CABALE OPERATORS CONTUNUE
TO RULE IN KARNATAKA

“The state government has considered us (cable operators) as a small scale industry and the tax structure of our government is best in the country. Even the connectivity and maintenance is the best,” -- Jagadish, president of cable ooperators in Karnataka .

In the fastest growing garden city of India — Bangalore — the cable network has reached the saturation point providing as many as 36 channels with 75 head ends by 900 cable TV operators. There are about 2100 cable TV operators in the rest of Karnataka.

In the beginning of 1990 there were three private cable operators in the state. The tax structure varied with the change in the state governments. Initially cable operators had to pay Rs 500 as professional tax and later Rs 20 was levied per connection and during the chief ministership of HD Deve Gowda (Deve Gowda was chief minister of Karnataka before becoming the prime minister of India) the Cable TV Operators Association submitted a proposal to the government to remit annually 1.47 crore. With this proposal the cable TV strengthened its base.

As competition is not forbidden in this area, few more competitors emerged. The UB group, USN and UIH formed a different network. UB group submitted a proposal to the state government to submit Rs 200 per electric pole all over the state as revenue but it could not gain ground. Then came the DTH system from STAR TV. The STAR TV management invested huge amounts on land, building and sophisticated equipment with KV band set. But since DTH plans have been put on hold, the cable TV operators continue to be an important medium.

Udaya TV conquers Karnataka According to Vijayakumar, general manager, Udaya TV, within a span of four years Udaya TV, the sister concern of Sun TV, has reached the penetration level of 96 per cent. Citing the latest IMRB survey reports, Vijayakumar says that Udaya TV, the first private satellite channel in Kannada, has acquired 70 per cent viewership as against the viewership of Doordarshan Kendra Bangalore which is 40 per cent. Udaya TV currently beams eight hours of programming which is more than that of the local Doordarshan Kendra. It also provides 16 hours of Udaya Music on the lines of Sun Music. The channel offers a programme-mix of serials, soaps, shows and movies. It has the rights to 1200 Kannada films out of the nearly 1800 Kannada films produced so far. But its the talk shows and news that are extremely popular according to Vijayakumar. Planning to start digital transmission by the end of July to increase the video and audio quality of their channel, Udaya TV has come out with a proposal to give decoders to cable TV operators at subsidised rates. Says Vijayakumar, “Udaya TV is also looking for an uplink facility to be provided by the government in the near future. Our management is not interested in opening another channel on the lines of a pay channel.”

The president of cable TV operators in Karnataka, A Jagadish says each head end is required to pay Rs 1500 as entertainment tax, Rs 1200 as professional tax a year and Rs 500 as P&T registration annually. “The state government has considered us as a small scale industry and the tax structure of our government is best in the country. Even the connectivity and maintenance is the best,” informs Jagadish.

The cable TV operators are now facing the problem of purchasing a decoder from Udaya TV.

Besides the problem of tapping potential customers and collection of monthly dues from households, the Cable TV operators have to convince the customers to pay more as pay channels are increasing. Jagadish expresses the fear that after a few years all the channels might become pay channels.

With the new addressable system which is prevailing only in Vijayawada, the cable TV operators have to work out a new strategy to procure more and more current affairs and films to telecast. Under the new system which is on a trial in Vijayawada a customer is required to ‘pay for a view’. With this, cable TV operators may also indulge in film production to market them through cable operators. The era of buying video rights on the muhurat day itself may begin soon, says Jagadish.