Now Talking TV: Interview with Anees Ul Haq, Suroor TV.
Duration: 00:46:25; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 21.076; Saturation: 0.258; Lightness: 0.315; Volume: 0.194; Cuts per Minute: 8.659; Words per Minute: 125.702
Summary: Kashif Haq, a young 25 year old entrepreneur, started a Deccani/ Urdu television channel, which he operated from his home in Cox Town, Bangalore. We followed him home to see the studio and were introduced to his father. Incidentally his father turned out to be Anees Ul Haq, the former Deputy Director General of Doordarshan. What followed was an interesting interview in which he traces the history of the expansion of cable TV, and the difficulties of running a free-to-air television channel in the age of MSO monopolies. He highlights the importance of local and regional media in bringing about change. He also makes mention of the futility of the TRAI rules because of its lack of implementation. He also brings to light the issues facing effective community media in the current scenario.
Kashif Haq (KH), a young entrepreneur who attempted to start up an Urdu channel 'Suroor TV', his father Anees Ul Haq (AH), the former Deputy Director General of
Doordarshan, and D. H. Lokesh (LK), a local cable operator in Bangalore discuss the current media situation, particularly with regard to the monopolistic tendencies of the MSOs.
LK:__________ Whether the customer likes the channel or not, just give us the channel and the problem is solved.
AH: With Bisleri bottles in hand, you've become their slaves.
LK:__________
SA: And this has been happening for how many years?
AH: From '97 onwards.
SA: So this is before CAS. Can you give us a brief history, from satellite TV coming to India to today?
AH: Doordarshan had the monopoly. I was the Deputy Director General, Doordarshan. I was looking after this satellite business also. Once the private channels came up, they were welcomed. The Government of India and our ministry, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, tried to encourage the private satellite channels to come up because we were not in a position to utilise the talent available in our country. When the satellites came, naturally every cable operator was using his own dish antenna. They would receive the signals from the satellites and then the signals were disseminated to the viewers.
Doordarshan
cable operator
dish antennas
disseminate
monopoly
private channels
satellite TV
signals
Coxtown,Shivajinagar,Bangalore
information
media
SA: So, at that time, what did it take to become a cable operator? You just needed to buy a powerful dish. What were the legalities of it? Can we talk in Hindi or Urdu?
AH: Yes, of course. One just needed to buy a dish, receive the signals and disseminate it to the consumers, that was all. Now after that, Siti Cable, Hathaways, MSOs, etc, came into the picture. After they came, three major players came to Bangalore.
(Phone rings.)
Shaina Anand (SA) attempts to direct the conversation towards the history of cable operators in India.
Bangalore
MSO
cable operator
satellite TV
signals
AH provides a basic background with regard to the history of Indian Television.
SA: Can you please repeat that bit about ' just needing a dish', in Urdu?
AH: Yes, of course. In 1984-85 when Doordarshan had a monopoly, the places which didn't have transmitters installed, there Shyam introduced the Dish. So some people in small villages and towns bought dish antennas; they would receive the signals directly from Doordarshan and transmit it to people using cables. Then gradually, as the air waves were opened, Zee TV and Star TV came on to the scene...
(Phone Rings.)
AH: ... After that, cable operators came up everywhere and they started putting up dishes. Because Doordarshan, Star TV, Zee TV all had different satellites, they had to install different dishes. Now, at that point of time dishes were not as cheap as they are now. So naturally they had to depend on someone who could take the signals from all these satellites, and pass it on to them. So the people who didn't have a lot of money, which is a probable scenario for small entrepreneurs in India, they found it easy to take it from the big players and disseminate the signals.
Doordarshan
TV signals
cable operators
dish antennas
satellite
transmitters
AH expands on how the MSOs began their monopoly via pay channels such as ESPN.
