My take on CAS

The long wait is finally over and the CAS (Conditional Access System) is ready to be rolled out from 31st Dec 2006 in Mumbai and few other metros. It is said that it will change television viewing experience completely. Thus it lends itself to discussions and evaluations. Lets have a look at what it is.

The Story so far

Let’s have a brief recap of the scheme of events (especially for those who came in late). Till the 1991 era our life was simple and we were content with 2 television channels viz. DD1 and DD Metro. The programs aired on these 2 channels were sufficient for our appetite simply because we had no other option. However thanks to Rupert Murdoch and his Star TV, we got access to various “international” channels with the help of a white cable wire (which later turned into black, much like the cable businessJ).


Later Indian channels like Zee and Sony entered this market. Initially all these channels were free and we paid only Rs. 80 to 100 per month for cable connection. Once our luxury became a necessity, the channel owners’ i.e. the broadcasters started converting free channels into pay channels. The rates were fixed per channel – per subscriber basis. For instance, each household had to pay about Rs. 50 only two sports channels, Star Sports and ESPN. Obviously a household paying Rs. 100 for all the channels would not suddenly start paying 50% more. The cable operators understood this very well. Therefore, they allegedly started under quoting their subscriber base. Thus if an operator serviced 50 homes he would quote only 10 and make payments of pay channels for 10 homes only. The basic calculations were done and the monthly rentals for each of the 50 homes did not increase substantially.


The broadcasters were well aware of this and sometimes even stopped signals of certain channels to some operators. In the bargain the subscriber had to suffer. The broadcaster would have probably priced his channels on a higher side because the number of subscribers was few since they were under quoted by the cable operators. The viewers were not able to select a particular channel as they had to stick whatever package their operators offered. They invariable ended up paying for the channels which they did not want at all.


In short the cable market was highly unorganized and the prices were fixed without any economics. The consumer had to suffer.


What is CAS


CAS – Conditional Access system. It is all set to organize the cable industry and it is also very likely to benefit the consumers.


All the available channels are classified in two types, pay channel and free to air (FTA) channels.

With CAS each household with cable connection has the right to receive at least 30 FTA channels (the number will definitely increase) and it will also have an option of choosing only those pay channels that it wants.
The ceiling of M.R.P for each pay channel is Rs. 5 as per TRAI guidelines. The monthly rental for FTA channels is Rs. 72 plus service tax. To view pay channels the subscriber has to avail a Set top box (STB). Without it he can only view FTA channels.
STB are available under various schemes, starting at a rental of Re. 1 per day.

What to watch out for


I personally feel that CAS will eventually benefit the user because of the following:


One of the hurdles for the success of CAS is the purchase/ rentals of STB. The typical Indian consumer may not want to do that. The broadcasters of pay channels will never want to miss reaching their subscriber, the target base of their advertisers. They are likely to offer their pay channels for free for an initial period of few months.
With CAS the exact number of subscribers of each pay channel can be ascertained, and this will lead to a correction in the channel rates.
The core economics of demand and supply will determine the rates. With the already fierce competition between ZEE, STAR and SONY there will be another price war and like the telecom industry the consumers will benefit.
The STB offer better picture quality than our normal cable input. It has other interactive features too. It makes TV viewing more enjoyable, and interactive. (for more on STB wait for my next feature)

Conclusion

I think the implementation of CAS is very good step taken by our government. We as consumers should take full benefit of this and exploit the opportunity. If possible ask your cable operator to install the STB in your home for a trail period of 15 to 20 days. He is more likely to agree for it. And as they say in the Melody commercial “STB lagwao khud jaan jao”