TRAI TARIFF PLANS: How to deal with higher TV channel prices

With only 36 hours to go for TRAI’s deadline to implement new tariff plans for cable and DTH platforms in India, all DTH providers and most cable users are faced with the dilemma of how to choose the channels and packs they are going to watch in the new regime. The new system was supposed […]

TRAI TARIFF: Tata Sky waives network charges on some channels

With Sun Direct offering zero incremental network charge on all its channels, including free, paid and HD, market leader Tata Sky too is offering waive network charges, but only on select channels. As reported earlier, Sun Direct is offering all its channels without network charges, provided the user pays the minimum amount of Rs 130 […]

TRAI RULE: Sun Direct beats Tata Sky, Airtel, D2h by offering all channels for Rs 153 network fee

Sun Direct, the smallest of the six DTH players in India, has bowled a googly at its rivals like Tata Sky and D2h by offering all its channels at a network charge of Rs 154 only. In comparison, other DTH and cable firms give only the first 100 channels for Rs 154. In other words, […]

Tata Sky cancels all long-duration packs, yearly plans

Tata Sky, India’s second largest DTH provider, has canceled all the long-duration packs it was offering to consumers and will move the users to monthly packs. This applies to all its users, including those who purchased long-duration packs this week. Many users had got special offers on long-term recharges, such as those that are valid […]

TRAI says no extension on new tariff plan deadline, issues reminder

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has urged consumers not to fall for rumors about any extension of the deadline for the implementation of the new tariff scheme for TV channels, and asked them to shift to the new packs as soon as possible. The regulator also shot off letters to all broadcasters, cable operators and […]

Tata Sky gives in to TRAI, announces new channels and packs

Tata Sky, India’s second largest TV channel distributor, finally unveiled its channels and packs under TRAI’s new tariff rules — and offered support to almost all broadcaster’s plans and packs. Tata Sky consumers can log on to mytatasky.com or packselection.tatasky.com to modify their existing packs and packages and select the new bouquets and packs under […]

TRAI again asks users to switch to new plans, Tata Sky says ‘wait please’

Even as broadcast regulator TRAI sent out yet another reminder to cable and DTH users in the country to switch to new plans under the 2017 tariff order, India’s biggest DTH operator continued to ask users to wait for the “tariff order to become applicable” and for “channel prices to be finalized”. The apparent disconnect […]

D2h becomes first DTH to start moving users to TRAI plans

D2h, the DTH service from Dish TV, has become the first DTH provider in India to start moving subscribers to the new channel packs and plans under the TRAI Tariff Order of 2017. Many subscribers have started getting intimation that their plan has been changed in accordance with TRAI’s new rules. Customers can also accelerate […]

TRAI List: Tata Sky leads with 92 HD Channels; Airtel Digital, Sun Direct edge out Dish & D2h

India’s major DTH broadcasters have declared their channel lists and prices under TRAI’s new tariff rules, and an analysis of the same reveals that Tata Sky continues to be undisputed king of HD Channels in India, followed closely by Airtel Digital and Sun Direct. Dish TV and D2h, meanwhile, have slightly less comprehensive lists of […]

Airtel Digital DTH reveals new channel prices under TRAI rule

Airtel Digital has become the latest DTH operator to update its channel prices according to the new TRAI rules. With this, practically all DTH and bigger cable companies except two have come out with new plans and prices to comply with TRAI’s tariff order issued in July this year. Even as Airtel Digital updated the […]

Tata Sky, Sun Direct miss TRAI deadline for new channel packs

India’s largest DTH operator Tata Sky and smaller rival Sun Direct have missed TRAI’s deadline to introduce new, more transparent channel prices to their subscribers from midnight. Even as other cable and DTH players, like Airtel Digital, Dish TV, D2h, Hathway, Den Networks, Siti Cable and GTPL started displaying the new prices for TV channels, […]

All cable, DTH firms to unveil new channel packs today

All cable and DTH players, including Dish TV, D2h, Tata Sky, Hathway, Den Networks, Airtel Digital and Sun Direct, have been directed to reveal their new TV channel packs and prices by end of day today. In an update posted on TRAI’s website on Friday, the regulator reminded cable and DTH companies that they must […]

Sun Direct unveils India’s cheapest HD packs at Rs 2.50 per channel

Sun Direct, the satellite TV service from Sun TV group, has started offering the cheapest high-definition channel packages in India. The DTH service, which used to offer HD channels only as part of ‘base packs’ that came with a large number of standard-definition channels, has now started offering smaller packs comprising only HD channels. The […]

Star India issues disconnection notice to Videocon D2h

Star India, which recently won the rights to the Indian Premier League by offering to pay a whopping Rs 16,348 cr over five years, has issued a disconnection notice to Videocon D2h DTH service. This follows a similar warning issued to users of Tata Sky and Airtel Digital — India’s biggest TV content distributors by […]

Star India threatens Airtel Digital with complete disconnection of channels

Taking the fight up a notch, Star India, the biggest television broadcaster in the country, has threatened to disconnect all its 56 channels currently aired by Airtel Digital, India’s second-biggest DTH network. “Dear Airtel Digital customer, your favorite channel.. along with all 56 channels in Star India bouquet is likely to be disconnected on Airtel […]

Tata Sky takes on JioTV with free video streaming website for users

Tata Sky, the country’s largest distributor of television content, has taken decided to take on JioTV and other emerging content distributors with an online streaming website of its own. The DTH provider’s online video and TV service can be accessed at ‘watch.tatasky.com‘ and currently has around 250 live television channels, compared to over 550 on […]

Verdict expected next week in Star India vs TRAI bundling case

The verdict in the crucial case filed by Star India against the sector regulator’s move to control a-la-carte pricing of television channels in India is expected to be delivered next week, a key industry official said. “The judgment has been reserved by the Madras High Court. There has been a representation by the Government, TRAI […]

Tata Sky users may lose Star channels in three weeks

Star India, India’s biggest broadcasting company, has threatened to pull out its channels from Tata Sky, India’s biggest distributor of television content. Tata Sky is a joint venture between Tata Group and Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, which also owns Star India. Unlike in case of Star, Fox owns only a minority stake of around […]

Sun Direct becomes first DTH in India to start HEVC transmission

Sun Direct, a unit of Sun TV, has become the first DTH or cable operator to start transmission using next-generation HEVC compression technology in India. The company has introduced two HEVC — short for high-efficiency video codec — channels on its GSAT-15 beams. HEVC, also known as H.265, requires only 55%-60% of the bandwidth compared […]

Tata Sky to add five more HD channels to take total to 86

Tata Sky, the Indian DTH operator with the highest amount of spectrum and channels, will add five more HD channels to take the total high-definition offerings on the platform to 86. The new channels being added tomorrow are DSports, MTV HD+, Surya (Malayalam), Udaya (Kannada) and Gemini Movies (Telugu). With 86 HD channels, the operator […]