Star, Zee, Sony Announce New Cable TV Plans; Blackout Of Pay Channels After December 29th?

Major broadcasters in India: Zee Entertainment, Sony Picture Networks and Star India has announced their new cable TV plans, which will fall under the new TRAI regulations pertaining to DTH and cable TV.

Meanwhile, rumors have once again picked up, regarding blackout of TV channels, especially paid channels, after December 29th. TRAI has come out once again, to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

What has TRAI stated here?

New Cable TV Plans from Star, Zee, Sony

Under the new TRAI rules which come into effect after December 29th, consumers can now choose which channels to watch, and pay accordingly. As of now, they receive a bouquet of TV channels, and have access to hundreds of such channels which they never watch.

Understanding this new hierarchy of order, broadcasters such as Star, Zee and Sony have come out with their own packs, which consumers can choose for their own consumption.

Zee Entertainment

Zee has introduced 68 consumer-centric packs, whose price starts from Rs 45.

Family oriented packs have taken priority here, as the majority of the plans constitute channels which the families can watch together. Their motive is: Family ko Chuno, Zee Ko Chuno.

Their best pack is Zee All-in-One-Pack, which costs Rs 60, and provides 27 most popular channels under Zee Network. Other packs are:

Zee Prime Pack Tamil-SD for Rs 10 for 8 channels

Zee Family Pack – Hindi SD at Rs 45 for 24 channels

Their most economical plan is ‘Zee Family Pack’ priced at Rs. 45 per month for a suite of 24 channels. This pack includes popular channels such as Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Pictures, Zee Bollywood, Zee News, Zee Anmol, Big Ganga, Zing, Living Foodz and others.

Star TV

Star TV has a nation-wide audience, and considering this fact, they have launched their packs starting from Rs 49 for Hindi and Rs 25 for Tamil, in 4 variants:

Value Pack in SD and HD

Premium Pack in SD and HD

These packs are available in 7 languages: Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam.

Star has ensured that their value packs are powered with a healthy mixture of sports, entertainment, news and other niches.

Sony Picture

Sony has broadcasting rights of 32 channels, and they too are offering channels on both a-la-carte and bouquets.

For Rs 90, consumers can watch SD and HD versions of channels such as Set, ET, Sab, Max, SONY BBC Earth, Ten 1, Ten 2, Ten 3, Six, SONY ESPN, Pix, AXN and AXN HD.

TRAI Says No Blackout Of Channels

Meanwhile after rubbishing claims that cable TV price and plans will increase after December 29th, TRAI has appealed to all broadcasters and networks not to cut off pay channels after December 29th.

Rumors were floating due to the new TRAI rules, some pay channels can be off-air for some time.

TRAI Chairman RS Sharma met with representatives of TV channels and broadcasters and informed them that there should be no blackout.

An executive who had attended this meeting said, “The chairman categorically told us to ensure a smooth transition and that there should not be a black-out of TV services in any situation. Broadcasters have been advised to work with the cable and DTH operators during the transition period,”

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.

Related:

Cable TV Plans Can Increase By 60% After December 29; Reason Is TRAI’s New Regulations