AH: In the beginning, these big players like Siti Cable, Hathaway, In Cable and ____ came, and divided their areas. After dividing the areas, they were transmitting the free channels. Then suddenly ESPN came and bought all the rates for sports. Now Doordarshan hadn't bought those rates, and the people who wanted to see cricket matches, like the Sahara Cup, couldn't watch it on Doordarshan. Everyone knows that after the 'battle' that ensued between Doordarshan and ESPN, it was shared by both. The 'public' wanted to see those matches so the cable operators converted ESPN into a 'pay channel.' Being converted into a 'pay channel' was the beginning of the monopoly. They distribute the areas among themselves, and after the distribution, the independent cable operators became their
gulam (slaves). Now it is their work to take the signals from the big players, collect the money from the consumers and deliver it to them.
Doordarshan
ESPN
MSO
cable operators
gulam
pay channel
rates
sports
AH: Now the independent cable operators had no choice, MSO had the choice. ____ had the choice. Then there is the question of narrow casting. Now you know a that all of a sudden nobody is opposed to foreign channels coming to India or Indian channels going abroad. But despite that, India is so ethnic, religiously, linguistically and otherwise. And so when the concept of narrow channels was on the rise, the government of India formulated the TRAI rules to encourage this phenomenon. Now, according to TRAI, the cable operators must give the consumers channels of their choice. Now these signals should have been taken by MSO, but MSO didn't want to do this. Now, when we talk about Suroor TV...
The conversation moves to the need for the
TRAI as a regulatory authority.
India
MSO
TRAI
cable operators
choice
consumer
government
narrow casting
signals
AH explains why Suroor TV was targeted by the MSOs.
SA: MSO would also benefit if the local people wanted to watch Suroor TV; why don't they want to take the signals?
AH: Siti Cable was taking our signals and we were paying them carriage fee. We were new to this field of narrow casting, and while signing the agreements we overlooked one clause. That clause stated that Siti Cable will have the exclusive right over the signals of Suroor TV. When Suroor TV became popular in all those places in Bangalore, where Siti Cable was transmitting it, there was a demand for it in other parts too. When the demand for it increased in other parts I presume that Siti Cable asked Hathaway and In Cable to pay them for it. Siti Cable was taking money from us and also demanding money from them. And because of this, the 18 lakh-strong Urdu speaking population of Bangalore, whose mother tongue is Urdu, and 40 lakh people whose second language is Urdu, the people who migrated from North India particularly Punjab east, liked Suroor TV and demanded it. The cable operators and the consumers demanded it. But Hathaway and In Cable refused to take the signals. When Siti Cable saw that Suroor TV is becoming popular and the ratings for Star TV, etc were going down, they stopped showing it. Even though according to TRAI, if the broadcaster is giving free signals, it is a must for the cable operators to take the signals and pass it on to the consumers, they are refusing to do that.
Bangalore
MSO
Punjab East
Suroor TV
TRAI
Urdu speaking
carriage fee
consumer
demand
language
narrow casting
popular
signals
AH expands on the illegal fees they were forced to pay in order to broadcast Suroor TV, and the reasons why the other MSOs refused to assist them despite the channel doing extremely well.
SA: Is carriage fee legal?
AH: No, carriage fee is not legal.
SA: It's not. You are giving them programming and they have the network, so they have to give it.
AH: Even though carriage fee was illegal, we were paying it. But the other two players did not support us because of our agreement with Siti Cable.
SA: So it was like a contract.
AH: It was a contract. And after the contract was broken, all these three players decided not to encourage this endeavour.
SA: But why? What are your feelings?
AH: All I can say about feelings is that the people who like to watch their programs in the regional languages, they are not worried about what's going on in France, or even Lucknow for that matter. They are worried only about the local happenings. They want to hear about their own people, people they know. Till the time the local society is not encouraged to find out about its own goings on, looking outwards is almost like (____
ka Ujala) having a distorted perspective. The locals wanted to run away from this phenomenon and that's where popularity lies.
