MUMBAI: Setting aside their differences, IndiaCast Media Distribution Pvt Ltd (IndiaCast) and Hathway Digital finally came to an agreement on Wednesday and signed a deal. As a result, IndiaCast, the content monetisation arm of TV18 and Viacom18, has switched on the signals of its channels to the multi-system operator (MSO).
The deal came to fruition after the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), on Wednesday, ordered the companies to restore signals.
The parties have agreed to sign a one-year fixed fee deal until 31 March 2019.
Earlier, IndiaCast channels had been pulled off from Hathway. Despite several meetings, Hathway could not fulfill the growth aspiration of IndiaCast in terms of the carriage and subscription fees. The subscription and carriage agreements between Hathway and IndiaCast had expired on 31 March 2018.
On 1 April 2018, IndiaCast issued a 21-day public notice to Hathway to meet regulatory requirements. Earlier, reports stated that the notice was issued due to non-payment of dues, non-submission of monthly subscriber reports, under-declaration of subscribers, failure to allow an audit of systems and unauthorised retransmission of channels.
Across the cable industry, multi-system operators (MSOs) are now doing fixed-fee deals. While all the players are waiting for the new tariff order, due to the delay in the roll out, cable operators are relying on fixed-fee deals only. To move forward with these fixed-fee deals, the parties negotiate on the last fee structure and agree on certain percentage growth.
The disagreement between IndiaCast and Hathway came about with the renewal of these deals. As IndiaCast acquired Turner channels recently, the distribution company demanded more subscription money than ZEE.
Though IndiaCast was due to switch off its channels on 21 April, it eventually pulled off from Hathway on 25 April. Other than the disagreement on the hike in fees, IndiaCast had also asked Hathway for a two-year commitment and was not satisfied with the format of the subscription report.
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