Star India Sets Cable Subscriber-Base Declaration Rider For Lower Rates
Star India may lower the rate for its bouquet of channels provided cable operators stop under-declaration of it subscriber base.
Sameer Nair, chief operating officer, Star India, said, "Out of the 40 million cable subscribers all over the country, we get paid for just about 6 million subscribers, which is around 15 per cent of the total subscriber base. If the under-declaration ceases, we would definitely be in a position to lower rates for our bouquet."
According to Nair, the company is trying to move towards a situation where its advertising revenues and pay viewership revenues contribute in equal measure, a 50:50 mix. At present this is skewed towards advertising income which accounts for almost 70 per cent of the company's revenues.
The Star bouquet -- comprising of 8 channels includes, Star Plus, Star Movies, Star World, Channel V, Star Gold, Star News and National Geographic -- is currently priced at Rs 40.50 per subscriber.
The company had hiked its rates from Rs 30 to the current one for its bouquet from January 1 this year. Other major channels broadcasters also followed suit with corresponding hikes.
The rate for the Zee bouquet of 18 channels stands at Rs 42 while the Sony bouquet is priced at Rs 40 for 6 channels.
Cable operators, comprising the multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) which basically operate as franchisees of the MSOs in the interiors of the country, were up in arms against the price hike which finally resulted in the issue getting raised at the highest level, with the government offering the conditional access system (CAS) as a way out of the imbroglio.
However, a leading MSO reacting to the possibility of Star reducing its rates said, "Star has possibly realised that consumer rates have reached a peak point in terms of how much you can charge a consumer. Since the possibility of any further upward revision would be practically impossible, the only option available is to increase the subscriber base."
Another cable operator also contested the broadcasters' claims of under declaration and said, "Since there is no system of auditing the exact subscriber base, this issue will only be resolved if a regulatory body comes in. While we claim that there is no under declaration due to the fact that even if a household has a cable and network system, it does not mean it is receiving the signal of a particular channel."