Community media
Local
MSO
carriage fee
content
programming
regional languages
AH: You know that each language has its regional dialects. It gets changed, even the style of laughing changes. The things that might seem humorous to a
Lucknowvi (person from Lucknow) or a
Kalkattawala (person from Kolkatta) might not appear funny to someone from Bangalore and vice versa. We have our culture, traditions and (_____tehzibo___). For example, it is said that... I'll tell you in a bit. There is a word,
kilna, which you won't find in any other language.
SA: It's in which language?
AH: It's a local expression used here -
Kil, Kil kar hagna. The pain that a constipated person experiences while passing motions in the morning is called
kilna.
SA: (laughs)
AH: Or if someone is stingy or not forthcoming, then it is said
Kya kil kil kar aa raha hai. The people from Bangalore and Karnataka who might enjoy this expression, will not find it on any other channel.
Ah discusses the different regional dialects (and underlying culture), and the appeal of the same for the public.
Bangalore
Kalkattawala
Karnataka
Lucknowvi
Suroor TV
community media
expression
humor
local channel
regional
AH talks about Suroor TV providing information that is specific to the region itself, and the people there.
AH: Similarly, there are many other things specific to our region, like the Sufis, the temples and their traditions. Will the people be happy if we show them these things they can relate to, or _______?
SA: That's true.
AH: So these were the things which attracted the viewers to our programs. For the 19 months, or one and a half year that it was on air, it was really popular, especially with the women. The first and foremost thing is to bring a kind of awakening among the ladies. You might know that the Urdu-speaking women don't have a lot of exposure to the world. If they have a choice, will showing them something in their language, in keeping with their traditions be appreciated? Or using another language? Watching it because there is no other choice is different from watching it out of interest. Our programs had captured their minds; they had religion, entertainment, information. They provided these women with everything they wanted to watch. And this affected the bigger players.
Local
Suroor TV
Urdu
choice
community media
culture
media content
popular
regional language
viewers
SA:
Saas Bahu (mother in law, daughter in law) kind of stories?
AH: Yes, this conflict between
Saas Bahu exists in each house. But the
andaaz (style) of showing it will be completely different.
SA: It'll have a different
andaaz. The
mulyas (values) will be different.
AH: This is why narrow casting is important. A lot of people talk about it, the government, broadcasters and journalists... But what is being done to encourage it? Nothing. Now this rule doesn't apply...
SA: But why is this the case? It's strange that no local channels are able to stick around for long? The programming is great, people like it...
KH: It affects the interests of the bigger players. In the case of Suroor TV, towards the end we got calls from some cable operators from Infantry Road; they said change the timings of your programs because it's clashing with the timings of some shows on Star TV and Sony, and people have to watch it. So small channels affect the big players. And if you're doing narrow casting, showing your traditions and culture, nobody will sit and watch that. When their demands are being catered to here, they will not go to the others and so it will be a loss to the big players.
The discussion moves to the need for narrow casting, and the effect of the growing popularity of a small, free channel on previously established pay channels.
Saas Bahu
Suroor TV
andaaz
cable operators
community media
culture
local channels
media content
mulya
narrow casting
style
values
KH: I just came to know from Lokesh that Star TV is of ZEE TV. Hathaway has a very good partnership with Star TV, and In Cable has a partnership with Sony TV. And the MSOs, the multi system operators, are also involved. So it's a big game.
SA: They are being paid by Sony.
KH: No, they have a tie-up with them. That's what I was talking about. If Lokesh or any cable operators want to start independently, they can't do it because they will not get links of Star TV, Sony and the other channels. If he wants the links of these channels, he has to go to MSO. He doesn't have another option, and that's the problem.
SA: There really is no other option.
KH: At the high levels, it's very much organised.
SA: So that means today there really is no other option. The MSO has exclusive rights...
KH: No, they don't have any other options.
SA: They can only show free-to-air channels.
KH: No, there is nothing else they can show, except DTH.
LK: No, we can't even give DTH in the line.
