Star flickers on WC sky

VADODARA, May 13: It8217;s a worst-case scenario, but unfortunately it8217;s upon us. With the world cup due to start on Friday, sports enthusiasts in the city found on Thursday that Star Sports, one of the two cable channels showing the matches live, and Star Plus were off the air. And, though reports came in late at night of ths sports channel being restored in some areas, the uncertainty hung in the air like a looping Warne wrong 8216;un.

The problem revolves, of course, round money. Speaking to Express Newsline, city Cable Operators8217; Association president Jayesh Patel said, 8220;Though we pay our monthly rent, Star TV was revising its charges at frequent intervals. This caused us much inconvenience.8221; A few months ago, the charge was Rs 3.40 per subscriber; the rate has now been raised to Rs 5. 8220;It is very difficult for us to adjust to the rates so frequently,8221; said Patel. When told that subscribers were suffering even more, perhaps, with the world cup approaching, Patel said only Star8217;s head office could sort out the problem.