NEW DELHI: It may or may not spark off a trend, but in a quiet way, Zee Turner has conveyed to multi-system operators in Delhi that in view of the rollout of addressability in certain parts of the city, subscription price for Zee News would not be charged.
Even as Zee News technically turns free to air (FTA) for South Delhi, Star has priced its newest acquisition, The History Channel, at Rs 15, slightly less than Star Plus and Star Movies a la carte price.
Both the developments were confirmed by MSOs in Delhi where they are preparing to route the pay channels through the boxes from Sunday midnight in South Delhi areas.
It seems that Zee hasnt yet made it official, but in the Zee Turner bouquet, the column next to Zee News has been left blank. We have also been told that no price would be charged for the news channel by Zee Turner people, said a senior executive of an MSO.
Since Zee Turner could not be contacted despite attempts to seek clarifications from the company CEO, Sunil Khanna, the reason behind initiating such a move could not be ascertained.
Zee News head Laxmi N. Goel had told indiantelevision.com a few days ago that Zee News subscription revenue has been showing an upward trend. Turning FTA, even for a short period of time in a limited area, may tell on the total revenue mop up of the channel.
Though Chennai, where CAS has been implemented, cannot be used as a true example of success or failure of addressability, but even there some channels like Star Vijay had turned FTA from being pay.