KH: You can't give DTH by line?
The conversation now covers the problems faced by cable operators that wish to be independent of the MSOs, as well the incipient arrival of
DTH.
DTH
MSO
cable operators
channels
exclusive rights
free to air
links
partnership
satellite TV
SA: It has to be in the house.
LK: We can't put a personal DTH. We can't give it in line.
AH: Everything is on the market. If you go to DTH, you have to depend on the channel that has provided that particular DTH. So if you have three DTH, then a house has to have three receivers. And only through those receivers they can receive the signals. The cable operator does not have the independence to take the DTH of Doordarshan, a DTH of ZEE, a DTH of ___ to disseminate these channels to the consumers. And you know the number of cable operators we have in India. And all these people will become unemployed if this condition is applied to them. If the cable operator is allowed to take the DTH signal of ZEE and distribute it to his consumers, ZEE will loose many missionaries. They won't have the captive audience through that platform. So if the DTH comes, they should allow the cable operators also to disseminate the signals of those channels. Why the hell should they be stopped?
The discussion revolves around the arrival of
DTH and the fact that it is unlikely to break the current monopoly of the MSOs.
DTH
India
Satellite TV
cable operators
captive audience
consumers
disseminate
independently
receivers
signals
unemployed
AH discusses the TRAI's lack of action in enforcing their regulations.
AH: These people are not following the present TRAI rules, which clearly say that they have to...
SA: But how does one challenge this?W hen there is no law and the TRAI rules say that it's mandatory to...
AH: Yes, it's mandatory. But they are not following it, and there is no law to force them. And they say that "you go to the consumer court." What is the meaning of courts in India? The complainant suffers, not the accused. So naturally people will not go to the court. They should implemented in a way that the license of the MSO should be cancelled for refusal to provide services. Instead of that, they will be beating the
danda (stick) over the heads of the cable operators. What can they do? They are doing their job only to feed their families. They can't depend on the government for employment. They have their own problems, and because of that they've opened their own set-ups. The implementing authorities harass them instead of telling the MSOs to provide.
MSO
TRAI
authorities
cable operators
consumer court
danda
law
license
mandatory
rules
AH discusses the TRAI's lack of action in enforcing their regulations.
AH: There was a letter to the MP by the TRAI people saying that they could not force the MSOs to provide. They said that if the systems are digitised, it will become possible to disseminate 300 channels. But some of the MSOs already have this system in place.
KH: The funniest part is they agree with us; they tell us what they are doing is wrong but we cannot force them. When you get a letter from TRAI, the governing authority of cable systems, saying that "what the MSOs are doing is wrong but we cannot force them," then what can I possibly do? You expect me to go the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh? Who else can I go to? It's extremely confusing. We need to have very strong rules and regulations for such things.
SA: You need to advocate a set of rules.
KH: Bangalore alone has 1200 cable operators. The number for all of India will be in lakhs. And there are no policies and laws for them. It's high time the government or the people come up with a set of rules and regulations which can be followed. There are guidelines but they don't help you.
Bangalore
India
MSO
Satellite TV
TRAI
cable operator
cable systems
digitized
governing authority
law
policies
regulations
rules
service providers
AH: The implementation part of these rules is very very weak. There is no local authority here; it is all in the hands of the bureaucrats sitting in Delhi.
SA: What about the cable operator unions?
SF: Actually money plays a very strong role here. Because these people with money can buy the law. They can do whatever they want. They suppress people when their profits are threatened. That's the reason why they are trying to suppress all these local channels.
KH: I was looking for TRAI under which the cable operators come in Bangalore, and found out there's just one TRAI office, that too, in Delhi on Vigyan Road somewhere. And they are supposed to take care of everything. They should have at least one office in Bangalore, where all the people from this state can come and complain about the problems they have. Unfortunately it's not that way.
Bangalore
Delhi
The conversation moves to possible bodies of authority other than the TRAI.
