Last year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) struck down on the broadcasters and the cable operators and introduced a new mandate which changed the pricing scheme of the channels and packs which the DTH providers and broadcasters were providing. The new tariff regime by Trai put more power in the hands of people and introduced some drastic changes in the method of pricing of channels. The tariff regime went into effect on December 29, and all the cable operators and DTH providers were asked by the regulator to publish their new pricing charts along with listing the packs and bouquets which they would be offering. While the cable operators like Hathway were quick to oblige with the new directive by Trai, the DTH providers joined the bandwagon on a later stage. Now according to a new report filed by Ultra News, Sun Direct is the latest addition in the list of DTH providers who have published their new pricing.
Sun Direct Reveals New Channels Packs According to Trai Regime
Although Sun Direct has listed all the packs and channels along with the pricing, the speculations of the public have come true, and Sun Direct lists none of the Star India channel packs. D2h, which is another large DTH provider has also listed its pricing, and the number of packs and channels of Sun Direct resemble a lot with D2h’s distribution. Similar to D2h, the highest number of packs for Zee on Sun Direct is 34. Sun TV, which is the parent of Sun Direct also has 20 packs, TV18, on the other hand, has 19 packs with the DTH provider.
Another similarity between D2h and Sun Direct is their inability to provide Star India packs to the subscribers. This is the result of a judgment by Justice M Sundar of the Madras High Court, who passed an order against the Trai direction of unbundling of channels, meaning that now things can turn out two ways – either Sun Direct and D2h will have to start providing all channels of Star on their service, or either Star India has to start offering different packs.
The catch here is that, as per the court order, the DTH providers cannot change the packs in any way which are provided by the broadcasters and Sun Direct and D2h do not provide all Star Channels on their service. On top of that, Star India has very conveniently curated packs which include all of its channels in a particular language thus making it tough for the DTH providers to provide these packs for the subscribers. Also, like other DTH providers, Sun Direct will also be moving forward with the net charge of Rs 154 inclusive taxes as its base pack price. Customers will be able to choose which channels to include in this base pack. You can find out Sun Direct's new packs here.
Airtel Digital TV Lists 270 Channel Packs
Out of all the DTH providers who listed their packs and pricing, Airtel Digital TV remains at the top when it comes to driving sales via the use of bundles and packs. The DTH provider has come out with 270 packages, while Dish TV had announced support for 204 packs. Other DTH providers like D2h and Sun Direct are only supporting around 100 packs. Broadcasters have made the packs so that they get more viewership and can drive more advertising revenue. Also, the prices of individual channels have been set such that to urge the viewers to buy packs instead of single channels. However, the DTH providers have had mixed reviews regarding this. While Sun Direct and D2h have only supported 100 packs, Dish TV stands in the middle with support for 200 odd packs. In total, Airtel Digital is supporting 64 packs by Star India, thus proving to be the most beneficial DTH provider for broadcasters.
