Republic channels removed from Den, Hathway packs over non-payment

New Delhi: Cable television networks Den and Hathway dropped Arnab Goswami-owned news channels – Republic TV, Republic Bharat, Republic Bangla and Republic Kannada – from their packs and made them available on an a-la-carte basis for their consumers.

Sources informed BestMediaInfo.com that the action was a result of non-payment of dues running into several months.

A query sent to Republic Media Network did not elicit any response.

However, sources indicated that the matter will be resolved in a day or two as both parties are in talks and Republic Media Network has agreed to pay the dues.

“Usually, such situations arise between pay channels and cable networks where both parties accuse each other of non-payment or arm twisting over RIO deals. Republic channels are free-to-air channels and only carriage fees are involved in this case which is payable by the broadcaster to the cable networks,” said the source.

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