Vigyan Road
TRAI
cable operators
cable service
law
local authority
local channels
money
problems
profits
rules
suppress
SA: And what about right to information?
KH: Right to information, freedom of expression...
SA: But under the right to information... Can this help your case?
KH: It should help us, but who do I go to?
SA: Yes. Where do you begin?
AH: In Karnataka, more than ten percent of the total population, around 70 lakh people have Urdu as their mother tongue. The government media, that is Doordarshan and All India Radio, have 30 minutes of program per week catering to this audience. And then they say that they want this Urdu community to progress. They want us to change our attitudes and move with the mainstream.
SA: There's no access to information.
AH: There's no access to information. When there's no interaction between the intellectuals and the common man, or the government and the common man, how are they expected to progress? How are they going to bring an awakening among them?
The discussion explores the MSOs infringement on the right to information and the freedom of expression.
Karnataka
Urdu
access
community media
development
information
interaction
mainstream
progress
regional language
right
AH reiterates the need for a channel in the dialect of the people of the region.
AH: For example, insurance. Muslims don't get insured. So there are some
Ulemas that say that Muslim people can get insured and some
Ulemas who are against it; so there should be debates on these issues. And if the debates are not in Urdu for the people who have this language as their mother-tongue, then how will they progress? How will you get them in the mainstream? There are issues like education for women, child labour, handicrafts, which need to talked about in the media to expedite India's progress. If one part of a person's body is injured, the rest of the body cannot function with ease. Similarly, don't you think that India's progress is being stalled because this community is not in the mainstream? Now, if the people from the community are trying to change that because of the governments inaction, the government's providing no help to them.
Muslims
Ulemas
community media
debates
government
inaction
information
issues
mainstream
progress
regional language
AH expands on the monopolisation of the media by the big players in India, and discusses the negative aspects of globalisation.
AH: The big players with money are monopolising the media and suppressing the others. The reason why people criticised globalisation was to prevent the local things from dying, and to stop the imposition of other cultures on us.The good things from other cultures will come to be accepted in time, but the media plays an important role in quickening the process. One shouldn't simply assume that because their regions have progressed, it must have been the same for other regions too. Just making the rules and putting them on paper or on the internet will not help. We need those rules to be implemented properly. It's as if they are encouraging the big players while making false promises to everyone else. We cannot accomplish anything this way.
MSO
culture
development
globalisation
implemented
local
media
monopoly
progress
regional
rules
suppress
AH: The right to information, consumer rights, etc, are being trampled underfoot. Authorities think they've done a great thing by making rules. But if those rules are made only to be shown to the union, then they're useless.
SF: If any one from our family had been a politician, this work would have been sorted out in a matter of seconds. They wouldn't have even asked for money, ' He's gonna stand for elections. Lets do his work, and when he wins he'll do ours.' So people will not help in any way unless you can give them something in return. That's another reason why this is happening.
SA: I'm dying to hear some happier stories of Suroor TV. Earlier you were talking about local debates and news analysis, these are things that the society needs via their TV. This is what the housewives need, sitting at home, even if it's something about the next
galli (lane). I feel really happy when I hear these stories. And he was telling me that if Suroor TV would've still been on, it would have been it's second year anniversary tomorrow, on 15th November.
The discussion revolves around the inaction of the authorities in these matters, while Shaina attempts to direct the conversation to happier memories of Suroor TV.
Suroor TV
authorities
community media
consumer rights
gali
implementation
information
injustice
right
rules
LK: We can show you some programs.
KH: We used to get calls from people who liked our programs, asking us to repeat certain shows. They would give us
duaaen (blessings). We still get calls.
SF: Even now when I mention Suroor TV, people still remember it and ask "oh, it was yours?" And one of my friend's brother was cribbing how all the elders in his house would keep watching
Qawwalis on Suroor TV all the time. When I told him it was my brother's, he got so embarrassed, he quickly apologised and left. Then during the program called 'Hello
Manpasand' (favourite) which my brother used to host, we would get so many calls, which showed that people still like old music like Kishor and Mukesh. They never requested hip hop and all that stuff. They'd just say, "please play a song by Kishor, or Mukesh, or Rafi
sahaab." So you actually get to know your culture more.
