The Hindu Business Line : CASe of a different trap

BROADCASTERS and multi-system operators (MSOs), who act as a link between the former and the television viewers, always seem to have differences over payment, more so during a big event or programme.

Jog your memory, and you will remember how you weren't able to watch an important cricket match or event, in spite of having the right to do so. So, what made the nearly two-week absence of ESPN-Star Sports from the Hathway platform in Chennai different?

It was for the first time that a conditional access system-enabled population was being forced to bear the burden of a broadcaster-MSO problem. So, imagine the plight of a football freak (yes, there are many even in Chennai!) shelling out nearly Rs 5,000 for a set-top box, in order to watch Euro Cup football on ESPN, only to encounter a blank screen, thanks to the MSO-broadcaster sparring.

A court ruling, eventually, seems to have set things right but the bottom line is that transparency, which CAS promised to bring in, is still a far cry.

CAS was supposed to solve the problem of under-declaration by MSOs and prevent inconvenience to customers by shielding them against arbitrary price hikes, says an industry source.

The inconvenience has only taken another avatar. Even the absence of price hikes has not been a direct result of CAS, but one which has been enabled by a notification issued (in January) by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, also the regulator for the industry, he says.

Hathway, in a press release issued last week, claimed that it has "sent cheques for all amounts including the dues for the month of June 2004 as per the agreement but ESPN-Star Sports channels have refused to accept the cheques." Its officials claim the system is foolproof. But there seems to be no guarantee that such incidents might not recur.

The issue may have hit set-top box offtake, which was expected to be quite substantial in this season of big sports events.

While Hathway was struggling to keep its subscribers from returning the boxes during the time of ESPN's absence, SCV, the leader in the city, has been selling 80-90 boxes a day, said an official of the company.

SCV's rent scheme involves upfront payment of 12 months' rent; he says it won't be viable for the organisation, otherwise.

According to a cable operator, enquiries from customers have been encouraging but they don't translate into sales. Hathway has a low-priced rent scheme but the organisation hardly controls 10 per cent of the city's cable distribution network for it to make an impact.

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