TDSAT asked to settle TataSky-Sun TV row

The Supreme Court today asked the broadcast tribunal to decide by May 1 whether or not DTH operator TataSky can access select signals of Sun TV, even as the Tata-Star joint venture company dropped 13 signals of Zee from its platform.

TataSky had approached the apex court against the Madras High Court order that stayed implementation of tribunal TDSAT's interim direction to Sun TV for sharing signals on a-la-carte (pick-and-choose) basis.

A bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice D K Jain, while disposing of the petition, directed TDSAT to "make an endeavour to decide the matter by May 1."

Sun TV is willing to share its signals, but wants TataSky to carry all of its 20 channels as part of a bouquet "" a demand the DTH operator has rejected. Meanwhile, TataSky, armed with the tribunal's order of March 31 that DTH operators need not carry all the channels provided by a broadcaster, decided to drop 13 channels of Zee from its system.

Zee had earlier contended that under the "must carry" regulations prescribed by sector regulator TRAI, DTH operators should carry all the channels without any discrimination.

This was rejected by TDSAT, after which TataSky on April 21 decided to scrap Zee's channels such as 24Ghante, Play TV, Zee Jagran, Zee Smile, Zee Music, Zee Kannada, Zee Telugu, Zee Sports, ETC Punjabi, ETC, Zee Premier, Zee Action and Zee Classic.