The next hearing of the broadcasters’ reply to TRAI (The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) in front of the Bombay High Court will be on 30 January since the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and other petitioners have asked for some time to go through the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India‘s (TRAI) reply.

After the NTO (New Tariff Order) 2.0, the broadcasters as well as other members of IBF had moved to court challenging the TRAI’s amendments who defended its decision to curb excessive pricing by making broadcasters double the amount of channels offered in a certain fixed-price package and cap charges for additional channels, among other steps.

The IBF along with Star India, ZEEL, TV18, Viacom18, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), Zoom Entertainment and Film & Television Producers Guild of India had challenged the TRAI’s new amendments stating that they infringe on their fundamental rights.

The TRAI has filed a lengthy reply of 1,700 e-documents to the IBF and other broadcasters’ writ petitions, after the bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and Justice RI Chagla had directed TRAI to file a reply in one week on 14 January. The petitioners have been granted one week’s time to go through the reply and file a rejoinder if required. The bench had also refused to stay the amendments to the new regulatory framework.

Even though any interim relief has not been granted by the bench, there is an understanding that the TRAI may not take coercive action against the broadcasters since the matter is sub-judice. The broadcasters had to file modified reference interconnect offers (RIOs) by 15 January.

The broadcasters had sought a stay on the amended tariff order and regulations claiming that the TRAI sought to overhaul the entire method and manner in which broadcasters conduct their business. They also put forward that the broadcast industry was just adapting to the tariff order (NTO 1) which came into force in February 2019.

The IBF and other petitioners have also contended that the broadcasters, on average had lost 50 per cent of the subscribers to whom their channels were reaching compared to the previous regime. This has impacted advertisement as well as the subscription revenue of the broadcasters.

Among the key amendments that the broadcasters have challenged include –

1) arbitrary reduction of MRP cap to Rs 12 from Rs 19

2) Imposition of twin conditions on bouquet pricing

3) restricting incentives only to a la carte. The amended tariff order and regulations come into force from 1 March.

It has also been stated that the recent amendments of TRAI has taken away the independence of the broadcasters to offer channels in a commercially viable manner through the bouquet and also compromise on the quality of content they’re creating. In fact, the reduced cap price is lower than the rate at which broadcasters offered their content in 2016.

The broadcasters also added that the distribution platform operators (DPOs) are being given further independence even as their freedom is being taken away. It has also been argued that the changes are bereft of any empirical data or evidence. The broadcasters have prayed for striking down the amended tariff order and regulations since they violate Article 14, Article 19(1)(a) and Article 19(1)(g).

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When Capcom announced its remake of Resident Evil 3 last month for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, it also gave us a glimpse of a special collector’s edition featuring an awesome Jill Valentine figurine. While it started as America-only, it is now being planned for rest of the other countries.

As per Capcom, the collector’s edition will be available at participating retailers in Europe, as well as Africa and the Middle East. Besides featuring a physical copy of the remake, it has the same Jill Valentine figure, printed art book, and poster of a Racoon City map that the United States version has. It even has the same special ol’ fashioned chest-looking case. While the latter has a digital copy of the soundtrack, the former will release the soundtrack across two CDs.

In Resident Evil 3, S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine, one of video games’ most iconic heroines, flees a city being consumed by zombies and other horrifying creatures. Built with Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine, Resident Evil 3 uses modernized gameplay to combine action with classic survival horror in vivid high-definition. Jill’s harrowing experiences in Resident Evil 3 take place in the nightmarish hours leading up to and following the events in Resident Evil 2, shedding new light on the plight of Raccoon City’s residents. Every hope of escape is cut off by another star in the Resident Evil franchise: the towering Bio Organic Weapon Nemesis. This brutal yet intelligent monstrosity uses an arsenal of high-powered weaponry to indiscriminately eliminate any surviving S.T.A.R.S. members in the city–with Jill being his final target.

The remake of Resident Evil 3 is scheduled to release worldwide on 3 April via the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Below, you can read more about the game, courtesy of an official pitch from Capcom:

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OTT service, YuppTV has collaborated with BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) to offer Triple Play Services in Rural India. 

This partnership comes after BSNL announced new TV channels and OTT services with the complete roll out slated for 2020. The services will begin shortly in the South Zone, covering the Telangana circle and bringing broadband and triple play services to the village Veenavanka, Karimnagar District, Telangana.

At TEMA’s programme, BSNL rolled out Bharat AirFibre services at India Habitat Center, New Delhi. Last year, YuppTV and BSNL had signed a memorandum of understanding to offer bundled content to the subscribers of the telecom operator.

BSNL CFA director Vivek Banzal said, “Leveraging the potential of unlicensed radio spectrum and encouraging our partners to deliver good internet services in the rural homes has been a very high priority agenda with us and we are happy to announce that a very encouraging open policy has been framed for village level entrepreneurs to join hands with BSNL in delivering radio based broadband service in rural homes. We are committed to investing in improving service quality and service portfolio to improve customer satisfaction and revenues for the organisation”.

Producing over 10 years of streaming live and VOD content, mostly relying on the rich Indian local languages for a wide-ranging audience across the globe, YuppTV is an important name in video and technology services. BSNL has already started triple play services in tandem with YuppTV, providing voice, data and TV services in select circles.

YuppTV founder and CEO Uday Reddy added, “In tandem with BSNL, we have taken up a highly aspirational project, one that will play significant roles in the next phase of digitisation in India. While BSNL has enabled one’s access to high-speed internet in rural India, at YuppTV, we have taken up the task of offering the most diversified content to our key users that entertains and educates. We are excited for the nationwide rollout commencing with the South Zone and look forward to an affirmative response.”

After the successful VRS process, BSNL is doing everything possible to ensure delivery of a reliable telecom service in rural areas. With the announcement, BSNL’s core network maintained in-house and BSNL business partners like YuppTV that maintain last-mile to the customer, will have access to the right business model in delivering quality services to the customers. With the roll out of Bharat Fibre services to urban and rural homes, BSNL has experienced a very satisfying response and expects a better response in radio based technology adoption.

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Veteran producers L.C. Crowley and Brandon Barr with animator and VFX artist Grzegorz Jonkajtys, announced the launch of Trioscope Studios. The studio will be a groundbreaking new space dedicated to next-generation enhanced hybrid animation technology that combines state-of-the-art CGI with live-action performance.

Crowley will serve as chief executive officer with Barr as chief content officer and Jonkajtys as chief creative officer.  Brian Lavin will be joining them as senior vice president of development.

Trioscope Studios, based in Los-Angeles will develop original drama content and adapt third party IP using its proprietary animation technology.

The newly launched studio is currently in production on the upcoming World War II animated drama series The Liberator, written by Jeb Stuart (Die Hard, The Fugitive), directed by Jonkajtys and produced by A&E Studios and Unique Features for Netflix. Additionally, Trioscope has already partnered with Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, Unique Features and Hulu for unannounced projects.

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