DD opens auction for non-prime slots, bidders stay away

DD opens auction for non-prime slots, bidders stay away
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, JAN 16: For those who chose to distance themselves from Doordarshan's decision to auction non-prime time slots on its metro channel, it is time for negotiations. A time to drive a good bargain, even as officials in Mandi House, a day after being betrayed by prospective bidders, accused them of ganging up to sabotage the bids.

Yesterday, when DD opened its bids after having decided to auction its slots starting from 10 p.m. to 12.30 p.m., there was only one bidder, though a familiar one. Pritish Nandy, who after having bid for the Olympic Games last year, had backed out at the last minute. On Monday, he bounced back with a bid for the 10.30 p.m. slot.

While the bid amount is not known, DD officials have left it to the Prasar Bharati Board to decide on the fate of Pritish Nandy Communications.

``As he was the only bidder, we think the Board should take a decision on the matter,'' a DD official said, adding that Nandy had bid for the 10.30 p.m. slot whose bid price has been fixed at Rs 7.5 crores.

The 10 p.m. slot has been fixed at Rs 15 crores; 10.30 p.m. at Rs 7.5 crores, 11 p.m. slot at Rs 2 crores; 11.30 p.m. at Rs 1 crore and the 12 p.m. slot at Rs 50 lakhs.

Nandy was the only bidder when DD called for bids for the Olympic Games. The right to market the games went to him after he bid Rs 15 crore and one lakh. He, later backed off, leaving Doordarshan to encash a bank guarantee amount of Rs 7.5 crores and managing the show on its own.

Needless to say, DD could make only Rs 1.5 crores on the Olympics. This when Nandy had promised Rs 15 cores and revenue from advertisments.

Denying that the floor price was high, DD officials said, the entertainment slots also had a good amount of Free Commercial Time to help producers make profit.

This time around, to ensure that DD is not the loser, there's a safety clause. The bidder has to pay 10 per cent of the bid amount in cash and 18 per cent of the bid amount will be the bank guarantee amount.

Channel 9 that had earlier picked up the three-hour slot on DD Metro and was interested in going for the kill for the second time, was prevented from bidding again. A clause in the bid document debars producers with more than three hours of programming from bidding for the slots vacated by Living Media's Aaj Tak.

1. Direct to Home (DTH)
Expenditure involved for the consumer
Between Rs 12,000 and Rs 14,000 for the dish antenna and an integrated receiver decoder to decode signals received from the satellite

Rs 400-Rs 600 per month for the channels (more than 100 and less than 150) watched, since the channels would become pay per view and exclusive in nature; can exercise choice in chucking out channels he doesn't want to view in favour of something else. To that, he has to exchange his smart card

Requires an investment of Rs 1000 crores. For the broadcaster, despite the heavy investments involved, he will be able to manage his subscribers becauseof an easy headcount and show the list to the advertisers

Broadcast data source via satellite, signals compressed by decoders and delivered to subscribers

2. Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT)
Expenditure involved for the consumer
Between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7000 for the set-top box (so called, because the boxes are placed on television sets)

Can watch only 20 channels; as a transmision tower can take in only 6-8 channels

Requires an investment of Rs 15000 crores to set the country on a digital course

Potential for localised advertising. Those looking for broader footprint will probably keep away

Broadcast via transmitters

Consumer/subscriber can access fax, internet and e-mail

3. Third option can be through cable where operators still in business can offer conditional access systems to subscribers. Cheapest option. Expenditure involved Rs 2000-3000