At a kirana store in Kodambakkam, Chennai, a small colour TV set used to play soaps and religious channels from dawn to dusk until recently. The owner says he and his co-owner wife shifted to watching content on YouTube on the mobile, as the monthly tariff went up to Rs.350 for his cable TV connection and he wasn’t interested in all the channels offered in the package. Similar instances are perhaps not uncommon, whether in households or kiranas in Khar Danda in Mumbai, or Halasuru in Bengaluru.
This was happening even before NTO 3.0 kicked in on 1 February 2023, when broadcasters were allowed by the sector regulator to increase the price of channels that are part of a bouquet from Rs. 12 to Rs. 19. According to the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation, a body of television broadcasters, almost 80pc of distribution operators have agreed to the latest NTO. Broadcasters themselves see the hike as an “overdue correction”. Several distributors do not agree. AIDCF (All India Digital Cable Federation) members have gone to court. A final Kerala High Court order is listed for 8 February 2023.
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