Two separate and distinct pressure groups have emerged after the digitisation diktat of the government. Thousands of cable operators ? large and small ? have united to demand transparency in financial contracts between broadcasters and multi-service operators (MSOs) before the digitisation rollout.
However, leading broadcasters and organised MSOs, on the other hand, are pushing for time-bound digitisation and accusing small operators of trying to derail the process. Cable operators now want the government and the sector regulator to put in place a system by which all financial contracts and dealings between the broadcasters and MSOs?including details of subscription, carriage, and advertisement revenue ? are available in the public domain on a quarterly basis at least.
The demand is to make all stakeholders in the value chain transparent in their functioning. As reported earlier by FE, operators and MSOs had clashed last week during a government-industry meet to iron out differences in the digitisation roadmap. ?The broadcasters and their distribution agency for pay and free-to-air (FTA) channels should provide detailed information on all commercial arrangements in the specified manner. And either the government or Trai should have it with them,” said a Mumbai-based operator.
Operators are also demanding setting up of a separate cable body with members from local cable associations and smaller MSOs to evolve consensus on several key issues, such as requirement of funding, revenue distribution, tariff, etc, much before the deadline of June 30, 2011, for the four metros set by the government.
According to government records, there are 60,000 cable operators in the country, while only a few dozen MSOs.
Government officials are of the view that the cable operators work on ground and interact with the consumers and, therefore, their voice must be heard. But several leading broadcasting groups and large MSOs maintain that operators are trying to derail or delay the rollout of digital addressable system (DAS) within the laid-out timetable.
Under DAS, all consumers can only access cable television via a digital set-top-box (STB). Therefore, from July 1, any home without a STB will not be able to receive the cable channels. DAS is aiming to bring in transparency in the cable business, which will lead to increase in ARPU and subscription revenue for broadcasters, opening doors for value-added services like broadband-on-cable, video-on-demand, pay-per-view content and even ad-free channels for consumers.
Asked whether small and large independent cable operators are derailing DAS rollout, Vikki Choudhry of Home Cable said: “We are not against introduction of DAS or its implementation, provided the interest of the consumers and the stakeholders is not put to any hardship. Personally, the government should be flexible on DAS implementation and ensure that there is no cable blackout for the consumers.”
Operators are demanding non-encryption of FTA channels, which are greater in number than pay channels, so that consumers continue to get at least FTA channels via STBs. But broadcasters are opposed to this idea. “DAS is meaningless without encrypted channels. Even Doordarshan is set to encrypt its FTA channels. Therefore, all channels, whether pay or FTA, should be encrypted to make DAS a success,” said a senior executive representing a leading broadcaster.