Aditya Chatterjee
Media

Raj TV, Raj Digital Plus to have temporary overseas uplinking

Rajeev Nambiar, CEO, Raj TV, assures there will be no interruption in the telecast of Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus

Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus, Tamil satellite channels floated by entrepreneur M Rajendran, will be uplinked from an overseas location on a temporary basis.

The broadcaster has been forced to make this move since the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has terminated the licence for uplinking of these two channels.

The termination, which happened on August 25, was mainly on account of the uplinking of two new channels, Vissa and Raj Musix, from the broadcaster, says a Raj TV release.

Following the DoT order, the broadcaster challenged it in the Madras High Court. Subsequently, while dismissing the writ appeal, the High Court permitted the broadcaster a period of 10 days (starting November 8, 2004) to approach the Supreme Court and also gave the broadcaster the permission to operate the two channels, Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus by uplinking from the broadcaster's own teleport.

When the matter came up for hearing before the Supreme Court on Wednesday (November 17), the apex court issued a stay order and slotted the matter for hearing after two weeks.

Consequently, as per the order, the broadcaster has been forced to suspend operation to uplink the two channels from its own teleport. And, this is the reason why the two channels will have to be uplinked temporarily from overseas, until the broadcaster receives the permission to operate from teleports in India.

According to Rajeev Nambiar, CEO, Raj TV, the switch-over from the broadcaster's own teleport to an overseas teleport will come into effect from Thursday (November 18). He assures that with this arrangement, there will be no interruption in the telecast of Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus.

© 2004 agencyfaqs!

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