TelecomLive April 2024

[ News Bytes ] www.telecomlive.com 79 TelecomLIVE April 2024 Tata Play's subscriber market share decreased from 33 pc in September 2022 to 32.43 pc, while the industry subscriber base decreased from 65.58 mn to 64.18 mn, according to Trai data. The company's consoli- dated revenue declined 5 pc to Rs 4,499 cr in FY23 due to a fall in DTH reve- nues. However, de-growth inDTHwas partially offset by higher revenues from Tata Play Broadband and Tata Play Binge. Ebitda decreased 30 pc to Rs 1,361 cr due to revenue d e c l i n e a n d h i g h e r deferred equipment cost recognition. In FY21, the company changed its accounting treatment about expendi- ture on CPE costs from the e n t r u s t m e n t m o d e l (capex) to the sale model (opex), which impacted its Ebitda. The rating agency has reaffirmed the DTH com- pany's bank facilities worth Rs 8,000 cr due to its healthy business risk profile driven by its mar- ket leadership in the DTH segment. I&B minister Anurag Thakur launches 'Swaraj' series on OTT platform I&B minister Anurag Thakur launched the first season of "Swaraj" on OTT platform Amazon Prime. The series captures the s t or i e s o f br ave r y i n India's freedom struggle about which very few peo- ple know. Produced by Contiloe Pictures, the 75- episode show brings to the fore the tales of courage and valour of the country's freedom fighters. It also narrates India's historical journey from 1498 when Va s c o d a Gama f i r s t reached India to 1947 when India achieved inde- pendence. ZEE Entertainment to lay off 15 pc of workforce Indian broadcaster ZEE Ent er t a inment Ent er- prises (ZEE) has proposed a new, streamlined man- agement structure to the board to rationalise its workforce by 15 pc, the company said in a state- ment. Spotify paid $9 bn in royalties in 2023 Spotify paid out $9 bn in streaming royalties last year, the streaming giant said in its latest report. According to the data, 1,250 artists generated over $1 mn each in record- ing and publishing royal- ties in 2023; 11,600 gener- ated over $100,000 and 66,000 generated over $10,000 - numbers that have almost tripled since 2017. More than half of those 66,000 artists came from countries where English is not the primary language, the report says, reflecting an increasingly global music landscape. And "indie" artists - the self- distributed, do-it-yourself acts and those on inde- pendent record labels, according to says Charlie Hellman, the vice presi- dent and global head of music product at Spotify, accounted for $4.5 bn, half of all royalties paid out by Spotify. "Millions of people who've uploaded a song at least once but that doesn't really speak to whether they're an artist, or if they're doing thismore as a hobby,"MrHellman says. Spotify zooms in on artists that have "at least put up an album's worth of music once they seem to have some indication that they're trying to build a fan base." He estimates there are "about 225,000professionally aspir- ing artists" on the platform. Spotify - and most other streaming services - pay royalties to the rights holders of the music on its plat- form, a number which is determined by "streamshare." That's calculated by adding up how many times music owned or controlled by a particular rights holder was streamed and dividing by the total number of streams in thatmarket. DCI FY23 profit flat at Rs 68 cr Discovery Communications India (DCI) reported net profit of Rs 68 cr for 2022-23, up 1.49 pc fromRs 67 cr in the previous financial year. Company, which operates 18 TV channels and the Discovery+ streaming platform, reported a 9.59 pc reve- nue growth to Rs 1,055 cr, while expenses decreased 9.6 pc to Rs 975 cr. DCI's advertising and promotional expenses declined 25 pc to Rs 290 cr, while employee benefit expenses increased 29 pc to Rs 195 cr during fiscal. DCI is a significant player in factual entertainment and children's genres, with brands including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Pogo andCartoonNetwork. B P O & B R O A D C A S T I N G - B Y T E S