The conversation moves to memories of Suroor TV.
Manpasand
Qawwalis
Suroor TV
blessings
community media
consumers
content
culture
duaaen
entertainment
feedback
interaction
programs
reactions
response
KH: The interaction part was the best. We used to mostly interact over the phone, so they wouldn't just always appreciate us; they would tell us if they didn't like anything. And we used to get calls like "We went to a wedding last evening and missed that program. Can you please show it again?"
SA:
Arre Wah! (Oh wow!)
KH: When we showed
Mugal-E-Azam on Eid, within 45 minutes of the movie I get four - five calls saying, "we just switched on the TV. Can you please start the movie again?"
SA:
Kya baat hai! (Way to go!)
KH: Five people tell me to put it from the start. If I do that, everyone else watching will abuse me.
SA: But still, at least there was that connection with the audience.
The conversation moves to memories of Suroor TV.
Arre Wah
Kya baat hai
Mugal E Azam
Suroor TV
audience connect
community media
consumer
content
feedback
interaction
response
AH provides an example of when a program on Suroor TV had a direct impact on the people of the area.
AH: There was a discussion. The discussion was - when we go for
Namaz (prayers) on Friday, the
khutba (Islamic sermon) there, it is all about
Aakhirat. About how one should live one's life to get to
Aakhirat.
SA: What does
Aakhirat mean?
AH:
Aakhirat means heaven. The things that you do in this life, to get to heaven are called
Aakhirat. The debate was that if we don't try to make our lives more meaningful in this world, how will we ever get to heaven. And one person said that in the process of bettering our lives, we should not hurt others. He said that when we go for
Namaz on Fridays, we park our vehicles on the road outside the Masjid, and that blocks the traffic and inconveniences others. He said, "why can't the Maulavi
Sahab instruct the people during the
khutba? Instruct the people to park their vehicles in a line so that others are not inconvenienced?" I don't know if the Maulavis heard this, or whether people went and told them about it, or the people themselves wanted to change after hearing this on the show, but next Friday onwards, the parking situation outside the Masjids became disciplined. It had an impact.
SA: A direct impact.
Aakhirat
Namaz
change
community media
development
discussion
impact
local issues
progress
religious topics
AH discusses some of the programs they used to show on Suroor TV.
AH: They realised that while they used to be inside praying, people outside were troubled because of the road being blocked, and were probably abusing them. So, to stop that they started parking in an orderly fashion. We had a similar discussion about cleanliness. People from many societies came to congratulate us saying that, "because of your show, the people in our colonies want to keep their surroundings clean," and were inquiring about which authorities they could complain to for negligence of cleanliness in their areas. And so many social workers came to us. We had a program on health; basically herbal medicines.
SA: These were daily programs?
KH: The programs used to run from 6.30 in the morning to 12 in the night. It was like a proper channel.
SA: And you'd put movies during the day also?
KH: Movies, songs, discussions and serials.
awareness
change
community media
content
discussion
issues
programs
progress
India
Pakistan
SA: And you'd show Pakistani serials, etc?
AH: Yes. They had a lot of demand, so we'd show it.
KH: Yes, people used to enjoy those a lot.
AH: But nobody in India had a copyright for it.
SA: Yes, nobody has it. Earlier we would get VHSs of the same. Now that wealth of information is there - stories,films etc. This is exactly what this conference is also trying to say, that you can't cage these things. They are stories, they are meant to be free. How can you cage them? How can you say that because of the copyright you can't screen them? Tomorrow the laws might become so strict that if I burn a CD and give it to her, both of us might become criminals. This is how the copyright laws are, and it's just absurd.
