While Mumbaikars were confined to their homes on Sunday, mourning the death of Shiv Sena patriarch Bal (Saheb) Thackeray, they were in for another rude shock as their daily dose of entertainment – the television – went blank. Many people, who had plans of going out on a holiday, found themselves sitting at home, without being able to watch Hindi general entertainment channels.
Various multi-system-operators (MSOs) including Digicable, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Incable and 7Star – decided to block all entertainment channels, after they were asked by the Shiv Sainiks to do so as a sign of grief.
“Shiv Sena members were insisting to switching off all the entertainment channels as a mark of respect to their deceased leader. All the MSOs decided to switch off the signals till 6 pm,” a senior executive from a leading MSO told Business Standard.
While some MSOs switched off all the channels except the news channels, others closed only Hindi language channels, while continuing to show English movies and entertainment channels.
However, all the channels were airing on the direct-to-home (DTH) platforms.
This is one of the rarest incidents when cable fraternity has switched off signals in a city like Mumbai on the death of a politician. Earlier, on death of Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia in September of 2001, all the entertainment channels were off for three days in Gwalior, Scindia’s hometown.
But in Mumbai, it would have happened only for Thackeray, said a Shiv Sena worker. “People respected him. He held the pride of Marathi Manoos always high. The whole city is showing respect for him. We have not asked people to close down businesses but still shopping malls, cinema halls, and filmcity is closed today in his respect. So what’s the harm if entertainment channels are off just for one day,” he said.
In Mumbai the local cable operators’ association, Mumbai Cable Operators Association (MCOA), is headed by Shiv Sena Member of Legislative Council Anil Parab.