Gssran
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NEW DELHI: The country's
top direct-to-home (DTH)
players Airtel Digital, Sun TV
and Dish TV have pulled the
plug on ESPN HD and Star
Cricket HD just before the start of the much-anticipated India-
Pakistan series due to a sudden
hike in tariffs by the
broadcaster. There are almost
a million high-definition (HD)
subscribers on DTH in India out of a total market of 50
million. A DTH operator told TOI that
ESPN HD, which used to cost
Rs 40 per month, is now being
priced at Rs 142 monthly, while
customers who earlier paid Rs
40 for Star Cricket HD will now have to pay Rs 120 monthly.
This hike they said is too steep
for them to pass on to their
subscribers. However, Tata
Sky, Videocon D2H and
Reliance Big TV will continue telecasting the HD versions of
the sports channels. The India-
Pakistan series starts on
December 25 and has attracted
huge advertiser interest with
ESPN expected to rake in around Rs 120 crore. Salil Kapoor, Dish TV CEO,
told TOI, "This sort of increase
before the start of such a series
is not justified and we have
decided to not carry these
channels on the HD platform. Broadcasters need to be more
sensitive about pricing
although we are still hoping
some sort of a solution can be
achieved before the series
starts." He added the adoption and growth of HD in India will
be impacted with this kind of
insensitive pricing by
broadcasters. Dish TV has the highest
number of DTH subscribers in
India at around 14 million,
while Airtel DTH has 7.5
million registered users. HD
has been a growing segment for all DTH operators. A
spokesperson for Airtel DTH
also confirmed that they will
not be telecasting the HD
version of ESPN and Star
Cricket. However, media planners said
advertisers won't be impacted
in a big way as they do not pay
separately for being on HD
channels. "Brands are not paying a
premium for being seen on HD
— it comes in the whole
package deal. So it does not
impact the advertisers at the
moment. It actually hurts the DTH operators more to not
carry these channels," said
Basabdutta Chowdhury, chief
executive of Platinum Media, a
division of Madison Media.
Read full story here :
Three DTH players pull plug on ESPN HD, Star Cricket HD - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site
top direct-to-home (DTH)
players Airtel Digital, Sun TV
and Dish TV have pulled the
plug on ESPN HD and Star
Cricket HD just before the start of the much-anticipated India-
Pakistan series due to a sudden
hike in tariffs by the
broadcaster. There are almost
a million high-definition (HD)
subscribers on DTH in India out of a total market of 50
million. A DTH operator told TOI that
ESPN HD, which used to cost
Rs 40 per month, is now being
priced at Rs 142 monthly, while
customers who earlier paid Rs
40 for Star Cricket HD will now have to pay Rs 120 monthly.
This hike they said is too steep
for them to pass on to their
subscribers. However, Tata
Sky, Videocon D2H and
Reliance Big TV will continue telecasting the HD versions of
the sports channels. The India-
Pakistan series starts on
December 25 and has attracted
huge advertiser interest with
ESPN expected to rake in around Rs 120 crore. Salil Kapoor, Dish TV CEO,
told TOI, "This sort of increase
before the start of such a series
is not justified and we have
decided to not carry these
channels on the HD platform. Broadcasters need to be more
sensitive about pricing
although we are still hoping
some sort of a solution can be
achieved before the series
starts." He added the adoption and growth of HD in India will
be impacted with this kind of
insensitive pricing by
broadcasters. Dish TV has the highest
number of DTH subscribers in
India at around 14 million,
while Airtel DTH has 7.5
million registered users. HD
has been a growing segment for all DTH operators. A
spokesperson for Airtel DTH
also confirmed that they will
not be telecasting the HD
version of ESPN and Star
Cricket. However, media planners said
advertisers won't be impacted
in a big way as they do not pay
separately for being on HD
channels. "Brands are not paying a
premium for being seen on HD
— it comes in the whole
package deal. So it does not
impact the advertisers at the
moment. It actually hurts the DTH operators more to not
carry these channels," said
Basabdutta Chowdhury, chief
executive of Platinum Media, a
division of Madison Media.
Read full story here :
Three DTH players pull plug on ESPN HD, Star Cricket HD - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site