``It's a power game,'' says Mr Vikki Choudhri, Member of the Governing Council of the Cable Operators United Front. This is in sharp contrast to the picture of normalcy that Siti and Star sources are painting.

According to Mr Raveesh Awasthi, CEO of the Zee-owned SitiCable: ``The problem has been resolved and the connectivity to the Star channels has been restored.'' Mr Awasthi took the decision to restore the Star channels in a meeting with a senior Star official on Tuesday. Star, on its part, also claims to be satisfied that its channels are back on the Siti network. According to a Star spokesperson: ``The connections have been put back. That is all that matters.''

However, according to a section of cable operators, the issue is still alive and is actually a struggle for control between Siticable and its joint-venture partners who are also called distributors, or head-ends. ``Siti wants total control over its joint venture partners, in order to derive the benefits of under-declaring the number of subscribers wherever it has a network in the country,'' says Mr Choudhry. At present, it is the JV partner of Siti who is deriving the benefits of under-declaration of the number of subscribers, as it is the JV partner who deals directly with broadcasters such as Star.

Says Mr Rakesh Dutta, member, Cable Operators' United Front: ``The issue cannot be resolved so easily. SitiCable doesn't have the resources to pay Star for the actual number of subscribers.''

Siticable, Star reach truce-but broadcast still under cloud SitiCable, which has approximately 20 to 22 per cent of the cable pie on an all-India basis, mostly works through various JV partners. ``SitiCable is trying to grab as much profit it can from the business by trying to control all its JVs, in order to help improve the financial position of parent company Zee,'' according to Mr Choudhry. A centralised policy is what Siti is now trying to establish, in order to cut out the middlemen and deal directly with all the broadcasters, he adds.

It is believed that the new policy at SitiCable is being defined by a crop of new managers who have recently joined the organisation. Some JV partners or distributors are also considering switching loyalties and join WIN, a rival cable network in which Star has a significant holding.