian feeds like HBO, AXN, etc unless Asian feeds of these specific channels are uplinked from the Sri Lanka centre, this seems highly unlikely and there is no indication of such a move. We don't know too much about the Pakistani subscribers but lets take a look at our Sri Lankan subscribers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are two types of Pay Television viewers in Sri Lanka, ones that crave Hindi entertainment and the other that demands Asian feeds of International channels. A majority of locals who have purchased black market Indian DTH services are those who crave Hindi entertainment and are not worried too much about the English entertainment channels. Some of these locals have subscribed to Sri Lankan pay services due to the lack of local FTA channels on these Indian providers, and are constantly demanding the addition of all local FTA channels and requesting more Hindi entertainment channels from local services. These types of subscribers are clearly to shift to services like Dish TV Sri Lanka once it launches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The others also want local FTA channels from local services but are far more concerned about the quality of the channels provided and constantly demand quality Asian versions of channels which are generally commercial free. Sadly not all channels are available in this manner, Fox International Channels are withdrawing Asian feeds from Sri Lanka & are replacing them with Indian feeds, remember Star Movies Asia was removed and replaced with Star Movies India as part of a regionalisation move. The only Asian feeds available to us Sri Lankans from Fox International Channels is Fox Crime & Nat Geo People which may be replaced by the Indian version sooner or later. But not all Networks are following Fox International Channel's strategy, HBO & AXN still continue to offer Asian feeds for Sri Lanka & Universal which is not available in India is available in Sri Lanka.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As per Dish TV Sri Lanka's strategy it seems that they will be content to launch with all Indian feeds plus local FTA channels, it remains yet to be seen whether they will switch feeds of channels that allow Asian feeds and tap the market that demands it. That market is presently dominated by Dialog TV, LBN Cable TV & Peo TV. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently Dialog TV ramped up their offerings with channels such as "Universal Channel Asia" & "Sundance Channel Asia", which will surely catch the attention of the subscriber who demands Asian feeds, this is in addition to some of the Asian feeds available namely HBO Network Asia Channels, AXN Asia, Fox Crime Asia, Nat Geo People Asia, Diva Universal Asia (no Indian version available), Cartoon Network Asia, Toonami (No Indian Version Available).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Dish TV needs to successfully compete with local services, the market that demands Asian Feeds is a critical one. It all depends on whether Dish TV wants to provide Sri Lankans a service at a higher rental and make a quick buck or provide a quality service to locals. Success in India as a pay television service doesn't automatically translate to success in Sri Lanka. There is no doubt that local services will fight it out and will not easily allow Dish TV to dominate the market they created.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-5483083505671244912014-04-27T20:11:00.002+05:302014-04-27T20:11:44.035+05:30Dish TV Sri Lanka adds local channels<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to reports reaching us, Dish TV Sri Lanka has added many of the FTA local channels to it's platform. The channels are reportedly on NSS6 and SES8 at 95.0E 12170, H, 40700.</div>
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At present it's said that Buddhist TV, Sirasa TV, Hiru TV, Derana, CSN, Vasantham, Swarnavahini are testing. However other reports suggest that Rupavahini, Siyatha TV, TNL TV have all being added too. This clearly indicates that a launch is imminent. </div>
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Dish TV prides itself as the largest DTH operator in Asia and has it major focus on India, however the average charge per user is higher in Sri Lanka making Sri Lanka an attractive business opportunity. Sri Lanka has just one DTH operator Dialog TV who have been quite lethargic in the past and have been removing channels as per the whims and fancies of management. Time sharing of channels and sudden replacements have all contributed to customer dissatisfaction and the entrance of another operator will either make or break Dialog TV.</div>
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Dish TV Sri Lanka is a joint partnership between Dish TV India & Sat Net who have high handed political connections and shady business deals. Sat Net was notorious in their involvement in the shutting down of DTH operator CBNSat which is presently Dialog TV. However Dish TV has a higher percentage of shares in Dish TV Sri Lanka compared to SatNet who hold the DTH operator license.</div>
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It's unclear which feeds of international channels Dish TV Sri Lanka will carry, for example will Dish TV carry AXN India or AXN Asia, will it carry HBO India or HBO Asia, these questions are yet to be answered but will soon become clear in the not so distant future.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-72537671334462521762014-03-10T10:11:00.003+05:302014-03-10T10:11:16.442+05:30Dish TV Sri Lanka starts testing<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to information coming in, Dish TV Sri Lanka has commenced testing on <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">SES8 95E 12170H 40700 DVB-S</span>. According to information there are about 27 channels being tested. Most of these channels are either Pakistani, Bangladeshi & Afghan channels.</div>
