Pune Cable Operators fail to get stay on TRAI tariff rollout

The Bombay High Court refused to stay the 2017 TV channel tariff order by TRAI in a case filed by the Pune Cable Operators’ Association. The new tariff scheme is scheduled to come into operation from Friday across the country, except in West Bengal. The Pune Cable Operators’ Association tried to get a stay today […]

TRAI TARIFF PLANS: How to deal with higher TV channel prices

With only 36 hours to go for TRAI’s deadline to implement new tariff plans for cable and DTH platforms in India, all DTH providers and most cable users are faced with the dilemma of how to choose the channels and packs they are going to watch in the new regime. The new system was supposed […]

Tata Sky cancels all long-duration packs, yearly plans

Tata Sky, India’s second largest DTH provider, has canceled all the long-duration packs it was offering to consumers and will move the users to monthly packs. This applies to all its users, including those who purchased long-duration packs this week. Many users had got special offers on long-term recharges, such as those that are valid […]

TRAI Rules: D2h adds support for Star channel packs

D2h, the DTH service from Dish TV India Ltd, has added support for several channel packs from Star India, in an apparent deviation from its earlier stance. The DTH operator had, like rival Sun Direct, omitted all channel packs from Star India when it came out with its list of supported broadcaster packs. There have […]

TRAI RULES: Broadcasters announce 300+ channel packs, Star highest at 72, TV18, Zee at 50

An analysis of over 300 channel packs and plans announced by prominent broadcasters like Star, Zee Entertainment, Sony, Sun TV and TV18 under new TRAI tariff rules reveals that Star has the highest number of such packs. The company, which has only 43 pay channels, has managed to create a whopping 72 packs and plans […]

Sun Direct lists new channel packs under TRAI rules, Star plans missing

Sun Direct has become the third DTH service to announce its list of supported channel packs and their prices. As expected none of Star’s channel packs are available on the platform. With this, only Airtel Digital and Tata Sky remain to reveal their channel packs and pricing under the new TRAI rules. As for Sun […]

FULL LIST: 332 pay channels, 500 FTA declared under TRAI plan

With the December 29 deadline for the implementation of the new TRAI rules drawing near, an analysis of the 332 channels that have already declared their prices indicates that Star India is the most expensive, followed by Zee and Sony. Scroll down to see the full list of pay and FTA channels available on most […]

Star, Zee lists new channel prices on website ahead of Dec 29 deadline

Zee Entertainment and Star India, two of India’s biggest broadcasters, have come out with introductory web-pages on the upcoming TRAI tariff change coming into effect on December 29. The prices were already available to DTH and cable companies as part of pro-forma legal agreements. However, the opening of the webpages indicates that these rates are more […]

New TRAI plans could increase cable, DTH prices from Dec 29

TRAI’s tariff order for TV channels was supposed to simplify life for cable and DTH operators and their customers. However, given the recent Madras High Court order and prices announced by broadcasters, the implementation of the order from Dec 29 is likely to raise prices for cable and DTH services in the country. The original […]

New TRAI Tariff for DTH & Cable: List of channels priced Rs 5 or less

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is in the process of enforcing a new tariff scheme for cable and DTH networks in India. The system was supposed to ensure greater consumer choice by making channels available at cheap rates and ridding the networks of junk channels. The new tariff scheme — aimed at dismantling ‘bundling’ […]

DTH customers on long duration packs to get TRAI plans from Dec 29

Subscribers of Direct-to-Home satellite services on all existing plans, including long-duration packs, will be migrated to schemes compliant with TRAI’s tariff order on TV channels from 29 Dec, according to Dish TV, India’s biggest DTH operator. The company said the TRAI rules are applicable to all customers and there is no exemption for any category, […]

Star agrees to share cricket matches with Reliance’s JioTV

Star India has agreed to share the feed of cricket matches involving India with Reliance Jio’s live TV app JioTV. Till now, JioTV users had to install Star’s Hotstar app to watch any of the network’s sports channels. The sharing agreement is valid for five years, said Reliance Jio, without divulging the financial details behind […]

Sun Direct threatens to remove Star India channels from all packs

Sun Direct, the No.1 direct-to-home service in South India, has threatened to remove all channels of India’s largest broadcasting company, Star India, from all its subscription packs from August 1. The channels will continue to be available on the platform, but users will have to purchase the channels individually at prices ranging from Rs 10 […]

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 […]

REVEALED: Upcoming channels from Star India, Zee Entertainment & Sun TV

Trademark filings have given a peek into dozens of upcoming channels planned by broadcasting companies such as Star India, Zee Entertainment and Sun TV. According to trademark filing data made available by Quickcompany.in, Zee Entertainment is planning to launch around a dozen new channels, while Star India is planning around ten new launches and Sun […]

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 […]

Star India’s Hotstar to share content with Airtel’s TV app

Star India’s digital business, Hotstar, will make content available via Bharti Airtel’s TV app. The companies did not clarify if all content on Hotstar will be available or not. Given that it costs Rs 199 per month to access all content on Hotstar, that is unlikely. This is the second tie-up that Hotstar, part of […]

Tata Sky users may lose Star channels in three weeks

Star India, India’s biggest broadcasting company, has threatened to pull out its channels from Tata Sky, India’s biggest distributor of television content. Tata Sky is a joint venture between Tata Group and Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, which also owns Star India. Unlike in case of Star, Fox owns only a minority stake of around […]