Update from Neo Sports

[eidur22]

Now, I am truly SICK AND TRIED of Tata Sky's incompetence.Here are details of an e-mail I have received from Mr. Ranjith Rajasekharan, who is the chief marketing manager at Neo Sports.I quote, after hiding my name for confidentiality.Hi *******,Thanks for your mail. Its indeed reassuring for us to see such passion forour content. It is indeed unfortunate for us that you haven't been able toview our content sans such duress..To bring you up to date on this issue w.r.t. to the DTH players. We hadreached a 3 month arrangement with Tata Sky in January at the rate of Rs18.75 per subscriber (TRAI regulated price - 50% of our price for nonaddressable platforms). Post the 3 month period Tata Sky hasn't renewed itscontract at the same price and the ball is very much in their court..I know that this is not much of a reassurance to you as a viewer but we areaccommodating as much as possible to get things going and are in discussion with them on a regular basis..Hopefully we should be up and running before the bundesliga season begins...CheersRanjith"Now, the crying shame here is that in my communications with senior tata sky staff, i was told that neo is unwilling to negotiate at less than its price of 58 rupees so a deal in unworkable.18.75 rupees? SURELY. SURELY they can provide us with channels such as these, after taking off a massive group of Zee channels, and cutting content costs at every corner. I am appaulled by their utter incompetence. Don't forget, it's not just the Bundesliga - Neo also enjoys rights to INDIAN CRICKET! AMAZING.

 

[India]

Hey thanks for updates. This is good price because Tata Sky get Star Cricket at 13 Rs.Can you share mail ID with us.Great

 

[babu_koolguy]

if the email is true we have to take Tata Sky to task

i think the emai address is in neo sports website just check out this

Neo Sports

hope it is useful

 

[tech_enthu]

Now, I am truly SICK AND TRIED of Tata Sky's incompetence.

To bring you up to date on this issue w.r.t. to the DTH players. We had
reached a 3 month arrangement with Tata Sky in January at the rate of Rs
18.75 per subscriber (TRAI regulated price - 50% of our price for non
addressable platforms). Post the 3 month period Tata Sky hasn't renewed its contract at the same price and the ball is very much in their court..

TRAI has not fixed the rate at 50%. It is only a recommendation. Sun TV has not accepted this for its bouquet to tatasky. TRAI has indicated that that dth is an emerging service and and want more players to compete and regulate the prices. Rs. 5 per channel is applicable only to cas customers. Still no cas-cable operator is offering this option of paying for individual channel.

 

[boygr8]

Wht can Tata Sky pass on the buck to the consumer as such? Lets us pay, let us watch.

 

[eidur22]

TRAI has not fixed the rate at 50%. It is only a recommendation. Sun TV has not accepted this for its bouquet to Tata Sky. TRAI has indicated that that dth is an emerging service and and want more players to compete and regulate the prices. Rs. 5 per channel is applicable only to cas customers. Still no cas-cable operator is offering this option of paying for individual channel.

TRAI has fixed the rate at Rs. 37.50 and Neo Sports has offered them a 50% discount on the TRAI price, since the channel would be offered as part of a boquet, and not PPV (I Imagine).

if the email is true we have to take tata sky to task

i think the emai address is in neo sports website just check out this

Neo Sports

hope it is useful

Well, here are complete details of my e-mail. I was surprised to see a man as senior as this reply to my e-mail within a couple of days, but Nimbus is a very progressively managed company that operates far more efficiently than the baboo mentality Tata Sky. Once more, I'm hiding my own e-mail for confidentiality.

From : Ranjith Rajasekharan
Reply-To :
Sent : Friday, July 20, 2007 11:29 PM
To :
Subject : RE: Strong suggestion regarding Neo Sports

| | | Inbox
Hi *******,
Thanks for your mail. Its indeed reassuring for us to see such passion for
our content. It is indeed unfortunate for us that you haven't been able to
view our content sans such duress..
To bring you up to date on this issue w.r.t. to the DTH players. We had
reached a 3 month arrangement with Tata Sky in January at the rate of Rs
18.75 per subscriber (TRAI regulated price - 50% of our price for non
addressable platforms). Post the 3 month period Tata Sky hasn't renewed its
contract at the same price and the ball is very much in their court..
I know that this is not much of a reassurance to you as a viewer but we are
accommodating as much as possible to get things going and are in discussion
with them on a regular basis..
Hopefully we should be up and running before the bundesliga season begins...

