Cable operators relent, TV9 back on air

The Kannada news channel, TV9, that was taken off air by cable operators across the State on Monday evening, came back on air late on Tuesday after hectic parleys between the two parties mediated by the government.

The Kannada news channel, TV9, that was taken off air by cable operators across the State on Monday evening, came back on air late on Tuesday after hectic parleys between the two parties mediated by the government.

The channel's management, which initially claimed that they were blocked at the instance of the government to prevent the telecast of an investigative report, made no reference to the allegation as they thanked the chief minister Siddaramaiah intervening on their behalf.

While TV9 head Mahendra Mishra refused to comment, a spokesman said, "The State government made a timely intervention and helped us out of this dispute with the cable operators." The spokesman dis not respond when asked about the channel's initial allegation that the government was behind the sabotage.

Karnataka cable operator's association president, Patrick Raju said, "We put the channel back on air after Siddaramaiah requested us and said that the government was being unnecessarily blamed for what is the result of a dispute between us and the channel. We decided to withdraw our protest."