KOLKATA: Two hikes in two months. And a third hike hanging in balance. That's what is in store for cable television households. While the November cable bill will be substantially higher than that of October, the December bill will be steeper still.
And the January bill may go up further if multi-system operators decide to pass the 12.5% hike announced by broadcasters in January 2015 to subscribers.
And that's not just that. Even as the cable bill escalates, the channel count in packages has been whittled down. The channel count has actually halved in the premium pack with the likes of Star Sports1 and Star Sports2 taken off. Subscribers have to either forgo the channels of choice if they do not figure in the package or fork out a hefty premium to view them.
With broadcaster Star India introducing the a la carte menu from November 11, operators have decided to raise two bills for the hike month to avoid any confusion among consumers: one for the first 10 days of November at the earlier rate and another for the rest of the month at the enhanced rate to avoid confusion.
"The pre-tax price of packages has increased across the board with the base pack up from Rs 180 to Rs 205; mid pack up from Rs 230 to Rs 265 and premium pack up from Rs 280 to Rs 325. While the former rates will be applicable for the first 10 days of November, the latter will be charged for the remaining 20 days of the month. From December though, the revised charge will be applicable for the entire month," explained an official from multi-system operator Manthan.
There is a prospect of a third hike in January with broadcasters such as Star India, Zee and Sony increasing the rate by 12.5% as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) directive. While multi-system operators had earlier decided to hike the package price in January when the increased rate to broadcasters came into effect, they are now undecided having just revised prices. The system operators are also aware that if Zee and Sony follow Star and also go a la carte, yet another price revision could be on the cards.
"We were anticipating Zee and Sony to go the Star way in February. But since neither have begun any negotiation, they may have decided to wait and watch how Star's revenue is impacted in the short-term. However, what is for sure is that if there is another hike, the price difference between cable and DTH will disappear, encouraging many to migrate unless DTH prices are revised," said another operator.
There is a difference that has happened in content as well. Prior to November 11, all 30 Star India channels were available in the premium pack. That has now been whittled down to 14. Now, the base pack has Star Plus, Star Jalsha, Star Gold, Channel V and Nat Geo. There are no sports channels from the Star India network in this pack. In the mid-pack, two channels are added: Star Jalsha Movies and Star Sports3. In the premium pack, English movie channels Star Movies, Star Movies Action, Movies OK, Star World, FX and Star Sports 4 are added.
While most of the missing channels are niche and will not affect the average viewer in Kolkata unless it is a Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada or Marathi household, two passionate segments of viewers, both in high-income group households subscribing to the premium pack, will feel shortchanged. The first is sports lovers who want to follow the entire range of sporting events, including F1 and enjoy listening to cricket commentary in English and the other is those who love English entertainment and infotainment channels.
To subscribe to channels beyond the package, viewers have to shell out nearly twice the channel's retail price. Thus the missing sports channels — Star Sports1 and Star Sports2 — cost Rs 35 each while Fox Crime and Nat Geo Wild will cost Rs 15 each.
However, system operators don't seem too bothered by the few who have different preference.
Brace for steeper cable bills from January - The Times of India
And the January bill may go up further if multi-system operators decide to pass the 12.5% hike announced by broadcasters in January 2015 to subscribers.
And that's not just that. Even as the cable bill escalates, the channel count in packages has been whittled down. The channel count has actually halved in the premium pack with the likes of Star Sports1 and Star Sports2 taken off. Subscribers have to either forgo the channels of choice if they do not figure in the package or fork out a hefty premium to view them.
With broadcaster Star India introducing the a la carte menu from November 11, operators have decided to raise two bills for the hike month to avoid any confusion among consumers: one for the first 10 days of November at the earlier rate and another for the rest of the month at the enhanced rate to avoid confusion.
"The pre-tax price of packages has increased across the board with the base pack up from Rs 180 to Rs 205; mid pack up from Rs 230 to Rs 265 and premium pack up from Rs 280 to Rs 325. While the former rates will be applicable for the first 10 days of November, the latter will be charged for the remaining 20 days of the month. From December though, the revised charge will be applicable for the entire month," explained an official from multi-system operator Manthan.
There is a prospect of a third hike in January with broadcasters such as Star India, Zee and Sony increasing the rate by 12.5% as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) directive. While multi-system operators had earlier decided to hike the package price in January when the increased rate to broadcasters came into effect, they are now undecided having just revised prices. The system operators are also aware that if Zee and Sony follow Star and also go a la carte, yet another price revision could be on the cards.
"We were anticipating Zee and Sony to go the Star way in February. But since neither have begun any negotiation, they may have decided to wait and watch how Star's revenue is impacted in the short-term. However, what is for sure is that if there is another hike, the price difference between cable and DTH will disappear, encouraging many to migrate unless DTH prices are revised," said another operator.
There is a difference that has happened in content as well. Prior to November 11, all 30 Star India channels were available in the premium pack. That has now been whittled down to 14. Now, the base pack has Star Plus, Star Jalsha, Star Gold, Channel V and Nat Geo. There are no sports channels from the Star India network in this pack. In the mid-pack, two channels are added: Star Jalsha Movies and Star Sports3. In the premium pack, English movie channels Star Movies, Star Movies Action, Movies OK, Star World, FX and Star Sports 4 are added.
While most of the missing channels are niche and will not affect the average viewer in Kolkata unless it is a Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada or Marathi household, two passionate segments of viewers, both in high-income group households subscribing to the premium pack, will feel shortchanged. The first is sports lovers who want to follow the entire range of sporting events, including F1 and enjoy listening to cricket commentary in English and the other is those who love English entertainment and infotainment channels.
To subscribe to channels beyond the package, viewers have to shell out nearly twice the channel's retail price. Thus the missing sports channels — Star Sports1 and Star Sports2 — cost Rs 35 each while Fox Crime and Nat Geo Wild will cost Rs 15 each.
However, system operators don't seem too bothered by the few who have different preference.
Brace for steeper cable bills from January - The Times of India
