Zee TV may be blacked out for Tata Sky subscribers after July 28

DTH viewers subscribing to the Tata Sky platform may not be able to watch the channels from the Zee TV bouquet after July 28. The reason is that Tata Sky has an outstanding bill of Rs 9 crore.

The amount has to be paid to Zee-Turner, the distribution arm of broadcaster Zee Telefilms. Tata Sky has to pay this amount for carrying the entire bouquet of 32 Zee-Turner channels on its platform from September 2006, till April 24 of this year.

Currently, it is carrying only 19 of the 32 Zee bouquet channels after winning a case before the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in March. TDSAT had upheld Tata Sky's plea in which it had argued that due to shortage in transponder capacity, it would be able to carry only 19 channels out of bouquet of the 32 Zee channels.

Therefore, Tata Sky wanted to pay for only 19 Zee channels. TDSAT has directed Tata Sky to pay Zee-Turner its outstanding dues for all the 32 Zee channels it carried from September 2006 to April 2007.

"TDSAT has directed Tata Sky to pay our due amount of Rs 9 crore within 2 weeks failing which we can disconnect our channels as per the interconnect agreement," Arvind Mohan, Essel group vice-president told Business Standard.

When contacted, Tata Sky executives said they were 'exploring all possible legal options'.

Disconnection of Zee channels will drastically affect Tata Sky's business in the country. The firm is already finding it difficult to expand in southern India due to absence of the regional broadcaster Sun TV network, on its platform.

Tata Sky, the secondlargest private DTH company after Zee's Dish TV, has been involved in a long-drawn legal battle with Sun TV network for getting access to popular Sun channels.

Tata Sky went before the TDSAT to argue that since it has been carrying only 19 of the Zee bouquet of channels from April 24 (after winning a case in TDSAT), it would pay for only 19 channels at the rate of Rs 42 per subscriber per month instead of the entire 32 channel bouquet priced at Rs 75 per subscriber per month (also fixed by TDSAT last September).

According to experts, this case will have far reaching consequence for all DTH companies. In the future, DTH company will not be able to drop television channels from their platform after carrying it without paying the broadcaster.

"This order will set an example for new DTH players that they can not take broadcasters for a ride without facing the consequences," said a legal expert handling DTH-related cases.