Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Dec 17, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Dec 17, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Radio/TV Variety - Entertainment & Leisure Indian win may boost demand for set-top boxes in Chennai Sriram Srinivasan
Chennai , Dec. 16 THE events of the last two days have improved the fortunes of Chennai's multi-system operators (MSOs), who form the link between television channels and cable operators. On Monday, parts of Delhi embraced the Conditional Access System (CAS), barely a fortnight after the Delhi High Court removed roadblocks to its implementation. And on Tuesday, the Indian cricket team's sensational win over Australia has raised hopes of an increased offtake of set-top boxes or decoders in the near future. Delhi's acceptance of CAS enables proponents of the new broadcasting policy — MSOs included — to argue that CAS is not merely Chennai-centric. In fact, petitioners seeking a stay on CAS in Chennai had argued a couple of months ago that the city's television viewers were being unfairly treated over the rest, said a source. Then, the Madras High Court, hearing the case, had asked the Government why CAS was not being implemented in other metros too, as had been planned. A spokesman of Hathway, a MSO in Chennai city, reckons the development has provided "more clarity" to the issue, dispelling doubts about the continuation of system. He is confident that the Indian team's good showing on Tuesday would spur the cricket-crazy populace into opting for decoders, as more cricket is to follow. In addition to two more matches in the test series against Australia, India plays a `triangular' series and then travels to Pakistan for a three test and seven one-day match cricket series. Only the pay channels, ESPN and Ten Sports, hold exclusive rights to telecast the games. Hathway, which claims to have sold/rented out 6,000 set-top boxes in Chennai, estimates the number of television homes with decoders in the city to be 20,000. A SCV spokesman, the second MSO in Chennai city, refused to disclose numbers but added the offtake was encouraging. He, however, sounded cautious about future demand.
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