Star Cricket Launch

[dhiraj123]

Yes,accessibilty may be a problem.But one has to say that the problem starts with the BCCI's inefficiency to sell the TV rights.They also contemplated floating their own cricket channel.Accessibilty is going to be a problem,even on the DTH platform.Nimbus,initially entered into an agreement with ESS to distribute the channel,but they broke off later citing certain legal problems.Star Cricket,on the other hand,will be a channel from the ESS stable and would be available easily to Tata Sky holders.But,i seriously doubt whether other DTH providers like DishTv will be allowed to have the channel given that TATASKY does not have Zee SportsCricket in India was once the most accessible sport on Indian television. There was a time not long ago when we could get all matches (including the Pura Cup and English County season) on T.V .But all this has changed now. Channels are now becoming more and more inaccesible to the viewing public which makes me wonder why they were ever launched. It all started with Neo Sports launched by Nimbus and I still do not know whether anyone other than the Nimbus guys actually do get to watch it (either on DTH or on cable).ESPNSTAR, the Murdroch owned group which was the most professional of all Indian sports channels was one channel along with Ten Sports which was easily accessible till the recently concluded England-West Indies Test Series.However all that has changed now that ESPNSTAR have launched a 24-hr cricket channel of their own just before the start of the England-West Indies ODIs .This channel will apparently air all the cricket that ESPNSTAR has rights to and that is were things get bleak.The India-England Series,The Twenty20 WC,The Tour to Australia in the coming months will be `exclusively`on STAR CRICKET.That is when I decided to phone the cable operator today,only to get the bad news confirmed. He has said that cable operators across Mumbai wont be subscribing for the channel due to the high subscription fees(as high as Rs.28)Quite Ironic because we will be playing our most important series in the coming months and it won`t be on air (for most of us). In all the mess and the tussle between the cable operator and the Television Channels, it is the consumer which suffers.This is a part of the tragedy called `Indian Cricket` and its commercialization. I wonder where all this will lead to. The popularity of any sport depends on its coverage on TV and all this cannot be good for the sport itself.Coming back to the point, I desperately want to catch the India-England test series, which I understand , won`t be on DD as well.If STARCRICKET is available on TATASky, which I presume will be , I still consider the option of moving to TATA.__________________Na, the DD guys only show matches of `national importance` .While they consider the `India-Bangladesh ODIs` as nationally important, they do not care whether people get to watch good test cricket.All the national importance reason is humbug and the only reason is that they are more interested in the revenue generated which is more with the telecast of ODIs than tests.We`ll have to catch the action on cricinfo 3d yet again.When the courts made the ruling, they considered only ODI cricket would be popular enough for the general public (which is generally true--people wouldn't skip work, for example, to watch a test match). Thus DD is required to broadcast only ODI matches, whether they take place at home or away.As for the question of Star Cricket, I think the main blame lies with the conglomerates of cable operators. This is a perfect, live example of why oligarchy's are not good in the long run. The three large cable operators in Mumbai--InCablenet, Hathway and someone else--have in effect held the channels to their mercy. Because viewers will complain and hence in the end the channels will have to give way.What is surprising that even on the DTH services offered by these companies, one cannot get the channel. I can understand that when it comes to normal cable, the cable operators think twice about making an investment (they have to pay Rs. 28 per viewer) but I really cannot see why they don't just offer it to the DTH consumers who would be willing to pay for the channel by itself. I, for one, would happily shell out Rs. 28 for one month of cricket.As usual, I think this mess will resolve itself. For now, the only suggestion I would have is to call your cable operator and give them a piece of your mind, although that won't make much of a difference. You could also write to local newspapers (like Mumbai Mirror or TOI) with your point of view on this fiasco that happens everytime India play abroad.you're really mixing up a few things. It is not Neo Sports fault that Star Cricket isn't being broadcast by the cable operators. Neo Sports has been on the CAS system and all viewers who have registered under CAS will be able to view it.ESPN-Star and cable operators have a history of squabbling which reopens every time an Indian series comes around. In the past, it was because ESPN/Star raised their rates as soon as an Indian series rolled around. This time, they started a new channel. I think I can safely conclude that one of the main reasons this keeps happening is because the cable operator is a middleman who wants to act like a leader. Until we have more direct communication between channels and consumers, we will be at the mercy of this idiocy.So, this problem has been around long before Neo came in the fray.Dunno if this article caused this topic to be started but if it didn't, just an update on the situation. The article in ToI claimed that an ESS spokesperson claimed that "over half of Bombay has access to the channel". Which is simply not enough, in my opinion.__________________don't break don't break my heart and i'll break your heart-shaped glasses

 

[atlantis007]

hai people..........gud news to all people from kerala....star cricket is available on ASIANET DIGITAL SERVICE[ADTV]...Channel number 303...:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:....but stil not available on that stupid Tata Sky:madness:thank god i have both the service....great channel STAR CRICKET it has lot off good cicket programing.....

 

[Sushubh]

dish tv has star sports and espn.am sure Tata Sky can easily get zee sports but they don't want to coz it's a useless channel and they would not like to pay for it.

 

[kunal_janu]

@ dhiraj123 Absolutely right my friend... i stay in chennai and it is the same problem here...I dont think writing into any newspaper is a good idea... as i think they opt for masala content than viwers interest...I just hope the channel is added soon to tata as the loca CAS operators dont give any sort of a response claiming it to be a govt. concerned problem...

 

[jjvj]

hai people..........gud news to all people from kerala....star cricket is available on ASIANET DIGITAL SERVICE[ADTV]...Channel number 303...:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:....but stil not available on that stupid Tata Sky:madness:
thank god i have both the service....great channel STAR CRICKET it has lot off good cicket programing.....

good atleast ADTV is better than these two DTH operators tatasky and dishtv. yes whenever i see the schedule of Star cricket i feel coz of missing all those on DTH. i dont have cable and it is not worth as they dont even provide Espn and star sports , forget about this new channel i think they even dont know that such channel launched.

this is good time for DTH operators to get money and sales as CAS also does not have that channel yet. so if they can add it then their sales will go up .

 

[India]

Well deal is in progress and both DTH players get the feeds from 15 July around. You should know about their postion that they have to add this channel without increase monthly rates. While cable Oprators can do it because they sign 2 months deal only.

 

[reachsuriya]

I checked once again with ESPN office just now. and the official confirmed that Those who has set top boxes will get Star cricket asap. but for sure without any additional rates. regardsSuriya

 

[Harshal]

I think when Tata Sky dropped 13 zee + 2 neo channels then they did not reduced monthly charges.So they should add Star Ckt without increasing per month subscription.

 

[ajuravi007]

I checked once again with ESPN office just now. and the official confirmed that Those who has set top boxes will get Star cricket asap. but for sure without any additional rates.

regards
Suriya

I guess you are saying about the CAS in Chennai but what about DTH?

 

[kunal_janu]

yes matchi... wat abt DTH....:O When is it coming on Tata Sky...Any info please post...