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Channel wars
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With Asianet Satellite Communications waging war against The One Alliance group of Sony Entertainment Television (SET) over a hike in rates, the viewers are forced to take a break...
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The wrangle between the cable TV providers and the pay channels seems to never-ending. Matters worsened with Asianet Satellite Communications switching off seven channels from The One Alliance group of Sony Entertainment Television (SET) from April, this year.
The network includes some of the very popular channels such as Sony, SET Max, Discovery, Animal Planet, AXN, NDTV and HBO. The justification again is hike in rates of these pay channels.
"Till recently, all these pay channels were separate. So we never had any problem dealing with them. But many of them have together formed a single bouquet, complicating the matter," says Balagopalan Nair, assistant general manager of Asianet Satellite Communications.
However, many of the channels such as Sony, SET Max and AXN do not have much viewership in Kerala, but when clubbed with popular channels such as HBO, Discovery and Animal Planet, they become hot property.
"Even those who are not interested in watching certain channels are forced to pay for them because their favourite channels also come along with them as a package. This comes to the advantage of the service providers," adds Balagopalan.
Until 1994, the customers got to watch all the channels without paying anything extra. In 1994, Star Movies made itself a pay channel, followed by many others. In addition, they frequently increased the rates, knowing fully well that many of their customers were totally enslaved by these channels.
For Asianet, an alternative is to increase the subscription fee, which they are striving to evade. Though the capital expenditure is more in Kerala, the subscription is restricted to a maximum of Rs. 200, whereas in the metros it is as high as Rs. 360.
Says Balagopalan, "In Kerala, houses are spread out. So more cable has to be used. Still, we try to minimise the subscription rate."
Things might change for the better with the introduction of CAS (Conditional Access System), which would give an opportunity to the viewers to pick and pay for the preferred channels. CAS, as the expectation goes, is to be implemented some time in July in the metros and by January next throughout the State.
However, there is a general complaint that the broadcasters are, in the meantime, trying to elicit the maximum from the consumers. But again, installing the set-top boxes to receive the selected channels would cost anywhere between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 7,500, depending on whether it is analogue or digital.
However, The One Alliance has another version. They claim that the increase in the rates was mutually agreed and approved. Violation of this agreement, coupled with non-payment of the arrears, has forced The One Alliance to switch off the channels. Asianet completely agrees to this, however, with one clarification. The agreement signed in January was made taking into consideration the telecast of the ICC World Cup cricket matches. During this time, SET demanded payment of a huge amount as connectivity charges. The payment was made with an understanding that the charges would be brought down once the World Cup was over. But that was not to be. "We continue to pay a substantial amount to SET. Now things have changed. We do not have that kind of money," says Balagopalan.
The story of NDTV is the most interesting. Though listed as one of the channels that have gone off the air in the imbroglio, NDTV, in fact, was never relayed though they had trumpeted their arrival into town.
Nevertheless, most of the viewers have taken the present situation kindly. Says Pushparaj, a building contractor, "I still pay the regular amount to Asianet. They are definitely trying to show us the best available, with Zee MGM, Zee English and National Geographic set to fill the void created by channels such as HBO and Discovery. Let them find a solution for this. I'm willing to wait."
Agrees Santhosh, a programmer in Technopark, "I am an ardent HBO fan. Though I reach home late, I still watch the movies on HBO. But I'm willing to sacrifice all that. Paying more than what we already are, is a criminal waste."
But, the All Kerala Cable TV Subscribers Association is outraged and is threatening a boycott.
With the dialogue between the cable operators and the broadcasters going on, we can hope for the dust to settle before the monsoon commences.
AMBIKA VARMA
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Metro Plus
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