Family drama makes Karunanidhi govt switch channels

When it was launched,the government-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation was touted as the prize fighter created...

When it was launched,the government-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation was touted as the prize fighter created by CM M Karunanidhi to take the fight with the Maran brothers to their camp. A year after the patch-up in the DMK family,the Corporation remains a white elephant,having wasted over Rs 50 crore of public money.

Though momentary,the Corporation had challenged the dominance of Maran-owned Sun Groups cable distribution network,Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV),the monopoly operator which apparently ensured that Sun TV and its bouquet remain the top channels to watch and advertise. However,despite the massive interest it created,the government stopped in its tracks after the family patched up,without citing any reasons officially. The state-of-the-art equipment,including head-end unit,is lying idle.

The dejected local cable operators,who once formed a beeline to join the government-run network,have now returned to the SCV fold. The advisory committee,said a member,met once. Arasu Corporation ended up as an expensive,sophisticated dud.

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It was a dream start for a government entity that once planned to take on private operators. But confusion began as soon as they sorted out the issues within the family. At present,the Corporation is a non-starter and the situation is highly unlikely to change, said a government official.

The Corporation began in right earnest,drawing up plans to set up operations across the state as both a multi-system operator and cable operator. Latest digital head-ends were set up at Thanjavur,Coimbatore,Vellore and Thirunelveli,and optical fibre cables were laid or leased from government agencies to cover every corner of Tamil Nadu. Proposals were forwarded to buy several million set-top boxes for distribution in areas with conditional access system.

As officials pursued this task with a single-minded sense of purpose,thousands of cable operators,who have been at the receiving end many times in the past,queued up to register and get feeds from the government entity. The rates at Rs 100 for 75 channels including 22 paid channels were attractive for both the operators and the general public.

We were happy about the terms and conditions and were convinced that this is a good business opportunity. There was security and independence from private interests. The only problem initially was Sun Group refusing to share its feed. Even this was sorted out in February last year when they agreed to share feed with ACTVC after being challenged at the TDSAT, said N Yuvaraj,office bearer of Arasu Cable Operators Association and an operator in Coimbatore.

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The move to end the monopoly that the Maran brothers,Kalanidhi and Union minister Dayanidhi,have on regional satellite channels and distribution was triggered by the bitter spat within the family in 2007. When the grandnephews went against Karunanidhis advice to refrain from publishing a survey that put his elder son and present Union minister M K Alagiri in a poor light,the patriarch responded in three ways: Dayanidhi was expelled from the Cabinet,Kalaignar TV and Kalaignar News were launched with DMK-backing,and the government-run Arasu was also launched.

The Maran brothers draw their clout and financial muscle from their control over cable TV distribution across the state. In satellite channel business,the distributor can decide the frequency for each channel. In effect,this means he can control the quality of the visuals and audio you watch. For a broadcaster,this is a significant advantage to push his own channels, said P Shakilan,state president of Thamizhaga Cable TV Operators General Welfare Association and an advisory committee member of ACTVC.

There were sideshows even as the main drama unfolded. Alagiri launched his MSO,Royal Cable Vision; Dayanidhi alleged operators affiliated to SCV were being harassed; Hathway,after exiting the scene,re-entered the market. All these,however,were short-lived. Operators returned to SCV and Hathway vacated yet again.