Well, Sony BBC Earth is also part Happy India (A) and Platinum version of this pack. I would certainly not agree that individual price of this channel is on higher side but people r not opting for Sony Bouquet as for most it comes at end in their priority list, they prefer chosing only Sony or Max as standalone basis. There r many opting for mid level operator bouquet which again does not include Sony BBC Earth as operators (case be airtel) r including Rs. 36 version of Happy India Pack in their customised version. This is why i maintain Sony needs to package / market its offering properly to gain ratings.
Coming to English GEC or Movies, well they r again not overpriced if chosen as respective bouquet and pricing also depends upon segment concerned channel caters to. Even acquisition cost has climbed up drastically over last decade hence one cannot say that content comes cheap to broadcaster, monetizing is challenge as ad revenues have also dried up due to economy conditions. We should be willing to pay for quality stuff, comparison to OTT cannot be done bcoz business dynamics r completely different, all broadcasters can do is fine tune in each aspect to compete with other mediums.
Zee can't even consider launching classic english movie channel as it hardly has viewership and will fall flat. Tried many times by others too but failed miserably. All these niche categories can thrive only thru subscription revenue mode and people r reluctant to shell out money. Also Zee will not bring Zindagi or Pak content back on TV bcoz of reasons we all r well aware of