The conversation expands on the absurdity of certain copyright laws.
channels
copyright
films
free
information
law
stories
AH and KH discuss the fact that when people protested Suroor TV's demise, they were threatened with the cancellation of the only other Urdu channel, QTV.
India
KH: There's another thing. People would call us and ask if we were free on a certain day, and they would have their programs on that day. That has happened a couple of times. If we would be going out, they would reschedule their programs. When programs would happen like workshops and stuff, they would ask us before fixing the date.
AH: A viewer called the MSO and asked them to start showing Suroor TV. And they told him that if he demanded Suroor TV, they would stop the signals of QTV also.
KH: They threatened him.
AH: He was threatened.
SA: Seriously?
KH: Yes. He said, "if you demand Suroor TV, we will cut QTV also."
AH: Now QTV is being beamed from outside. There are many references in it which are against the interests of India, and us as its citizens. They willingly show channels like that, but refuse to show our channel which is trying to build up our nation. Is this the patriotism that the bureaucrats talk about? They don't implement their own rules.
MSO
QTV
Suroor TV
Urdu
audience connect
channels
community media
consumers
foreign
implement
interaction
language
local
rules
signals
threatened
SF: When the locals demanded Suroor Channel, the cable operators told them they would have to pay them Rs. 200 to get the channel. So the locals would call and tell us about it, and we'd tell them that it's a free channel and they don't have to pay. People wanted to watch it, but they didn't know how to get it. And we didn't know how to spread the information because there was hardly anyone supporting us.
AH: If they broadcast narrow casting channels, they are not doing anybody a favour. They are using public utilities like electric poles, etc. They've used the corporation land, and have spoilt the roads in Bangalore by digging it up to lay their cables. When they seem to have such a claim on the public property, presumably to spread information, then it's also their duty to give all these channels.
SA: Of course.
The conversation moves to the media's need to serve the public, and the monetary manipulation of the public by the local cable operators.
Bangalore
MSO
Suroor TV
cable operators
free channel
information
locals
narrow casting
public property
public utilities
AH talks about the manipulation of information and facilities by the MSOs, as well as the need to raise public awareness with regard to their own rights.
AH: It is unfair of them to not provide the public with these channels. The government of India has satellite channels for distance education. When these people are not disseminating this information, then why have they been given these facilities? All those facilities should be withdrawn.
SA: Sir, you have so much expertise on this subject. And now you have retired. Do you think that awakening and change can be brought about? How can we bring it about?
AH: Change can be brought about only when the people become aware of their rights. The people here came and told us that if we wanted, they would go and blow up the cable operators. We told them not to take the law in their own hands, let the law handle it. They told us they would go and cut these cable connections. If we say that we are trying to bring about a positive attitude in people, then we cannot go against our own principles to achieve that goal. If you are concerned about money, then you can just open up a
paan stall and earn even more than a business executive. But our work is not driven by monetary greed; we just want to make a living doing something which will bring a positive change in the way people think. We want to change the way people think, and bring about a desire in them to better their lives and the general conditions in our society and country. This is our objective. But people's unhelpful attitude towards it is troubling.
MSO
awareness
change
community media
distant education
facilities
government
law
money
paan
progress
rights
satellite channels
unfair
AH discusses the dictatorship of the MSOs with regard to the availability of free-to-air channels on DTH.
AH: No, the authorities should examine why they are banning cable operators from showing channels that they are receiving via DTH. When they are already giving free-to-air channels, do they want to stop the cable operators from showing it simply because of the set backs being manufactured?
SA: So free-to-air is also not allowed?
AH: Yes, it was free-to-air.
SA: Can't take it?
AH: They cannot take it from DTH.
LK: Can't take it from DTH.
AH: The reason for DTH is because the cable operators, the MSOs, don't take these signals. So that if the consumer wants to see a particular program on these free-to-air channels, he can see it. But if you ban the cable operators from showing these, and tell them to take only set back, then that's another kind of dictatorship.
