DTH and Cable TV Subscribers Will Get Popular Channels at Rs 7 Less After Broadcasters Slash Prices

ZEEL Follows Price Tag Move

Now, it’s worth noting that Viacom18 is not the only broadcaster which has cut down its channel rates, but ZEEL has also pulled off a similar move. In fact, Zee Entertainment has reduced the prices of six of its channels which include Zee TV, Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada and Zee Sarthak. The prices of these channels were previously Rs 19 and now similar to how Viacom18 has done, these channels are now priced at Rs 12 per month.

Star India Also Slashes Channel Prices

Now you must be wondering about Star India and whether or not the broadcaster has reduced the prices of its channels, and the consumers would be glad to know that the answer is in affirmative as Star India has also slashed prices of its channels similar to how Viacom18 and ZEEL have done. Some of the popular channels by Star India including Star Plus would now be available for Rs 12 per months instead of their older price which was Rs 19 per month.

Trai Potentially on the Path of Implementing Discount Cap

In its attempt to rectify the tariff regime, Trai is now thundering down on the bundling of channels into channel packs. The telecom regulator is of the belief that since the broadcasters are bundling channels with massive discounts in channel packs and bouquets, the uptake of the individual channels or the a-la-carte channels has gone down thus hindering the essence of the new tariff regime. Trai wants that the a-la-carte channels should be selected by the subscribers as it would mean that subscribers are choosing actually the channels which they want and not unnecessary channels which are bundled with the channel packs.

To do this, Trai might introduce a discount cap of 15%. Meaning that if a channel is retailing for a particular price as its a-la-carte pricing, then in the channel pack it can’t be included with a price tag which is 15% or lower than its original price. Now, it’s quite possible that in the run-up to the implementation of this move, the broadcasters have played their card and reduced the prices of these channels themselves.