Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Today, the rest of India is watching cricket

Sudhish Kamath

But thanks to CAS, Chennai will miss out on India-Pakistan series

CHENNAI: When the first ball of the India-Pakistan cricket match is bowled on Friday morning, the rest of the country will be watching.

But not Chennai, thanks to the politics of the conditional access system (CAS).

Given that the exclusive broadcast rights of the series remain with Ten Sports for the Test series, cable TV homes without a set-top box (STB) will have to be content watching the 90-minute highlights package every day on Doordarshan.

In Chennai, cable TV subscribers will need the Rs. 16 monthly subscription for Ten Sports — but only if they spend about Rs. 4,000 on getting a box, apart from installation charges, that is.

"It is most unfair to the citizens of Chennai," says Shobha Iyer, coordinator of Citizen, Consumer and Civic Action Group. "Prasar Bharati could have made greater efforts to ensure it got the rights to broadcast the matches live. India is a cricket loving country and an India-Pakistan match always evokes a lot of excitement. It is most unfortunate." Apart from the 52,000 homes with STBs, the rest of the estimated 12-lakh cable TV homes in the city will not be able to watch the live telecast. "Those living outside the city are lucky. They get all channels for a flat rate of Rs. 150," laments Karthik, a cricket fan. Some cricket fans have decided they can't do without watching. "We have sold 150 STBs in the last two days. We usually sell 75-80 boxes a month," says Kayal R.S. Elavarasu, president of Tamil Nadu Cable TV Urimaiyalargal Sangam.

"There have been enquiries in the last two days. Some 30 people have bought boxes in the last week. But people are not buying it whole-heartedly. They are buying because they do not have a choice," another cable TV operator admits. "Most people are happy with the basic tier of Tamil channels. So they do not want to pay for the box."

Both SCV and Hathway have rental schemes for STBs apart from outright purchase starting from Rs. 2,500.

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