For salvaging Arasu cable TV, minister is appointed as the head by the government
Posted on: 24/Jul/2019 10:00:22 AM
The subscriber base has been falling for the TN Arasu Cable Corporation Ltd or TACTV in the last few years. The news is for the sake of reviving the prospects of this TACTV and to stop the falling subscriber base the state government has done this now.
Information gathered is the government had appointed Mr. U. Radhakrishnan, animal husbandry minister, as the chairman of TACTV. It must not be forgotten that Mr. Radhakrishnan held the post of chairman from 2011 to 2016. In the 2011 elections, Mr. Radhakrishnan was elected to the assembly from Udumalpet and he was once a small time cable TV operator is known.
Former TN chief minister Dr. J. Jalyalalitha had plans to revive Arasu Cable TV and hence she made Mr. U. Radhakrishnan as the chairman of Arasu Cable TV at that time.
Of late, local cable operators or LCO have been deserting the Arasu Cable TV. It is now believed that the move of making animal husbandry minister as the chief of this Arasu Cable TV would exert pressure on these LCO�s. It is interesting to mention here that this move would also result in turf war because of the fact that TACTV comes under InformationTechnology department headed by Mr. M. Manikandan.
Point to be noted is in 2017-18 TN procured around 3.4 million set top boxes or STB and then distributed to its subscribers. To own these STB�s a subscriber has to pay Rs 42 per month for 3 years in addition to their monthly cable subscription charges.
Information collected is after digitization and the new tariff order or NTO the monthly subscription charges rose to RS 270 to Rs 300 for Arasu Cable. Private multi- system operators or MSO charge just Rs 100. It has been pointed out by a source that in the last few months 1.2 million subscribers opted for private MSO�s.
There are 3 main challenge faced by Arasu Cable TV now and these are higher monthly subscription charges, collection of EMIs and lack of subsidy from the government. This was due to the fact that the new tariff regime treats every service provider equally.
It was later mentioned by some sources that the senior officials in the government have opposed any move to cross subsidize cable service operations. To tackle the migration of subscribers and to stop the dwindling revenues of Arasu Cable TV, the government made the plan of appointing Mr. Radhakrishnan as the chief of TACTV.
Government had invested close to Rs 300 crores on the set top boxes or STB. It is brought out that to recover this amount also government made this move. As per the sources it is clear that the minister or politician would be the correct person to tackle the above said issues.