DTH
MSO
Set Back
authorities
banning
cable operators
channels
consumer
free to air
signals
LK: Around 20 lakh people in India are earning their living through cable. If you bring the DTH into the picture, it will lead to the unemployment of these 25 lakh people. The government is creating unemployment without providing alternatives. With the DTH setup, every household will buy the DTH and then the cable operators will loose their jobs, and the people dependent on them will also suffer. With an addition of 25 lakh people in this category, the unemployment percentage will only go up, not down.
SA: Yes, it won't decrease. And then this IT boom... It's quite extreme.
AH: It is extreme.
SA: How much percent? Eight percent or twelve percent?
AH: Doordarshan has transmitters, so people with not a lot of money can still watch Doordarshan.The Government of India spends thousands of crores to install transmitters, but because of the cable operators no one needs these transmitters anymore. If the government instructs the cable operators to receive the DTH signals by installing a DTH Dish, and disseminate it to the consumers, then the transmitters can be closed and the government can save a lot of money.
LK: But our business will close down then.
AH: Let it close down. The DTH is for the public, not the MSOs.
Lokesh refers to his worries regarding possible unemployment due to the arrival of DTH, while AH discusses the economic benefits, as well as the benefit to the public.
DTH
Doordarshan
India
MSO
cable operators
disseminate
economical
government
public
save
signals
transmitters
unemployed
AH discusses the pros of DTH.
AH: It's for the public, of course.
SA: Yes, it's true. It's their right.
AH: Yes, it's their right. If we want to be at par with America by 2021, we'll have to get rid of the lacunae, the obstacles and the high handedness. Till the time this doesn't happen, the bureaucrats will remain in their pockets, as if sold to them, and this dream will never come true. Or we could just fake development by crafty advertising and no one will ever know the truth. But if we are on a path of true development, then we should be concerned about these issues. The cable operators should provide the consumers with DTH signals; this will benefit the public and the nation. The channels on DTH have been excused from paying the carriage fee for the first year, but will be charged after that; the government needs to think about this too. When they are encouraging these channels, then why charge them? The government is not providing programs in the 1500 regional languages that are spoken in India. When ETV was beaming Hindi programs in UP and they realised that no one was watching it, they started showing programs in local dialects like
Bhojpuri,
Maithili,
Bhandalkhandi, and as a result people stopped watching other channels.
America
India
Uttar Pradesh
Bhandalkhandi
Bhojpuri
DTH signals
Maithili
Public
bureaucrats
cable operators
carriage fee
fake development
government
programs
regional languages
AH: In Rajasthan they started showing programs in
Marwadi,
Mewadi,
Shekhawati. You can deliver whatever message you want to through programs in these languages. It can be homogenised. If the cable operators are allowed to disseminate the DTH signals to the public free of cost, then they would be helping the cause of the government. But the government is banning them. This means that the government doesn't have honest intentions.
SA: That's true.
AH: If they were honest, they would've cooperated with the public and told them to take set boxes and give it to the people. They are unhappy because the set-top boxes being manufactured in certain factories are not being sold.
SA: What are those?
AH: The set boxes.
SA: Set-top boxes?
KH: ... They are concerned about the boxes not being sold.
SA: But the irony is - why should they even be concerned about the information? Two are real estate companies, and the third is... Where is the commitment to enabling access, to the sharing of knowledge, to the sharing of information? A lot of real estate companies are diversifying into this. Next there will be Reliance. Once these thing are taken over then...
Rajasthan
The conversation moves to the possibly dishonest intentions of the government with regard to the dissemination of information, as well as to a discussion of the availability of set-top boxes.
DTH signals
MSO
Marwadi
Mewadi
Set Top Box
Shekhawati
access
banning
cable operators
free of cost
government
information
knowledge
public
regional languages
sharing
KS: It's difficult, then you know the information...
SA: What I feel is - I know that it is hard, but I feel that there is a digital movement, that something can be done about this. