Tata Sky Removes Sony Ten 2, Other Channels Over Pricing Issue

Tata Sky, the most popular DTH provider in India, made an unexpected move on 1 October that hasn’t gone down well with its consumers. As Tata Sky removes Sony Ten 2 and 31 other channels of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) and three channels of India Today Network over pricing issues, customers were in for a rude shock. Those venting their ire on social media platforms are especially those who were looking forward to watching the UEFA Champions League. Although fans can still watch UCL live online for free on their mobile devices, they continue to tweet to Tata Sky to bring Sony channels back on TV.

“Oh man! Its UCL today and its gonna air at Sony Ten 2 but unfortunately I am in with Tata Sky, good grief”, says Mitalee Rishi under the hashtag SONYTen2ShuruKaroTataSky on Twitter. Viewers have the option to either give a missed call to the number specified on their television sets to restart the channel on Tata Sky or can log on to www.sonyliv.com to catch the match live.

Popular TV channels that include Sony Max, SAB, AXN, Sony Pix, Aaj Tak, Sony Ten, India Today TV have all been taken off air. Tata Sky’s subscriber base was at nearly 10 million three years ago, which has now gone up to 16 million and SPN is eying a higher share of revenue from the DTH player, says a report on the Economic Times.

SPN’s three year distribution deal with the DTH provider expired two months ago and the two had since been renegotiating a deal, according to media reports. SPN  seeking a higher share of revenue is what lead to the breakdown in talks, says Tata Sky.

Tata Sky is a direct broadcast satellite television provider in India, which uses MPEG-4 digital compression technology that transmits using INSAT-4A and GSAT-10 satellite. Recently, Skyworth Digital, the world’s largest ODM for set-top-boxes, was selected by Tata Sky to supply its newest DVB-S2 set-top box in India.