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Tag: Dattatray Cable

  • Cable ops say can’t pay, threaten to black out Ten Sports

    Cable ops say can’t pay, threaten to black out Ten Sports

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: On the eve of the departure of the Indian cricket team to Pakistan, the heady cocktail of sports and politics is threatening to derail the Indo-Pak friendship initiatives and electoral plans of many a politician if the cricket matches vanish from a majority of TV sets in the country.

    Like an expert brew mixer, a la Tom Cruise in the film Cocktail, the cable operators, led by Roop Sharma and Vikki Choudhry, today came up with a deadly mix. Their poser to Ten Sports, the government (read I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad) and the public, in general: What can we do if Ten Sports is arm-twisting us, the government is refusing to intervene and the (cable TV viewing) public not willing to pay any extra money for cricket?

    “We have no option, but to shut shop or attempt stealing a bank to meet Ten Sports’ unfair demands (on increased connectivity),” Anil Upadhaya, a cable operator from Prime Minister AB Vajpayee’s constituency Lucknow told journalists today during a press conference, adding for good measure that the “present government is useless” as Vajpayee did not have time listen to the woes of the cable ops from Lucknow itself.

    Upadhaya, echoing the sentiments of 30-odd cable operators from different parts of the country, further said, “If the government and politicians don’t intervene, then most parts of the country would have to do without the cricket matches.” Why? Unable to come to a compromise on the issue of payment, theoretically, most cable operators stand to be switched off by Ten Sports and its distribution agent, Modi Entertianment Network and both are firm on the demands on increased connectivity.

    Pramod Pandya, a cable operator from Gujarat, pointed out it is was Ten Sports that is blacking cable operators who are “unable to meet the unjust and unfair demands of the sports channel.” According to him, the government must intervene or would face a backlash in the forthcoming elections.

    “If the government starts a Samjhauta Channel (on the lines of a bus service from Delhi to Lahore) and airs cricket on that, we’d happily show the channel at no extra cost,” he grandly suggested to cheering from the crowd mostly comprising cable ops.

    10-15% HIKE OK

    Most cable operators today grudgingly admitted that if Ten Sports agrees to a hike in payment (due to increased connectivity) ranging between 10-15 per cent for the duration of the Indo-Pak series, they would try to manage that without passing it on to the consumer.

    “The cable operators can manage a hike of 10-15 per cent, but it would amount to fleecing them if asked for payments at par with ESPN-Star Sports,” Cable Operators federation of India’s Roop Sharma said, adding, “They’ll find it difficult if asked to cough up money for six months or one year.”

    Though Amarjeet Singh, a cable operator from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, would tend to agree with Sharma, he pointed out that even a 10 per cent hike would tell financially on a cable operator like him because in the city he operates consumers would not pay up anything extra and could destroy his equipment if the matches are not shown.

    Singh says that he used to pay Rs 57,000 for 12,000 connections to Ten Sports. But after the Indo-Pak series was announced, he says, the demand has gone up to Rs 250,000 for a subscriber base between 25,000-30,000. “I don’t have that sort of money to pay, nor that many subscribers. There is no option but for the government to intervene,” he added.

    Cable Networks Association’s Rakesh Dutta feels that the demands that Ten Sports is making would amount to almost a 400 per cent hike , which is not tenable. “The pro-broadcasters stance of the regulator and the government is very clear when CAS was postponed,” he added.

    TEN STANDS ITS GROUND

    Amidst this entire hullabaloo, Ten Sports and Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) maintained their earlier stand that the cable ops should pay up according to increased connectivity, though in Mumbai the cable operators’ federation has not yet come to a final conclusion on the future course of action. MEN is Ten Sports’ distributor in India.

    Referring to the situation in Mumbai, where Ten is off most networks, MEN advisor RK Singh says: “The ball is in Coda’s (Cable Operators and Distributors Association) court. They are the ones who have blocked our signals. We will not accept a 25 per cent increase in declaration, which is what the cable ops are asking for. If we accede to this, what we would be getting effectively is only 3 per cent of the actual connectivity.”

    Singh added, “What we want, as I have stated earlier, are declarations comparable to what ESPN Star Sports, Star or Sony are getting.”

    What does the Shiv Sena-backed Coda have to say? Anil Parab, president Coda and proprietor of Dattatray Cable, told indiantelevision.com that a meeting was held today, but no conclusions were reached.

    “We have given our proposal to the government and we feel that the government should intervene in this matter. The match should be shown on DD too as it is a national channel and has a greater reach than Ten Sports. There is no cooperation from Ten Sports till now. If a mid-way is not reached, then the country will not see the matches as we will not air the channel. We hope to reach some conclusion tomorrow after the government gives its decision.”

    However, Ravi Singh, president, Mumbai Cable Operators’ Association bared another side to the whole story when he said that the matches would be shown irrespective of Ten’s latest demands.

    “Right now Ten Sports has not blocked us out, we have blocked it because we are opposed to the four to five times increase in subscriber base that is being asked for. We will try to amicably sort out everything before the (cricket) matches start and if there is a problem, we will teach them a lesson after the series is over. But regardless of anything the matches will be shown.”

