E-Paper
Cable TV: 2 lakh Lucknow households still without major channels
The city cable operators have stopped airing programmes of Zee, Sony and Star TV, due to a tariff dispute, hitting transmission to around 2 lakh households in the state capital since Saturday
The city cable operators have stopped airing programmes of Zee, Sony and Star TV, due to a tariff dispute, hitting transmission to around 2 lakh households in the state capital since Saturday.
Rajendra Singh, president, Uttar Pradesh Cable TV Udyog Sangh said, “All the three major broadcasting companies have increased tariffs by about 25%. If cable operators implement this tariff, there will be an increase of 30 to 35% in the subscription rates of consumers. Other broadcasters may also increase the tariff in the future. The All-India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) has approached the court and the hearing of the case is scheduled on Tuesday at 3 pm in Karkardooma court of Delhi. We hope to get some relief from there.
“Not only in Lucknow, around 5 crore consumers across the country are suffering due to the arrogance of these companies who are increasing the tariff without consulting stakeholders. In an era when the cable Tv industry is facing severe competition from OTT platforms and giants like Jio and Airtel, we are being forced to increase rates of cable Tv for the common man, already suffering due to high inflation and reduced earning.”
Get set for addl burden
The new tariff for broadcasters will put an additional burden of ₹100 on each subscriber. At present, customers pay ₹300 to ₹325 per month for about 250 channels. Due to the increase in money by these three major broadcasters, the tariff of the consumers will go up to ₹400 to ₹425. Cable operators say that the direct to home (DTH) service through Dish has slowed down the cable TV business.