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It seems that since most of these channels cannot be downlinked in India, Dish TV will use Sri Lanka as a base to launch services across Asia. No local/International channel is available at the moment from SES8. It's likely that most of the international channels will be provided to Sri lanka from the original India focused links and the regional ones will come from the SES8 satellite and will be released on a country to country basis. A combination of SES8 & existing satellites will probably be used to service these regions.</div>
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It's not clear as to the feeds that Dish TV Sri Lanka will carry, for example will HBO be the Singapore feed or the Indian feed, will AXN be the Indian feed or the Singapore? Its possible for Dish TV Sri Lanka to uplink only the special Singapore feeds/regional channels from Sri Lanka and open up those that carry the Indian feeds from their existing links, saving them cost. They could also block those channels that are not allowed in Sri Lanka like Sony Pix, HBO India & AXN India.</div>
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Dish TV's strategy with Sri Lanka is still unclear, however judging from the channels on test on SES8, it seems clear that Dish TV Sri Lanka is not only targeted at Sri Lanka but rather at the whole of the subcontinent region.</div>
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<b>Await the launch of our newest blog <a href="http://dishtvlk.blogspot.com/">dishtvlk.blogspot.com</a> soon</b>!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-87686711111222556532014-02-17T09:53:00.001+05:302014-02-17T09:56:56.960+05:30Dish TV preparing for Sri Lanka launch<div style="text-align: justify;">
Dish TV India is to launch services in Sri Lanka soon in a joint venture formed with Satnet. The joint venture company Dish TV Lanka is 70% owned by Dish TV & 30% owned by Satnet and makes use of Satnet's DTH license.</div>
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Dish TV which planned to invest Rupees 700 million initially has approved a further Rupees 300 million for its Sri Lankan operations.</div>
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Dish TV plans to use Conax as it's encryption provider (the same used by Dish TV India), and the same set-top box suppliers who supply the Indian market. Dish TV will use a dedicated transponder on "SES" satellite.</div>
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It's unclear as to when Dish TV will build their own satellite up-linking station in Sri Lanka, however unconfirmed reports say that the up-linking station is already complete.</div>
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Its not clear as to the content that Dish TV will make available. Will they allow Asian feeds of popular channels such as HBO, AXN, etc or will they stick solely to the ad infested Indian feeds? Will they give preference to Tamil & Hindi channels over English channels? Will they include local channels? A lot of questions remain, however the competition is most welcome in a market where there is not much movement with one sole DTH company dominating and swapping and replacing channels as they wish and the only IPTV provider doing nothing to improve service quality or add new channels.</div>
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It's quite clear that the local operators will react to this development, for them to face the stiff competition posed by Dish TV, they should start now instead of adopting a wait and see attitude.<br />
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Source "Television Post": <a href="http://www.televisionpost.com/dth/dish-tv-readying-to-launch-in-sri-lanka-soon-via-jv-company/" target="_blank">Dish TV readying to launch in Sri Lanka soon via JV company</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-52782550672448209472014-02-11T15:42:00.003+05:302014-02-11T15:42:44.714+05:30You TV starts programming little by little<div style="text-align: justify;">
A couple of days ago we noticed that You TV (formerly Max TV) which rebranded a couple of months back but stuck solely to broadcasting only France 24, is now slowly introducing other programming content. However the other programming that are being introduced are still the same ones that existed during the time Max TV brand existed. Nothing much has changed, at the moment "Masterchef" is on air, political programme "4th Floor" is available.</div>
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We are still unsure if other programming such as movies, music programming and wrestling which was available under the Max brand have also returned but if not, it should likely do so over the coming weeks.</div>
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We hope that for the sake of viewers and for all the teasers that were run over the period of the test transmission, some fresh programming will be available to viewers in due course.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-19125616817006941302014-02-05T09:44:00.003+05:302014-02-05T09:44:29.619+05:30Videocon & Dish TV to launch in Sri Lanka soon<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unconfirmed reports coming to us are indicating that Videocon & Dish TV will be launching in Sri Lanka in the very near future. The operators are said to be looking at the possibility of setting up an earth station and uplinking from Sri Lankan soil.</div>
