Kahani CAS ki ran into its longest episode today, with the re-entry of PMO man Sudheendra Kulkarni and old cast Star, Sony, ESPN and Discovery and I&B Ministry officials spending close to 420 minutes to arrive at the same conclusions as two days ago. While the first half saw broadcasters spending time in the company of Kulkarni, in the second half, they were left to themselves to mull over the suggestions made (the PMO man joined them again towards the end).While sources suggested the meeting was facilitated by I&B Ministry to resolve the CAS tangle, it remains as untangled as ever. An unexpected twist did come about when officials suggested that all channels should turn free-to-air till CAS was implemented in the four metros, but broadcasters were quick to reject it. So, at the risk of repeating for the nth time, CAS will be introduced on July 15, possibly with another notification thrown in to bring changes to the original notification to enable pay channels to be made available without set-top boxes.More or less, the same was suggested last night and day before that. How that will happen is a different story. What it means is status quo for the consumer who will pay exactly what he is paying today on July 15. So, expect cable rates to be between Rs 150 and Rs 350 post-July 15. Broadcasters also stuck to their original lines when they said dual feed was the only way to ensure a smooth implementation of CAS. Dual feed means encrypted channels being made available to consumers without a set-top box. The idea has been rejected by multi-service operators and last-mile operators as technically feasible but practically impossible due to non-availability of bandwith.Broadcasters also contested the price lists that had been put by the media. ‘‘Reports in the press mention Rs 530 which is not true,’’ said MD, Discovery India, Deepak Shourie. Last time, Peter Mukherjea of Star had said that people with ‘‘limited intelligence’’ had misread his price list. It is also learnt that the decision to meet up with the broadcasters was taken last night by the PMO, and comes in the wake of cable operators’ threat to hike cable rates and broadcasters’ submission of their price lists, which I&B ministry officials found a little on the high side. Broadcasters Star, Sony and Discovery contested the claim today. It’s for the third time that the PMO has stepped in to unravel CAS for the I&B Ministry. I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had met PM A.B. Vajpayee on two occasions and was told to implement CAS in as consumer-friendly manner as possible. While the minister assured that cable bills would be contained at Rs 200 per month, broadcasters came out with a list that crossed Rs 240. That’s exactly where the matter rests today.
