Recently it is reported that the three broadcasters, Star, Zee and Sony have disconnected the signals of their channels. Amid all this, All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) has reached out to advertisers and cautioned them from advertising on these channels.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has amended the New Tariff Order (NTO 3.0). Distribution Platform Operators (DPO) who have not signed the interconnection deal as per the provisions of the new amendment, the three broadcasting channels have deactivated their signals from them.
As reported, due to this blackout of channels, more than 20.25 crores of viewers have not seen any of these channels since Saturday morning, 18 February 2023. From these last days, every day around 4600 crore minutes of viewing time is lost and 25% of linear TV marketing is not getting Star, Zee, and Sony channels. As a result there is no viewership of these channels which is directly impacting the advertisers. They are not getting the reach they have paid for advertising on these big channels.
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AIDCF cautioned the advertisers and said in a statement, “The recent actions by Disney-Star, Sony and Zee have deprived more than 45 million households across India of watching their channels since Saturday, February 18, 2023. The 45 million homes account for nearly 35% of the pay TV market in India. Are you still getting the reach that you have paid for?”
Adding to this the federation said, “Your advertisements are not reaching more than 200 million consumers across all states and Union Territories in India for the past three days. More than 46 billion minutes of viewing time are being lost per day across India on the largest cable networks in India including GTPL, DEN, Hathway, Fastway, In Cable, NXT Digital, Asianet, KCCL, UCN and many more.”
“These networks cater to large audiences in HSM as well as South with a dominant presence in Punjab/Haryana/Chandigarh/HP, UP/Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal/Odisha, Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh, Bihar/Jharkhand, North-East, AP/Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, etc,” they further added.
“Take an informed decision when you advertise on any of the channels including Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony Entertainment, Sony Sab, Star Sports, Sony Sports, Star Gold, Sony Max, Zee Cinema, etc. These channels are not being viewed by more than 4,50,00,000 homes translating to more than 20,25,00,000 (20.25 crore) viewers. It is your right to ask for viewership when you’re paying for it,” the federation concluded.