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Decoder trouble -- Digital
Zee News faces glitches
After Zee News has been made into a digital channel, all
Zee channels except its entertainment channel-Zee TV-are digital
It’s the turn of Zee News now to go off the TV screens.
Even as the channel turned digital at the strike of midnight
on January 31, as promised by the Zee head honchos, a lot
of viewers are unable to watch the channel. Reason: Those
cable operators, who are not connected to the existing digital
channels of the Zee bouquet, do not have the digital receivers
needed to decode the digital Zee News channel and then distribute
it to their subscribers.
Defends a senior Zee official, "We have distributors
all over the country who have been talking to cable operators
about Zee News turning digital. We have already sent them
mailers and made announcements in the trade magazines regarding
this channel going digital." After Zee News has been
made into a digital channel, all Zee channels except its entertainment
channel-Zee TV-are digital.
But even though cable operators are aware about Zee News turning
digital, they’re not willing to shell out big money to
acquire the receiver. According to the Zee official, the receiver
set costs around Rs 10,000. But Zee has announced a scheme
which allows cable operators to take the receiver on rent.
For the Zee rental scheme, cable operators need to pay Rs
4,000 as a refundable deposit and Rs 100 per month as rent.
However, say cable operators that Zee’s entertainment
channel Zee TV, and its news channel Zee News, which were
the only analogue channels so far, have been the most popular
in the bouquet. So, many cable operators, particularly WIN,
in which Star has a considerable stake, and some individual
cable operators, have been showing only Zee TV and Zee News
on their network. Now with Zee News turning digital, those
operators are not willing to purchase digital receivers for
just one channel, because they are not interested in showing
the other digital channels such as Zee Alpha and Zee Movies,
according to a prominent cable operator.
The problem revolving around digital receivers is compounded
by the fact that mostly digital receivers being used by cable
operators are channel- specific, says Fuzail Waris, who heads
a Spectranet cable network. For instance, a receiver being
used for the channels under the Star bouquet cannot be used
for the Zee bouquet of channels. And that is where the problem
lies, Waris explains.
But there are some digital channels such as TV5, FTV, BBC
and a host of Southern channels, which can be accessed with
universal digital receivers. But Star and Zee digital channels
cannot be accessed with the help of these universal digital
receivers, says Waris. TV Today’s Aaj Tak channel, which
was launched recently, also faced a similar receiver problem.
Commenting on the scenario, Roop Sharma, president, Cable
Operators’ Federation of India, says, "With every
other channel deciding to go digital and pay now, the government
should introduce the conditional access system (CAS) as soon
as possible." With the help of CAS, a subscriber gets
to watch what he wants and pays for only that. Say onlookers
that although Zee News continues to be a free to air channel
despite becoming a digital channel, it is expected to become
a pay channel soon.
Nivedita Mookerji
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