Star to offer new 'friendly' CAS price next week

NEW DELHI: In a sudden softening of its stance in favour of the conditional access regime (CAS), Star TV on Wednesday said that it would come out with a more “consumer-friendly� price list of its pay channels by early next week.
‘‘We will go by the wish of the Prime Minister to make CAS consumer friendly,’’ Peter Mukherjea, Star TV’s CEO, told TNN.He said a new price formula for its channels is in the works.
Mukherjea had a 2-hour meeting with senior officials in the I&B ministry on Wednesday. All pay broadcasters — Star, Zee-Turner, Sony-Discovery, and ESPN-Star Sports — are slated to meet the government early next week with fresh price lists for channels bouquets as well as individual channels.
Last week, the broadcasters came out with an unofficial tariff chart for pay channels with a monthly tab of around Rs 300. The government has been insisting that the total monthly cost of CAS — including free-to-air channels and set-top box rentals — should not exceed Rs 200.
It now appears the government is softening its stand on what the subscriber will get for Rs 200. The thinking now is that only ‘‘driver’’ pay channels — like Star Plus, Zee, SET, ESPN/Star Sports, and a movie channel — would be bundled in the Rs 200 tab.
Star is hard at work on a new free-to-air channel, Star Classic, that would essentially showcase programmes from various Star bouquet channels, to mitigate the expected drop in viewership under the CAS regime. Though Mukherjea did not give a deadline by when STAR’s new free-to-air channel, Star Classic, will go on air, all that he was willing to admit was that “it would be sooner than later.� The idea behind launching a free-to-air channel — that is likely to showcase programmes from pay channel bouquets — is to reach out to audiences who miss out on pay channels.
Sony and Zee TV are also planning to come out with similar free-to-air channels.