The big base-pack fight: Airtel-Zee dispute adds fuel to Tata Play-Sony fire

New Delhi: The uneasy balance between India’s distribution platform operators (DPOs) and broadcasters has been upended yet again, with both Airtel Digital TV and Tata Play dropping marquee broadcaster channels from their base packs.

The latest standoff, pitting Airtel against Zee Entertainment amid the ongoing legal battle between Tata Play and Culver Max Entertainment (Sony), is set to disrupt the customer experience even further.

Both broadcasters and DPOs have their own narratives. While broadcasters complain about non-payment of dues, DPOs have accused broadcasters of seeking a 10–20% increase in annual subscription fees.

Both stakeholders run down their opponents. If a broadcaster cites the declining number of DPO subscribers, DTH operators question the declining viewership of channels and blame their content quality.

When Tata Play dropped Sony channels from its bouquets, Sony ran on-screen scrolls urging subscribers to migrate to alternative DTH providers in response. Tata Play then escalated the battle to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), challenging Culver Max’s Rs 128.42 crore demand notice. TDSAT directed Tata Play to deposit Rs 40 crore, granting interim relief by temporarily staying the broadcaster’s disconnection notice.

Ratcheting up the pressure, Culver Max moved the Bombay High Court earlier this week, contesting a TDSAT directive that prevented it from making public statements about the dispute.

Now, Airtel Digital TV subscribers are experiencing similar disruption, with Zee channels quietly disappearing from base packs.

Rejecting allegations of coercion, Tata Play MD & CEO Harit Nagpal told Storyboard18, “This is not a channel takedown situation. When someone has a dispute and takes down a channel, it means none of their subscribers can view it. That's not the case here. We’ve not removed any Sony channels from Tata Play’s platform. This is a regular practice we follow, driven by data and aimed at improving affordability for our subscribers.”

Nagpal further elaborated, “We observed that there’s a wide gap between channels people subscribe to and the ones they watch. Often, when channels are bundled, people pay for all but watch only one or two. We particularly monitor customers who are slow to recharge, 5, 7, sometimes even 15 days late. That’s an indicator they don’t see value in what they’re paying. We remove channels for users who are least engaged, but also offer them a way to bring it back.”

Airtel Digital TV issued a similar clarification, stating, “Due to recent changes in broadcaster tariffs, Zee Network channels will no longer be part of the Airtel DTH base packs. These pack prices will be adjusted accordingly. All Zee network channels are available on Airtel DTH and can be added individually to the list of subscribed channels at their respective MRPs via channel selection options.”

Nagpal’s comment that this was not a channel takedown situation is factually correct, but no one accused Tata Play of such action.

BestMediaInfo.com on Monday categorically reported that 95% of subscribers opt for channel packs, and they are inconvenienced when a channel is thrown out of the packs they subscribe to. The consumer does not understand the commercial dispute and would rather leave linear TV instead, in the absence of any safeguard provided to them.

As the consumer suffers due to such fallout, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) continues to be a mute spectator with no visible action so far.