Cable ops in Mumbai act against NDTV on carriage fee issue

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MUMBAI: Cable TV operators in Mumbai have shown their first act of unity against broadcasters when it comes to the issue of carriage fees. The first victim in this: NDTV's three news channels which are switched off in almost all cable networks across the city.

"NDTV has defaulted in carriage fees and the cable operators in Mumbai have blacked out the transmission of NDTV 24X7, NDTV India and NDTV Profit," says Incablenet president Nagesh Chhabria.

A meeting is scheduled next week to take up issues with other broadcasters. "We intend to take collective action against carriage fee defaults and subscription issues. NDTV is the first broadcaster we have acted upon, but others are to follow," says Ravi Singh, an operator who is mobilising the march against defaulting broadcasters.

NDTV Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao had earlier told Indiantelevision.com that the carriage costs were shooting up for broadcasters and needs to be rationalised. Industry estimates put the annual carriage payout made by broadcasters to cable TV networks at over Rs 10 billion.

The three NDTV news channels, however, are available on 7 Star, a multi-system operator in the western suburbs of Mumbai, and Digicable. "We may soon decide to switch off the three NDTV channels. In our JV networks in Mumbai, the channels are off," says a senior executive in Digicable.

7 Star has decided to continue with NDTV as it has switched off the other news channels like Star News, points out Singh.

Faced with an economic downturn, broadcasters have been strategising on how and where to trim costs. One area of prime concern has been the steep rise in carriage fees. Broadcasters have been meeting on this issue, but have yet to stand united due to stiff competition within themselves.

On Monday, the MSO Alliance had initiated discussions in Delhi to stand united in blacklisting broadcasters who default in carriage fee payments.

Source : http://www.indiantelevision.com/headline...nov234.php