Cheers

Ranjith

-----Original Message-----
From: ******* ***** [mailto:*********@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 5:17 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Strong suggestion regarding Neo Sports

Hi Mr. Rajasekharan,

I write in as a consumer but I do hope my e-mail will instigate a response.

I know I'm not alone in my deep frustration based on the fact that Neo
Sports and particularly Neo Sports Plus are not yet available on any DTH
platform. There are thousands of customers such as myself, who have DTH
connections (total penetration of 2.2+ million) who are absolutely desperate

to watch these channels, but your constant disputes with DTH providers have
left us more than a little annoyed.

With the Bundesliga season getting under way shortly, and with manchester
united on tour in Asia, this would be a great time for us DTH subscribers to

finally be able to enjoy your channels. I realize there have been extensive
legal complications, with TRAI rulings due, etc. But, I know that as
consumers we have put Tata Sky and Dish under considerable pressure to add
the two channels and they are surely looking to reach an agreement.

With the ruling still upto 2 months away, I know we would all GREATLY
appreciate it if you could reach short-term agreements with these DTH
subsribers to at the very least offer your channels on a PPV package. I
realize that you are in the business of making money, but surely ad revenues

would increase substantially with greater accessibility and DTH subscribers
are important in that we are usually high personal disposable income
customers and so our importance for advertisers is significant. Whatever the

disagreements, by getting into the business of TV broadcasting on sporting
events you have entered a public service domain and I know all of us would
greatly appreciate it if you could offer us the opportunity of watching your

channels ASAP (not 2,3,4 months later).

I know that in tata sky's case one of the main negotiation failures from
their point of view is the minimum guarantee. Now frankly, tata sky is in
deep trouble with its existing subscribers. But, if you could lower your
minimum guarantee requirements, it would allow Tata Sky to offer your
channels on a PPV basis outside of its large (and rather pitiful) Boquet of
channels. I know that the vast majority of existing subscribers would
subscriber regardless. Surely, this would not be an unfair arrangement.

Urging you to reach an arrangement with DTH providers.
Best Regards,
******* *****

_______________________________________

 

[tech_enthu]

TRAI has fixed the rate at Rs. 37.50 and Neo Sports has offered them a 50% discount on the TRAI price, since the channel would be offered as part of a boquet, and not PPV (I Imagine).

Only for CAS, TRAI has fixed the rates as Rs. 5 per channel, irrespective of the rating of the channel. That is my reading. Will you please give the source or reference for TRAI fixing rates for non CAS customers. Just curious.

 

[eidur22]

Only for CAS, TRAI has fixed the rates as Rs. 5 per channel, irrespective of the rating of the channel. That is my reading. Will you please give the source or reference for TRAI fixing rates for non CAS customers. Just curious.

There was a TDSAT ruling to this effect when Niumbus first came in. Nimbus' original price was set to Rs. 58.50 for the boquet, but TRAI ruled that it should be Rs. 37.50. The case is now under review. If you google search relavant search terms, I'm sure you would find relavant articles.

CAS and DTH are played according to a completely different set of rules. DTH is meant to be a premium service.

 

[maahkaal]

eidur , firstly i must commend your sincere efforts in reaching neo sports . However i find it hard to accept that such a senior person would disclose accurate figures to public. If the figure of 18.75 Rs is to be believed than it still is huge when you take into consideration the entire subscriber base. One million subscribers , say , would mean Tata Sky paying 18.75 million rupees per month ! Why should tatasky take the burden on themselves when the subscribers are not paying for it ? Why pay such a huge amount when neo hardly have anything to boast of in the present situation. Even star cricket with the rights to england - india series is priced at 13 Rs. Neo imo are being too cocky and trying to sell themselves saying that they are as good as espnstar which is laughable. Some people point to dishtv having more channels and adding new channels but the company till now has been running in a loss and they are taking a massive risk by hoping to bring in more customers at the expense of their losses. When tatasky takes off and i believe it's just a matter of time and with the Reliance , Airtel , Sun and Videocon to follow suit , Dish tv are going to end up in some deep shite in the coming years.

 

[hitman]

and there shares r falling like a hell Rs.140 to Rs.95 ... With 1 yr free subscription for users I don't see them going up anytime in future...