Four pay channels — Star Utsav, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sony Pal — are likely to go ‘free to air’ for two months from today. These channels had earlier been put in a ‘promotional scheme’ while remaining pay channels, with their prices slashed from Rs 1-2/month to Rs 0. This was intended to increase […]
In what has to come as a major disappointment to big cable operators in the country, the Kerala High Court has given an interim green signal for TRAI to apply nearly all the provisions of the tariff order as it continues to hear the case. Earlier, it had asked TRAI not to take any punitive […]
Reliance Jio, the country’s largest telecom operator by size, said attempts to increase telecom tariffs have failed due to competitive actions by rivals, and asked TRAI to intervene to raise data prices. Traditionally, it is Jio’s rivals such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea which make such allegations. Responding to a TRAI consultation paper on […]
Vodafone Idea, an operator that is struggling to stay afloat, seems to have finally decided to abandon its long-held strategy of allowing Reliance Jio to undercut it on prices and lure away its customers. For the last four years, Vodafone and Idea always allowed Jio to price its offerings lower, thus helping the Mukesh Ambani […]
Airtel Digital, one of the top television channel distributors in India, has partially complied with TRAI’s tariff order as amended on January 1 this year. The company has complied with some provisions of the rules, such as reducing the network charge for up to 200 channels, while compliance with other parts of the tariff order […]
Most cable and DTH operators in India have failed to comply with TRAI’s tariff order issued that came into effect today in perhaps the first such incident in the industry’s history. As of today, the amended provisions of the Telecom Services Tariff Order, notified two months ago, have come into place. However, as of 8 […]
Tata Sky, the DTH service from the Tata Group, has become the first DTH platform to put into effect the amended TRAI tariff order, with only hours to go before the March 1 deadline. Other DTH operators are likely to follow suit in the next few hours. NCF REDUCED The first step towards implementing the […]
With the Bombay High Court giving no specific direction or stay on the implementation of the amended TRAI tariff order, the country is all set to see the introduction of the second version of the tariff order on Sunday. Over the past three days, the Bombay High Court had been holding a marathon hearing on […]
The Indian broadcast and telecom regulator TRAI has refused to postpone the implementation of the amended tariff order on television channel pricing in court. The Bombay High Court had, on Wednesday, asked TRAI to state whether it was open to pushing back the date for the implementation of the amended tariff order by one month […]
Siti Networks, the cable TV arm of the Zee Essel Group, has become the first major distribution platform to notify new cable TV prices that will come into effect from Sunday under TRAI’s revised tariff plan. The company has put up a declaration on its website in which it has updated the number of channels […]
Broadcast regulator TRAI has sent a letter to all broadcasters, cable and DTH firms reminding them to take “preparatory activities” ahead of regulatory and pricing changes from March 1. From that day, no channel priced above Rs 12 will be allowed to be sold as part of a package. Cable and DTH firms will also […]
The recent changes made to the TV channel pricing rules of India by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to the tariff order on January 1 are targeted at dealing with the problems faced by the consumer and balancing the interests of various industry participants, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said today. The […]
India’s major cable and DTH companies, such as Tata Sky, Airtel Digital, Dish TV, Hathway and GTPL, are likely to unveil new plans and TV channel packs today under TRAI’s amended tariff order. According to the amended tariff order — which has not been stayed by any court so far — all distribution platforms (cable […]
The Bombay High Court has not granted any stay on TRAI’s modified tariff order for TV channels that is scheduled to come into effect from March 1. Instead, the bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and RI Chagla posted the matter for February 12 and 13. This is the third time that broadcasters have had to […]
The Bombay High Court did not grant any interim stay on the TRAI’s amendments to last year’s tariff order at the second day of hearing on the matter, making it even more likely that broadcasters will be forced to cut their channel prices soon. Instead of issuing a stay, the High Court has posted the […]
Zee Entertainment, the second-biggest broadcasting company in India, continued to bleed under the combined impact of a slowing economy and the company’s decision to increase channel prices under the new TRAI tariff order. While the slowdown in the economy has resulted in companies cutting down on advertising, this has been exacerbated by Zee’s decision to […]
Mavis Satcom, which operates channels under the Jaya TV banner, has become the first broadcasting company to comply with regulator TRAI’s order to publish updated channel prices by end of day today. The company published prices of four channels and one bouquet. The channel prices remain unchanged and range from Rs 0.50 for Jaya Plus […]
The Bombay High Court did not issue a stay on the implementation of the amended TV channel tariff order issued by TRAI on News Year’s day, but kept the possibility open when it takes up the case again on January 22. Broadcasters, under the aegis of Indian Broadcasting Foundation, had approached the Bombay High Court […]
Even as the channel owners today took TRAI to the courts over changes to channel pricing rules, the regulator has issued a statement responding to their concerns. Broadly, it said the latest changes were required to overcome ‘teething problems’ associated with such a radical shift to a choice-oriented television distribution regime, but also criticized some […]
With just two days remaining for a deadline to file amended TV channel tariffs, a case filed by India’s big broadcasters in the Bombay High Court has been listed for hearing tomorrow in front of Justice SC Dharmadhikari. Broadcasters, including Star India, Zee Entertainment, Sony Networks and others, have come together under the banner of […]
