Following a tussle with the Forum of Cable Operators (FCO), owners of the channels suspended operations from April 1. However, subsequent negotiations brought four channels back on the air while Discovery and Animal Planet are yet to resume operations.

FCO holds Discovery Channel responsible for the imbroglio.

"Look, we had a negotiation with the STAR group, AXN and TNT. They really care about the operators especially those operating in areas beyond Greater Calcutta. But Discovery is not bothered at all," he said and added that the situation has been compounded with Discovery unwilling to cooperate with FCO in this case.

According to an operator, FCO or any of its members cannot prevent a subscriber from viewing a channel irrespective of whether he pays for it or not. "When it is switched on by themulti-system operator (MSO) like RPG Netcom or Siti Cable, it goes to everybody. And some subscribers may pay for it and some may not. But, it is not technically possible for us cable operators to entertain only the buyers," he explained.

FCO claims that an operator has to spend Rs 60 for a group of channels while he collects Rs 80 to 125 from a subscriber. Apparently the anomaly lies in the fees charged by channel owners.

"For example, National Geographic, the arch rival of Discovery, wants Rs 2,000 for 1,000 points while Discovery and Animal Planet jointly demand Rs 7.50 a point. It is not possible for all operators, especially for a district operator to bear this prohibitive cost. We may accept Discovery or Animal Planet as pay channels, but the group must think of the rural areas," the operator feels.

Cable operators also feel that they are being treated in a cavalier manner because of the low rating of the eastern region as a whole. Recently, the Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) announced thatonly 33 per cent of the region's viewers have cable connections.