    While this soap opera is being played out, the Central and the state governments are yet to firm up their mind on the issue. A senior minister in the government told indiantelevision.com that various tactics have been tried, but “beyond a point” even the government cannot do anything as a third party’s (Ten Sports) commercial agreements are involved.

    Meanwhile, arguments continued in a case filed in the Chennai high court last week where the petitioner had pleaded that the court give directions to the broadcast and cable regulator Trai to see that DD also gets to air the matches. The arguments continue tomorrow.

  • CAS in its present form is an evil conspiracy: Anil Parab

    CAS in its present form is an evil conspiracy: Anil Parab

    MUMBAI: “I request you to be united in the face of media reports that the multi system operators and broadcasters are trying to adopt various strategies such as ‘divide and rule’, ‘money power’ to woo you. This is battle for survival.”

    Thus spake Shiv Sena Vibhag Pramukh Anil Parab who dons multiple hats – the CODA (Cable Operator and Distributor Association) president and the only face of cable operators in the government appointed CAS implementation committee is the proprietor of Dattatray Cable in suburban Mumbai.

    The man who organised a “historic” meeting of Mumbai-based cable operators won laurels and words of praise from all the top Sena leaders including Shiv Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray, Subhash Desai, Sanjay Nirupam and Vilas Awhsat amongst others. Of course, thousands of Mumbai based cable operators who filled two auditoriums of Bandra’s Rang Sharda and also the streets outside cheered him as he rose to address the gathering.

    Parab said: “This is the third meeting organised by CODA. We decided to organise this meeting because top leaders such as Balasaheb and Uddhavji wanted to address the cable fraternity. After all, these self-made entrepreneurs were responsible for uplifting themselves and several people from the lower socio-economic classes who were ravaged by unemployment from the the closure of mills and other such reasons.”

    Blasting the multi-system operators (MSOs), Parab said: “These MSOs, who are dominating the business at present, wrested control from the cable operators. The unsuspecting cable operators who were busy with internal wrangles didn’t even realise the gravity of the situation as the wily MSOs gained predominance. In fact, the MSOs used to pretend to be the representatives of the cable operators in the government-appointed CAS task force. But, they were only concerned about furthering their own interests.”

    When questioned about why the Sena took up cudgels on behalf of the cable operators so late in the day, Parab said: “When former I&B minister Sushma Swaraj mooted the idea of CAS, it seemed like an attractive idea. The hidden dirt of CAS came to the fore only when issues came up during the implementation process. The Sena realised that CAS in its present form is an evil conspiracy that would hurt operators and consumers.”

    “We realised that a day will come when the cable operator would be told that he would no longer be needed. The MSO and broadcaster nexus would establish contact with the consumer directly. No one was willing to back the last mile operator but Sena supremo Balasaheb raised a voice to protest against this kind of a CAS that would hurt cable operators and consumers. After he gave his clarion call, I decided that the first step was to forge unity and we all united under the banner of CODA,” said Parab, amidst cheers and claps.

    Referring to his experiences while representing cable operators in the government appointed task force meeting, Parab said: “The I&B officials seemed to toe the line of the MSOs and the pay broadcasters at the CAS task force meetings. In the very first meeting that I attended, I raised the real issues and there was a lot of discomfort amongst the CAS task force members. I proclaimed that the task force would never meet again and my words came true. Then, the ministry appointed the CAS implementation task force and I was the only member representing the cable operators; the MSOs had five representatives whereas the broadcasters had 12 representatives on the 18 member committee. But, I made sure that pertinent and difficult questions were asked. The backing of Balasaheb and our efforts ensured that CAS has still not been implemented in Mumbai despite umpteen efforts by the I&B officials.”

    Parab claims that the Sena has managed to stem the rot by proclaiming that CAS would rollout in Mumbai only when the cable operators say that they are ready! “Now, after they say anything the other implementation task force representatives look at me for approval,” claimed Parab, to applause from cable operators.

    Blasting the I&B officials and minister RS Prasad, Parab questioned: “I wonder why the I&B officials are scared of the pay broadcasters? The government appointed CAS task force undertook a study for calculating the costs of the last mile operator and arrived at the ridiculous figure of Rs 46 per month for free to air channels. How come they didn’t undertake a similar study before arriving at an unacceptable figure of Rs 72 per month for FTA channels? Why can’t they regulate the pay TV broadcasters?”

    Referring to the hapless consumers, Parab said: “People in Mumbai pay anything between Rs 150 and Rs 225 per month. Why should the government burden them with monthly cable rates that are double or trice these rates for viewing the same number of channels? How will the slum dwellers afford these rates?”

    While taking about recent efforts by MSOs to woo cable operators, Parab said: “I have been reading media reports in some of the financial newspapers that the MSOs have announced schemes to lure cable operators; divide and rule policies. I have read reports that MSOs have offered Hyundai Sonatra cars amongst others. But, these ploys will not work. The Mumbai cable operator fraternity is united under the CODA banner. CODA will not allow CAS to happen in Mumbai unless Balasaheb Thackeray gives his consent.”

    Well, that is the final word as of today on the possibility of CAS rollout in Mumbai.