The Hindu Business Line : Tata Sky, Sun settle channel sharing row

New Delhi, Aug. 20 The Direct to Home (DTH) service provider Tata Sky and Sun Network have resolved their more-than-a-year-old dispute over pricing of channels.

With 15 of Sun Network’s channels in its portfolio, Tata Sky will be far more attractive to its potential customers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Recently, at an event organised to celebrate its acquisition of a million subscribers, the company’s MD and CEO, MrVikram Kaushik, had said, “We could have done much better if we had approval to carry key language channels.”

The Sun Network, which has channels in all four Southern languages, had earlier insisted that the DTH operator carry all its 20 channels.

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had, in an interim order, asked Sun TV to provide all its channels on a-la-carte basis to Tata Sky at 50 per cent of its declared cable tariff. The broadcaster had sought a stay order from the Madras High Court in the matter in April.

Legal counsels representing the two parties today requested TDSAT, which was hearing the matter, to dispose of the matter since an out-of-court settlement had been reached. When contacted, Tata Sky declined to comment on the compromise price reached between the two parties.

In a short e-mailed statement Tata Sky said, “We have reached an agreement with Sun TV and will be showing 15 of its channels on our platform soon.

“The pricing and launch date of the channels will be announced shortly.”

The Sun TV Network is finalising its plans for the launch of its DTH service and is expected to make an announcement soon.

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