DTH, cable subscribers complain of being moved to ‘junk’ plans ahead of TRAI deadline

With the telecom and media regulator asking for daily reports from DTH and cable players on migration of consumers to TRAI-compliant plans ahead of the Jan 31 deadline, many consumers have complained of being moved to unwanted packs by their providers. Under TRAI Tariff Order 2017, all cable and DTH subscribers have to be moved […]

TRAI List: Tata Sky leads with 92 HD Channels; Airtel Digital, Sun Direct edge out Dish & D2h

India’s major DTH broadcasters have declared their channel lists and prices under TRAI’s new tariff rules, and an analysis of the same reveals that Tata Sky continues to be undisputed king of HD Channels in India, followed closely by Airtel Digital and Sun Direct. Dish TV and D2h, meanwhile, have slightly less comprehensive lists of […]

Airtel Digital DTH reveals new channel prices under TRAI rule

Airtel Digital has become the latest DTH operator to update its channel prices according to the new TRAI rules. With this, practically all DTH and bigger cable companies except two have come out with new plans and prices to comply with TRAI’s tariff order issued in July this year. Even as Airtel Digital updated the […]

Tata Sky, Sun Direct miss TRAI deadline for new channel packs

India’s largest DTH operator Tata Sky and smaller rival Sun Direct have missed TRAI’s deadline to introduce new, more transparent channel prices to their subscribers from midnight. Even as other cable and DTH players, like Airtel Digital, Dish TV, D2h, Hathway, Den Networks, Siti Cable and GTPL started displaying the new prices for TV channels, […]

All cable, DTH firms to unveil new channel packs today

All cable and DTH players, including Dish TV, D2h, Tata Sky, Hathway, Den Networks, Airtel Digital and Sun Direct, have been directed to reveal their new TV channel packs and prices by end of day today. In an update posted on TRAI’s website on Friday, the regulator reminded cable and DTH companies that they must […]

Sun Direct unveils India’s cheapest HD packs at Rs 2.50 per channel

Sun Direct, the satellite TV service from Sun TV group, has started offering the cheapest high-definition channel packages in India. The DTH service, which used to offer HD channels only as part of ‘base packs’ that came with a large number of standard-definition channels, has now started offering smaller packs comprising only HD channels. The […]

Airtel Digital to continue HD channel additions, says no spectrum constraint

Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal said his company’s DTH service, Airtel Digital, will continue adding new HD channels and was not facing any capacity constraints in this regard. Addressing investor queries after the company’s quarterly results announcement, Vittal said Airtel Digital has around 75 HD channels as of now. “We will be beefing up HD […]

Star India issues disconnection notice to Videocon D2h

Star India, which recently won the rights to the Indian Premier League by offering to pay a whopping Rs 16,348 cr over five years, has issued a disconnection notice to Videocon D2h DTH service. This follows a similar warning issued to users of Tata Sky and Airtel Digital — India’s biggest TV content distributors by […]

Star India threatens Airtel Digital with complete disconnection of channels

Taking the fight up a notch, Star India, the biggest television broadcaster in the country, has threatened to disconnect all its 56 channels currently aired by Airtel Digital, India’s second-biggest DTH network. “Dear Airtel Digital customer, your favorite channel.. along with all 56 channels in Star India bouquet is likely to be disconnected on Airtel […]

Bharti’s Airtel Digital removes all Star India channels from its packs

Even as Airtel Digital and Star India are trying to scuttle a new TRAI law aimed at unraveling TV channel bundles, the DTH operator has removed all Star channels from its various bundles and packages due to a disagreement over pricing. UPDATE: Star is now threatening to stop providing the signals altogether. Star India threatens […]

Verdict expected next week in Star India vs TRAI bundling case

The verdict in the crucial case filed by Star India against the sector regulator’s move to control a-la-carte pricing of television channels in India is expected to be delivered next week, a key industry official said. “The judgment has been reserved by the Madras High Court. There has been a representation by the Government, TRAI […]

Sun Direct becomes first DTH in India to start HEVC transmission

Sun Direct, a unit of Sun TV, has become the first DTH or cable operator to start transmission using next-generation HEVC compression technology in India. The company has introduced two HEVC — short for high-efficiency video codec — channels on its GSAT-15 beams. HEVC, also known as H.265, requires only 55%-60% of the bandwidth compared […]

Tata Sky to add five more HD channels to take total to 86

Tata Sky, the Indian DTH operator with the highest amount of spectrum and channels, will add five more HD channels to take the total high-definition offerings on the platform to 86. The new channels being added tomorrow are DSports, MTV HD+, Surya (Malayalam), Udaya (Kannada) and Gemini Movies (Telugu). With 86 HD channels, the operator […]

Zee Entertainment slashes channel prices ahead of TRAI regulation

Zee Entertainment, one of the four big broadcasting groups of India, has become the first player to bring its channel prices in line with an upcoming regulation issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Zee’s new tariff card prices its channels a fraction of what they are being sold for in the market at […]

Airtel Digital increases HD channels to take on Tata Sky

Airtel Digital has bounced back into reckoning in fast growing high-definition DTH market by adding capacity from the newly launched SES-9 satellite and could emerge a strong challenger to Tata Sky in coming days. The SES-9 satellite was launched last year and new transponders were made available to Airtel earlier this year. Over the last several […]

Working Reliance Jio ‘DTH’ video uploaded by Gujarat-based test user

A video of a working Reliance Jio ‘DTH’ TV has been leaked by a Gujarat-based Youtube user, even as Airtel unveiled its own ‘Internet TV’ today. The Youtube user demonstrates a working set-top-box, complete with HD channels and various other features. Even though the uploader calls it Jio DTH, there is nothing in the video […]

Airtel Digital launches first-of-its-kind Android set-top-box with advanced features

Airtel Digital TV launched what it called India’s first hybrid set-top-box with built-in Android and a host of advanced gaming and Internet functions at a price of Rs 4999. Customers can also get one year of free subscription by paying Rs 3,000 extra. It will be available online exclusively on Amazon India starting April 12, […]

With new tech, Sun Direct launches India’s cheapest HD packs

Sun Direct, the DTH service from Sun Network, has unveiled three new HD subscription plans that make it the cheapest provider of HD TV services in India. The plans are priced at Rs 51, 101 and 150, including taxes. The cheapest pack provides 23 HD channels — with the exact composition depending on the language […]