Dark Star angers auds, industry
Protests mount as rates are hiked and stations pulled
The TV, Satellite and Broadband Cell of the ruling BJP party claims Star is holding operators and viewers to ransom following protests over 40% hikes in subscription fees for Star's seven pay TV channels on Jan. 1.
It has already organized rallies to complain outside Star Sports' offices in Bombay.
Cell convener Ashok Singh wants Star to hold rates until the government introduces a conditional access system, allowing viewers to choose and pay for the channels they want rather than being forced to pay for every channel on offer.
But Star Group and other content providers including Sony, Zee and AOL Time Warner allege the feevee operators illegally withhold subscription fees, making the service unviable.
Indian content providers are thought to receive only 9% of revenues from subscriptions compared with 25% in Southeast Asia and 35% in Japan and Australia.
Singh claims Star is charging viewers 24 rupees (50¢) a month, upping the combined bill from all feevees to $3.35 a month per subscriber. Added to the entertainment tax and maintenance charges, plus a percentage for the cable operators, the monthly bill hits $6, "something normal viewers can't afford," he said in a letter to Star.
Despite the row, ESPN signed new contracts at the higher rate with most providers in Bombay and Delhi on Jan. 15. The companies were pressured by auds desperate for upcoming cricket matches and Australian Open tennis, to which Star sports has exclusive rights.
Meanwhile, the Star Movies channel in India and Asia has inked deals with Hollywood labels DreamWorks and Lucasfilm for content.
Dream deal
While the deal with Lucasfilm is for exclusive telecasts across Asia, the agreement with DreamWorks is restricted to television screenings in India and Pakistan.
"We have an exclusive 40-picture agreement with DreamWorks and another for the 'Star Wars' franchisee from Lucasfilm," says Steve Askew, Star TV's Hong Kong-based executive VP of programming. "The deal includes their upcoming feature releases and we hope to acquire more titles from Lucasfilm."
(Ashoke Nag in Calcutta contributed to this report.)
