Three DTH players pull plug on ESPN HD, Star Cricket HD

[Gssran]

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

 

[Devesh]

ESPN STAR broadcaster what they doing it is india not america, 142 and 120 for a single channel is too much.

 

[Gssran]

Now it's clear that it's fault of ESPNSTAR not Airtel or Dishtv.

 

[suri]

my side this is a good decision.....142 rupees is too much....

 

[SUNIEL]

I think Airtel does not have any space problem, so they can put it as an ala cart basis. And clearly told that this is ala cart price, from broadcaster. Who want choose this, atleast for 1 yr. For important series end.

 

[Vadirocks]

ESS Have Invested Huge Money And Have Good Series In Hand And They Are Demanding,

As Sbhopale Bro Said They Can Make It As Aa-La-Karte

 

[SUNIEL]

Even Tata sky is doing same with ten's channels. Why cant Airtel, star also know the importance of ind pak series.

 

[Vadirocks]

As I Knew The Demand For HD Version Increasing Day By Day - So Those Are Interested Will Pay For It

 

[Devesh]

As I Knew The Demand For HD Version Increasing Day By Day - So Those Are Interested Will Pay For It

yes you are right bro

 

[srpati10]

Here the real loser will be viewers of Airtel Digital TV only, as Sun TV and Dish TV were not carrying both ESPN & Star Cricket HD. Also the price increased is exorbitantly high. But how could other DTH players like Tata Sky, Videocon d2h & Reliance are able to carry the channels, despite such steep hike in subscription price. Are they subsidising the price and paying from their own pocket, just not to loose the subscribers. Also, whenever any price increase is there, why it is only Airtel Digital TV, which reacts first and pulls out channels and other DTH players are not affected. I think Airtel does not have a good marketing team, which could negotiate properly.