Watching uninterrupted TV content may soon become a reality in India. This is good news for the consumers but not for the broadcasters. Steps initiated by Trai, also the broadcast sector regulator, mean that now broadcasters will have to depend solely on subscription revenue. They will have to offer high-quality content so that viewers pay big bucks for it. But can this work in India? Yes and no.

Our cable and satellite industry that touches around 90 million homes is far from the mature cable markets of the US, Canada, the UK and Japan. While ARPU in the developed markets ranges from $35-40 per month, it is not even $4 in India. This is because cable is primarily consumed in a non-addressable market via analogue systems. Simply put, there is a mismatch between the monies paid by the subscribers and the same reported by broadcasters and cable companies. The Indian cable and satellite industry, based on subscription revenue, is pegged at around Rs 20,000 crore annually. However, the reported subscription revenue of broadcasters does not exceed Rs 3,000 crore in a full year. In such a scenario, operating ad-free channels can be suicidal for many broadcasters.

But there are ways of launching such channels successfully. The DTH platform, which is both digital and addressable, offers a solution. BBC Entertainment and Topper available on Tata Sky as well as certain religious channels are some examples. However, in the absence of any regulations for ad-free channels, many broadcasters are forced to pay ?carriage fees? to the operators to carry them. If Trai is serious about this concept, it should put in place a tariff-free scenario for ad-free channels for DTH and IPTV platforms. Also, Trai should give a minimum window for such broadcasters by making them must-carry for, say, 3-6 months?after taking in hefty fees that will repel non-serious players. A definite window for such channels will give consumers enough time to sample the content. Once made ad-free, such channels will be able to command prices depending on the pull-factor from masses, say, Rs 100 per month per channel. The cable industry is in a mess today; it can do with more transparency.

ashish.sinha@expressindia.com