TV18 revises bouquet composition as FYI TV18 shuts down and Rishtey Cineplex turns into a Pay channel

TV18 Broadcast Limited has revised the composition of its bouquets following the intimation of shutdown of FYI TV18 and FYI TV18 HD from 8th July along with Rishtey Cineplex turning into a Pay channel from FTA channel on the same date. This however will not be affecting you in the short term, as the revision of composition of bouquets has been done to the new Reference Interconnect Offer notified by Indiacast Media in January 2020.

For the unknown, Star India, TV18, Zee Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Network India had in January 2020 released new Reference Interconnect Offers (RIOs) in response to the broadcasting watchdog TRAI’s Tariff Amendment Order 2020. Discovery Communications later followed in suit releasing its new Reference Interconnect Offer.

All the new RIOs had a considerable price revision on the upper side of the scale, while simultaneously revamping the bouquet offerings with discontinuation and launch of many bouquets.

However, DTH and MSO operators continue to be on the RIO versions dating back to 2019 with the new RIO implementation seemingly in status quo due to the impasse over NTO 2.0 and the partial implementation of NTO 2.0 by DTH operators. As such, all broadcasters have been extending their old subscription agreements with DPOs which were set to expire on January 31, 2020 on a monthly basis.

TV18 has now dropped the soon to be shutdown FYI TV18 and FYI TV18 HD from its bouquets in the new RIO. Rishtey Cineplex has been inculcated in most of the bouquets instead of FYI TV18 and FYI TV18 HD. The pricing remains the same. That said, this will not be affecting the TV viewers any time soon.

However, whether TV18 adjusts the existing bouquet prices due to the shut down of FYI TV18 and FYI TV18 HD remains unknown. The same is likely to happen since SPNI had to do the same in line with regulatory rules. However, the price revision will more or less be negligible with FYI TV18 priced at Rs 0.25 whereas FYI TV18 HD is priced at Rs 1.

At best, you would see SD bouquets getting a Rs 0.1 reduction and HD bouquets getting a reduction of around Rs 0.5-0.7 given the bouquets carried FYI TV18 or FYI TV18 HD.

DreamDTH has reached out to Indiacast Media for a clarification on the impact on existing bouquet pricing. We will update this space as and when Indiacast responds back.

In short, Rishtey Cineplex has replaced FYI TV18 in 34 SD Colors Wala bouquets, while it has replaced FYI TV18 HD in 34 HD Colors Wala bouquets. Rishtey Cineplex is inculcated in 68 bouquets of 70 Colors Wala bouquets on TV18 offerings. This of course is not implemented and won’t be coming anytime sooner unless NTO 2.0 is struck down. You will need to subscribe Rishtey Cineplex on an a-la-carte basis until then.