Trai and IBF on Polar Ends Over DTH, Cable TV Regulations and Channel Bouquets

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has been implying this since long that the channel broadcasters are offering massive discounts on the channel bouquets to make them have better traction as opposed to the individual channel selection. However, now in a new turn of events, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has refuted the claim made by the sector regulator that the broadcasters are not doing any such move. It is also worth noting that the claim made by Trai is also the basis of its consultation paper which it has floated in the industry recently for comments by the industry stakeholders and other experts on the issues of the new tariff regime. In its reply to the Trai consultation paper, IBF noted that only 1 channel pack out of the 331 others being offered by top five broadcasters has a discount higher than 65%. Also, there are 15% of bouquets which have a discount of less than 35%. 66% of the channel bouquets have a discount which is less 50%.

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IBF Argues in Favour of Subscribers Selecting Channel Packs

It is worth noting that IBF is the topmost body which represents the pay-TV broadcasters in India. In its comments, IBF said that the bundling of TV channels has in fact been good for the TV channel subscribers in India as it has brought better “value for money” to them. Also, the ad-revenue has allowed the broadcasters to stop the pass-through of content costs to the subscribers, which in other cases would be much more. As per IBF, the subscribers are currently enjoying the channels for as low as 81% cost because of the bundling of channels.