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We are unable to confirm these reports, however there were indications back in 2012 of Dish TV expressing an interest to launch services officially in Sri Lanka.</div>
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Videocon on the other hand has been the latest entry into the Indian DTH market and has approximately about 10 million subscribers & has the most number of HD channels on offer compared to the other operators.</div>
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If this turns out to be true, these two companies will pose a great challenge & increase competition in the rather stagnant pay television market in Sri Lanka.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-80743697236479680882014-02-03T11:15:00.003+05:302014-02-03T11:17:34.794+05:30CSN showcases RBS 6 Nations<div style="text-align: justify;">
After a string of days with no clear broadcaster for RBS 6 Nations over FTA in Sri Lanka, it is pleasing to note that CSN carried the matches "LIVE" for Sri Lankan FTA audiences. The broadcast which was pulled off the special feed provided by "Setanta Sports" for their partners in Sri Lanka which was run without the "Setanta" logo on all platforms.</div>
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It is clear that over the two (three if Channel Eye is also taken into consideration) sports channels in Sri Lanka, CSN seems to be the one thats coming out on top. This is not considering cricketing content.</div>
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With RBS 6 Nations seemingly to come on CSN over the next few weeks, its yet to be seen if the Winter Olympics are broadcast over local airwaves. With Russia being the host, it seems that it will be & hopefully won't be exclusive to any channel, since there are many simultaneous events. A combination of channels such as Channel Eye, NTV, MTV sports, CSN would do a better job.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-64939825694737667182014-01-31T16:24:00.000+05:302014-01-31T16:24:51.308+05:30The so-called Sports channels<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's sad to note the plight of the two so-called sports channels in Sri Lanka, namely CSN (Carlton Sports Network) & MTV Sports. So far non of them have confirmed the "LIVE" broadcast of the RBS Six Nations Rugby, MTV Sports states on their facebook page that they will have highlights of the matches throughout the tournament, but it doesn't say anything about "LIVE" broadcasts.</div>
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CSN the champion of rugger in Sri Lanka seems to be ignoring this tournament too, with no mention of it on their website, they too seem to have swept it under the rug, CSN a partner for Setanta Sports, the pay television network that even though they haven't secured rights for the entire region have allocated a special feed for all their partners in Sri Lanka to be able to broadcast the rugby. CSN used to broadcast rugby live from Setanta but the past few months has seen a decline in the rugby specially after the cricket came on CSN. </div>
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This tournament is held during evening hours Sri Lanka time and it seems that neither sports channels CSN & MTV Sports are willing to let their regular entertainment programming slide for a sporting event. There is no point in calling them sports channels.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-67277078168762932982014-01-27T10:18:00.001+05:302014-01-27T10:18:55.167+05:30Channel Eye resumes cricket broadcasting<div style="text-align: justify;">
After losing out to (actually being robbed of) cricket broadcasting rights by CSN due to political influences, SLRC's Channel Eye & NTV have resumed broadcasting cricketing content. We are unable to confirm whether this is just a one time move or whether Channel Eye will continue broadcasting "LIVE" cricket after this tour comes to a close.</div>
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CSN which won the rights to Sri Lankan cricketing controversially were broadcasting all cricketing content involving Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka & overseas. This sudden shift comes as a surprise. It's good news to the cricket lover in Sri Lanka who may not be privileged to have subscribed to pay television, since SLRC's quality of broadcast and coverage far supersede's that of CSN.</div>
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We hope that NTV will only carry a simulcast and will not at any point in time be used to carry out a sole broadcast since NTV's coverage is much worse than CSN. Channel Eye should at all times be broadcasting the cricket & if not then "Rupavahini" should take over.</div>
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Since Channel Eye is the defacto sports channel operated by SLRC we believe that the matches will always be available on it and NTV will broadcast the matches only as a simulcast.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-43167932149315517042014-01-17T11:06:00.000+05:302014-01-17T11:06:10.461+05:30Star Movies Action Revamp - Sri Lankans stand to miss out on Hollywood premieres<div style="text-align: justify;">
The recent revamp of Star Movies Action India means that big Hollywood blockbusters will premiere on a monthly basis on the channel exclusively. This is in addition to the weekly premieres of movies on Star Movies India. These movies which have all been allocated to Fox International Channels for this region have been moved to Star Movies Action. </div>
