NEW DELHi :  STAR TV india is all set to approach the Supreme Court against the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order asking it to share its two-channel bouquets comprising 14 channels to ZEE-group’s Dish TV, india’s first direct-to-home service.
The main bone of contention for STAR pertains to two specific points. One, on the pricing of its channel bouquet, and two, on the absence of minimum guarantee clause in the TDSAT order, informed sources told FE. STAR had pleaded that channels must be shared only with those platforms that have a minimum of five lakh subscribers. “it appears to us that there may be some specific areas within the judgment that will require further clarification. Our intention is to seek clarification on these areas at the earliest opportunity and make a response accordingly,” Star officials said while responding to the order.
TDSAT in its order said that as DTH is an addressable system; the revenue loss is minimal. TDSAT directed STAR to provide its channels to Dish TV at Rs 27, which is half the rate it charges from cable operators. “Both, on pricing of its channels and the minimum guarantee clause, STAR is likely to ask for attention of the Supreme Court,” sources added. The TDSAT order, if un-challenged, will have a far-reaching impact on all future addressable systems of broadcast, including the conditional access system (CAS) and iPTV. The tribunal has based the pricing of bouquets stating that under addressable systems like DTH, “exact number of subscribers are transparently known and paid for.”
“in all future addressable systems like CAS or iPTV, the pricing for bouquet per subscriber will go down by 50% with everyone quoting this particular TDSAT order as a reference case. This will have a bearing on leading broadcasters like Star, Sony and Zee, as their current business negotiations are on the strength of their share in cable and satellite business,” sources added. While highlighting STAR india’s plea on commercial negotiations with ZEE, TDSAT pointed out that Star had itself proposed a 75% reduction in rates of cable as a “rational and fair approach” since there is under-declaration in the cable platform.