The Hindu Business Line : Viewers must have choice of channels, says panel

THE Task Force on Conditional Access constituted under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has submitted its report on issues pertaining to transparency, conditional access and addressibility in the cable TV sector.

According to informed sources, the I&B Ministry is looking into the recommendations that have been made and is understood to be in favour of addressibility in the cable TV sector. In other words, it is widely felt that cable TV viewers must address by choice the channels they wish to view if they are required to pay for it.

The sources told Business Line that the Task Force on Conditional Access that was formed three months ago comprised broadcasters, cable operators and consumer forums. It has been acknowledged that pay channels must be accessed through set top boxes. In the basic tier, cable operators must have the freedom to offer a judicious mix of music, news, sports and entertainment channels. Customers would be charged Rs 5 per channel barring channels of Doordarshan.

Settling the issue of addressibility would necessitate using set top boxes and involves subscription management, allocation of identification codes, billing and maintaining 24-hour call centres.

However, it has been alleged that some channel broadcasters have opposed the introduction of addressibility, as it would end their monopolies. These broadcasters have, however, contended that cable operators do not declare the correct subscriber base.

The task force has opined that viewers must have the freedom to choose the channel they wish to view if they are made to pay for it. In this regard, unpopular channels must not be allowed to bundle with popular channels of the same broadcaster. "The Indian viewer has the capacity to pay, but it is only fair that he is made to pay for something he wants to watch," the sources said.

The report has also addressed issues such as whether advertisements shall be allowed in pay channels and, if so, whether cable operators should be allowed to block such advertisements and air their own advertisements instead.

Cable television in the country is effectively in the 12th year of its operations and accounts for a business of Rs 5,000 crore a year. It has already penetrated 37 million homes out of the 75 million homes across the country that is equipped with television sets. In view of the profound influence of the visual media, it is felt that the sector should be regulated.

Besides outlining norms and guidelines, the regulation should also extend to pay channel rates and settlement costs between broadcasters and cable operators.

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