Mumbai: TV consumers may have to shell out more money for their monthly cable or DTH (direct to home) bill starting January 1st, after the new tariff order for the broadcast sector comes into effect as per the directions of TRAI.
As per the new tariff regime set by the regulator, consumers now have the option to select and pay only for TV channels they want to watch at the maximum retail price (MRP) set by the respective broadcasters.
In the last few days, all the TV networks have come out with the a-la-carte MRP of their channels. Major broadcasters have also come up with their own bouquets that attach non-performing or non-popular channels with the driver or flagship channels.
Back of the envelope calculation by ET shows that at the announced bouquet prices, for the basic, non premium channels, a consumer in the Hindi heartland (no HD or regional channels), will end up paying Rs 430-440 per month under the new tariffs. Currently, in phase III and IV towns, consumers pay a monthly bill of Rs 200-250, and in large cities, a cable/ DTH bill for 250+ channels – which includes sports and regional channels – costs between to Rs 350-400.
As per the new rate structure, a consumer will have to pay up to Rs 130 (plus taxes) for first set of 100 channels, which will be mostly free-to-air (FTA) channels. This doesn’t include any popular channels from top TV networks like Star India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Sony Pictures Networks India etc.
If a consumer decides to buy basic packages from top broadcasters, which include popular genres like general entertainment, movies, kids, music, news and infotainment, she/he will have to pay additional Rs 184 for 95 pay channels. And on top of that a network capacity fee of Rs 100 (Rs 25 per 20 channels) will be extra.
In short, in the new regime, a consumer will have to pay up to Rs 450 a month for the basic channels, without regional or sports, if he or she is opting for bouquets. If they go for a-la- carte, the bill will be over Rs 800 as bouquets are at a discount of 35-55%.
As per TRAI, four metros fall under phase I, while cities with population of over 1 million form phase II markets. Phase III are those cities with population of over 1 lakh, while below 1 lakh towns are part of phase IV.
Agencies