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These movies may or may not be telecast on Star Movies India in the near future due to an exclusive library of movies which is being built for Star Movies Action.</div>
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According to international movie rights allocations, the movies being licensed to Sony Pix India are also being licensed to HBO Asia which means that even though Sony Pix India isn't available in Sri Lanka, locals will not miss these movies due to them premiering also on HBO Asia which is available in Sri Lanka.</div>
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All these movies, the ones premiered by Star Movies India & Star Movies Action India are premiered on Fox Movies Premium, therefore this leaves local pay television operators with two choices, either add Star Movies Action India to their lineup or even better, replace Star Movies India with Fox Movies Premium (formerly Star Movies Asia, one channel that carries the content of both the Indian ones, without commercials).</div>
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We urge our fellow bloggers, etc to email Fox International Channels & urge them to allow local operators to carry Fox Movies Premium and put pressure on Dialog TV, Peo TV & LBN Cable TV to make the switch.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-11062131936492124922014-01-16T10:29:00.001+05:302014-01-16T10:29:39.619+05:30Sony Six acquiring rights to FIFA till 2018, leaves local pay television subscribers in the lurch<div style="text-align: justify;">
With the announcement that pay television channel Sony Six has acquired the rights to major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup events until 2018 which covers two World Cup events & Eurocup events has left subscribers of local pay television providers in the lurch since none of them provide Sony Six on their network.</div>
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Recently the Sri Lanka - Pakistan series which was broadcast on Sony Six was missed by pay television subscribers, the only consolation being that CSN carried the event, however this resulted in paying subscribers watching a sub standard broadcast.</div>
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Its highly likely that CSN will broadcast the FIFA events due to the power position that they wield however since their broadcast is primarily targeted at FTA viewers, local pay service providers should take steps to add Sony Six onto their lineup.</div>
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With Sony Six which is widely regarded as the - new kid on the block - when it comes to sports broadcasting, they took the step of carrying Rugby via Setanta to the Indian audience which none of the other big names in the sports business did. However the recent spate of developments indicate a maturing of Sony Six which is now ready to take on the big guns such as Star & Ten Sports. This maturing could mean that Sony might move away from broadcasting Rugby based events and concentrating more on sports that appeals Indian audiences such as Cricket & Football. Nevertheless Sony Six is a must for pay television networks in Sri Lanka since the time will come when Sony Six contests for high profile cricketing tournaments, football & possibly F1. It's best to get the channel onboard now than to wait & pay higher subscription costs later once they ramp up content.</div>
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Over to the management of Dialog TV, Peo TV & LBN Cable TV.... lets see who adds Sony Six first.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-43207579194677166012014-01-02T14:19:00.003+05:302014-01-02T14:19:53.244+05:30TNL strengthens web presence<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the New Year dawned on Jan 1st TNL Networks launched websites & strengthened their social media presence. Even though the English channels (TNL Radio & Lite FM) operated by TNL have a strong web & social media presence, the same cannot be said about the TNL TV & their Sinhala Language channel.</div>
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However establishing a strong web presence isn't sufficient to resurrect this struggling giant, with low broadcast quality & programming the channel continues to be one of the least watched in the country.</div>
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It seems that a programme revamp is on the cards but how sooner or when it will take place is anybody's guess. It would have been ideal if TNL TV increased broadcast quality & revamped the programme lineup to coincide with their renewed web efforts. A new logo is a must for TNL TV, since the present one should be one should be on a museum shelf.</div>
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Please keep us updated on the latest on TNL TV as the days progress.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26479479.post-6474309698573249732014-01-01T11:41:00.000+05:302014-01-01T11:41:01.079+05:30Happy New Year 2014<div style="text-align: justify;">
We take this opportunity to wish our fellow bloggers, the Management & staff of all media institutions in Sri Lanka</div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">"A Very Happy & Prosperous New Year 2014"</span></b></div>
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Thank You for your wonderful support during the past year and we look forward to a greater partnership this year.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0