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Contrary to the pitched battles that the ICC cricket World Cup witnessed between DTH operators over high definition (HD) coverage of matches, there seems to be a lack of interest amongst them regarding the Indian Premiere League (IPL). Only two DTH operators — Sun Direct and Tata Sky — are broadcasting IPL 4 matches in high definition, while others have shied off, even as the tournament nears the halfway mark.
Operators such as Airtel Digital TV, Dish TV, Reliance Big TV and Videocon will provide standard definition (SD) feed of IPL matches. All DTH operators, except Sun Direct, had bagged the HD broadcast rights for ICC World Cup matches.
Mr Rohit Gupta, President (Network and Sales), Set Max, told Business Line , “At present, there are two operators broadcasting IPL in HD. We are in talks with some more, but nothing has been finalised.”
The total number of DTH subscribers in the country is at present around 31 million in early 2011. Following the ICC World Cup, there is likely to be a substantial rise.
High price
Industry sources, meanwhile, point to the fact that primarily poor response to HD coverage of matches has been the high rates demanded by the broadcasters. Set Max has reportedly asked for around Rs 10 crore from DTH operators.
Mr Gupta refused to comment on the matter.
A DTH operator said on condition of anonymity, “If rates are high then there is no point in subscribing to the feed. We will have to provide the feed at subsidised rates to our subscribers.”
An industry source, meanwhile, added, “An IPL and World Cup are not the same. You cannot have similar pricing for both the tournaments.”
Mr Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV, told Business Line , “As far as Dish TV is concerned, there has been no demand from our subscribers to show IPL matches in HD. As such, we have not purchased HD feed rights.”
Questions sent to Airtel Digital TV and Reliance Big TV elicited no response.
Mr Saurabh Dhoot, director, Videocon Group, in an e-mailed response to the paper, said, “Set Max is a part of all Videocon d2h standard definition and our communication (service) will highlight the availability of SET MAX on our platform.”
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