NEW DELHI, NOV 15: In her attempts to rid television of obscene and objectionable programmes, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj has taken the morality debate right into people's drawing rooms. After the request to the Central Monitoring Cell nearly a fortnight ago, Sushma has now focussed her sights on addressable set-top boxes - little black objects that will carry her wish to all cable households.After all, soon after taking over the reigns of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Sushma had remarked, that she would like the family to act as the final watchdog. Determined to take up the issue with the Consultative Committee on November 19, this time around, Sushma evidently means business. But will addressable set-top boxes help? More importantly, who will it benefit?If cable operators are to be believed, pornography could actually find a legitimate platform. ``There is no way the Government can stop cable operators from showing adult fare if the subscribers themselves ask for it and decide to pay for the services. We can always show adult fare on our private video channel,'' cable operators say.There are others who feel that families can go a long way to keep Swaraj's dreams true. ``The addressable set-top boxes will come with a locking device that will help parents to block out programmes that they do not want their children to see,'' a cable operator said.Morality debate aside, the addressable set-top boxes, will be a cheaper alternative to the more expensive Direct to Home television. The subscriber will only have to shell out Rs 4,500 to get his addressibility box. The subscriber will get two or three-tired services. The first will be a clutch of 30-40 free-to-air programmes (DD channels and other channels that are currently free). The second tier will be the premium channels, comprising HBO, clutch of Star channels, ZEE's channels and others.The platinum channels will comprise of sports channels, concentrating on an event-to-event basis. In the West, the platinum channels also offer adult fare for the subscriber who will pay for it.While the first tier comes free, the subscriber will have to pay for the second and the third tier, payments could vary between Rs 20 and Rs 30 per channel - adding up to nearly Rs 600 per month.The control will be in the hands of the cable operator who will not only have a subscriber management in place, but will also be in a position to lock and unscramble channels according to the subscriber's choice. It works both ways. The cable operator will not be forced to pay to the Broadcaster and the customer need not pay for channels he doesn't want to see. The TRP ratings will perhaps get more realistic.On the flip side, Swaraj will probably end up creating a market for DTH. Once people get hooked on to the set-top boxes, there is no reason why they will not opt for DTH in the long run. But the big question is whether people will pay Rs 4,500. Swaraj's assurances that she will arrange for a finance mechanism for the subscriber will go down well, if she matches it with action.
