BTV misses deadline for AsiaSat deal

"The contract has been sent for scrutiny to the law ministry that did not return it to the information ministry yet," a source said.

"The technical procedure is complete and all are ready to go on air. As soon as the contract is signed, we will start satellite transmission," said a high official of the state-owned BTV.

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BTV's plan to transmit via satellite prompted mixed reactions. Local satellite broadcasters fear they might lose Tk 70 crore in revenue from commercials a year to BTV because of its satellite venture.

BTV earns more than 50 percent of the revenues from TV commercials, as viewers prefer it to private channels. In fiscal 2002-3, BTV earned Tk 82 crore from terrestrial transmission, with the revenues from satellite and terrestrial commercials by all television channels estimated at Tk 150 crore a year.

The government decided to give advertisers the privilege to air commercials on both terrestrial and satellite transmissions at the same rate to increase revenues in a bid the private satellite broadcasters fear will harm their commercial market further.

There is also an optimistic view. Media marketing experts think BTV's satellite venture will increase competition, making satellite providers come up with quality transmission and programmes.

The number of satellite viewers will increase thanks to competition among channels, they said, adding the now-closed Ekushey Television surpassed BTV's commercial revenue because of its quality programmes.