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NEW DELHI: Content exclusivity, the USP of DTH operators globally, will not be permitted in India in the near future. Telecom regulator Trai which is set to issue guidelines for the DTH sector by month end will rule that content exclusivity can be allowed in India only after the DTH market matures and reaches critical mass. This implies that for the time being, no DTH player will be able to offer any particular channel exclusively to its subscribers and no broadcaster can have any special tie-up with any DTH player. Trai, when it issues guidelines for the sector, will therefore state that the present ‘must carry’ clause be retained. According to the ‘must carry’ clause mentioned in the DTH license regulations, DTH operators are liable to provide access to content providers and broadcasters on non-discriminatory basis. Even as it will makes it mandatory for broadcasters to provide all channels to DTH players on a non-discriminatory basis, the regulator is also taking stock of the fact that DTH operators may not be in a position to carry every single channel. This is because their capacity is currently limited by the capacity of the equipment installed at the earth station as well as the number of transponders available on the satellites having their footprint over the country. Trai is, therefore, looking at two options: Mandate that DTH players carry at least five channels per group, or mandate that channels be carried based on the popularity of their content. The industry is divided on the issue of content exclusivity with players like Tata Sky demanding that partial exclusivity be permitted as this could be a vital differentiator between DTH players. Tata Sky managing director Vikram Kaushik believes that if partial exclusivity of content is allowed on DTH, it will be an incentive for customers to invest on set-top-box. “In fact, lack of content exclusivity will discourage rather than encourage competition,” he said Bharti Airtel, which will launch its DTH services by the year end, wants the ‘must carry’ clause to be done away with. The company in its response to the Trai’s consultation paper also said that since there is paucity of transponders on Indian territories its not technically feasible to carry all channels and therefore there is a need to review the “must carry clause”. The only other operational DTH operator, Dish TV, however, supports non-exclusivity of distribution.“ The ‘must carry regulation’ is needed to check discriminatory behaviour and safeguard the interests of content providers. There should be no amendment in the clause,” said Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel. Dish TV has found an ally in Sun TV which has said that there should be no change in the ‘must carry’ clause and operators should not be allowed to air any exclusive content to check on discriminatory behaviour. Sun TV is set to launch its DTH venture shortly.
