The Hindu : Front Page : Chief Minister plans attractive new cable regime

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 23, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Chief Minister plans attractive new cable regime

Special Correspondent

Lower charges for subscribers, better terms for cable operators and broadcasters

Viewers in rural areas may have to pay only Rs. 50 a month In small towns, the monthly subscription may be between Rs. 60 and Rs. 70, and in big cities around Rs. 80 Pay channels will now need to negotiate with a single window

CHENNAI: Following the move to take over two major cable television multi-system operators, the Tamil Nadu Government is planning a new cable network regime that will lead to a substantial lowering of subscription charges for television viewers and more attractive terms for ordinary cable operators across the State. According to informed sources, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has worked out a detailed blueprint for the new regime and will unveil her ideas soon.

The new cable network regime in the State envisages that viewers in rural areas might have to pay only Rs. 50 a month to cable TV operators. In small towns, the monthly subscription might be between Rs. 60 and Rs. 70, and in big cities around Rs. 80.

The proposed regime will also offer better terms to cable operators. Currently, they pay 50 per cent of the amount collected from the subscribers to the multi-system operators. This figure might be cut down to just 33.33 per cent.

Pay channels will now need to negotiate with a single window, so to speak, instead of the present practices that involve uncertainty for the viewers as well as the broadcasters.

Informed sources say that the new cable network Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has in mind is designed to please subscribers, cable operators, and broadcasters, including pay channels.

Industry sources add that the Tamil Nadu Government may have yet another idea up its sleeve. Even if its move to take over the major multi-system operators, Sumangali Cable Vision and Hathway, meets with political or legal obstacles, nothing will prevent it from launching its own Statewide cable TV network that can bring about a big shift in cable operations on the ground. The model could be Asianet's cabling of Kerala through a 10-year agreement with the Kerala State Electricity Board.

This involved paying Rs. 10 a year per pole to wire the whole State.

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