We have already seen the new tariff regime by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) change the viewership of the channels. There has been a significant change in the number of viewership for specific channels as a lot of channels have been dropped by the subscribers of DTH and cable TV services in a bid to reduce their monthly bill. Now to bring these viewership levels back to what they previously used to be, broadcasters are starting to cut down on the channel prices. We have had Sony, and Zee cut the prices of some channels and channel packs for the subscribers. Now, in the latest move, another prominent broadcaster, Star India, has decided to slash prices of its channels.
Star India English Entertainment Channel Packs Price Reduction
The significant pricing change has been made in the English entertainment segment as Star India has announced a price slash of as much as 29%. Notably, these channels struggled to gain back traction after the introduction of the new tariff regime. With that being said, Star India is still holding on to its sports channels, and in case you want to catch any of the Star sports channels then you will have to subscribe to the entire premium sports packs or go for the individual channel selection, which will be quite an expense.
On the English entertainment roster, Star has reduced the price of its English Mini/English Lite pack from Rs 35 to Rs 25 per month for the HD variant and from Rs 20 to Rs 15 for the SD variant. During the initial days of the Trai tariff regime, the broadcaster was offering highly priced packs, but slowly they gave in and introduced more affordable packs in the first 50 days. This was done to spike-up the channel reach for English channels which had drastically taken a dip in the days following the rollout of the new tariff rules.
Zee and Sony Also Cut Prices of English Entertainment Channel Packs
Star Movies, which is India’s first Hollywood channel and also the most popular one, used to be available in almost all homes before the new pricing regime, as per Chrome Data Analytics. After the new norms, however, the channel is only present in 25% of the homes with cable and satellite connections.
It is also worth noting that Zee and Sony also have similar packs in their portfolio for the subscribers which not only bundle the same type of channels but now they will also be competing on the price front as well. Zee’s English Prime Pack is also available for Rs 15 for the SD version and Rs 25 for the HD version. Sony’s English entertainment channel pack is also priced for Rs 12 for the SD variant and at Rs 20 for the HD variant. The only drawback with Star packs seems to be with their sports channels as Star hasn’t made a separate channel pack solely for sports channels and in case you want to get these channels on your TV then you will need to subscribe to the Premium packs from Star which are mostly priced beyond Rs 100.
