Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

STAR group sorts out deal with Dish TV

Karthik Subramanian

Starts beaming programmes

CHENNAI: After a bitter battle of sorts, STAR group of channels has finally sorted out its deal with Dish TV, the country's first private direct-to-home services, and started beaming their channels on the DTH platform. And that is great news for TV buffs.

STAR's 14 channels, including STAR Movies, STAR Plus, National Geographic and History Channel, have started beaming on Dish TV homes since Saturday.

The STAR bouquet's arrival on Dish TV seemed imminent when the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) recently ordered STAR to beam their bouquet at a price of Rs.27, at half the rate it was available for cable operators, on the Dish TV platform.

However, STAR decided to challenge the pricing in the Supreme Court. Surprisingly STAR decided to patch up with Dish TV a day before the hearing came up in the Supreme Court. The apex court itself ruled that it would not pass any interim order on the TDSAT ruling.

So the good news for Dish TV subscribers now is that almost all the channels are available on the provider's network. Even Sony-Discovery's "One Alliance" bouquet of channels, featuring among other channels Discovery TV, Sony, SET Max and Animal Planet, have been a late entrant into DTH platform, signing a deal only this June.

It should also come as a breather for Dish TV ahead of the launch of TATA Sky DTH service, expected very soon. The private DTH operator has reportedly planned a major marketing blitz that is likely to take off next week.

The developments of course have a special bearing on Chennai, which is likely to be the first target on the list of DTH service providers since it is the only city that has adopted conditional access system. As one Dish TV distributor put it: "The fun has only just begun." Competitive pricing will be the name of the game for pay-channels and some long-pending demands will finally be met. More details about Dish TV on www.dishtvindia.in. The website also has a `dealer locator' service.

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