The Hindu : Tamil TV networks to turn pay channels

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 07, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Tamil TV networks to turn pay channels

By Feroze Ahmed

CHENNAI NOV. 6. The scroll on Jaya TV that greeted viewers on Deepavali on Monday was confirmation of what cable TV operators (CTOs) said was good news for them but definitely an unsavoury festival gift for consumers. With that scroll, Jaya TV became the last of the four private Tamil broadcasting networks to turn pay, ending the option of free-to-air regional channels the State enjoyed till now.

While Star Vijay went pay about two months ago, KTV, Sun News, Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus will turn pay during December-January, and Jaya TV will start collecting subscription charges from February. That would leave Sun TV as the only private channel still following an advertisement-revenue model.

Collectively, the Tamil pay channels would cost consumers an additional Rs.40 a month. Cable TV operators said post-January, when most broadcasters were expected to raise tariff as part of their annual hikes, subscription rates would rocket to a whopping Rs. 250 to Rs. 350 a month. "Consumers paying Rs.150-Rs.180 now will soon be paying Rs.250 or above, and those paying Rs.200-Rs.250 will reach the Rs.300-plus bracket", said an operator.

Unlike now, consumers would not have much option in opting for only free-to-air Tamil channels either--they would have only Doordarshan's Podhigai to turn to. For about a year now, there was always talk about Tamil broadcasters turning pay despite their enjoying popularity primarily because they were free-to-air channels. In many parts of the State, many subscribers have opted to do away with the Hindi and English pay channels, preferring the fare offered by the Tamil channels and Doordarshan. Soon, they would not have that option.

But from the broadcaster's point of view, turning pay was the only logical move to make. "The subscription market in Tamil Nadu was till now dominated by non-Tamil channels. When non-prime channels are making money in the Tamil Nadu market, we too have to go pay. Just that someone had to start the process", said the chairman of the Sun Network, Kalanidhi Maran.

When Star Vijay turned pay about two months ago, it was subscribing to its parent Star India's policy. "The quality of programming is going up, the cost of everything is rising, and advertising doesn't really cover up for all that", said the vice-president (Corporate Communications) of Star India, Yash Khanna. "Besides, more and more channels are entering the market but the advertising pie is not increasing accordingly". The Star India group presently follows an advertisement-subscription ratio of 80:20.

"We cannot survive without going pay, which is the future. The Centre's proposed conditional access system (which allows subscribers to choose their channels) is also in the offing and that is how the industry will work", said the manager (events and promotions), Raj Television Network, Praveen Alexander. The huge advertising slump was another reason for the channels desperately turning pay in the last year.

The newly converted subscription-based channels had largely stuck to the regional pioneer Vijay TV's tariff of Rs.9.50 per subscriber, but their rates were a bargain when offered in packages (or bouquets). The Raj Television Network would charge Rs.10 per subscriber for its two Tamil channels, and the Sun Network a similar Rs.10 for its KTV and Sun News. Jaya TV was yet to fix its tariff.

Cable TV operators welcomed the move chiefly because it stamped out competition in the form of free-to-air operators. The manager (Programmes) of Jaya TV, Murali Raaman, said it was the operators who prodded them to turn pay.

Operators denied they encouraged the channels to turn pay, but agreed that it would work in their favour. Besides, they got another chance to hike prices and blame broadcasters, who, in turn, would blame operators. In the end, all that verbiage and market statistics boil down to only one fact: A costly hike for subscribers sans alternatives.

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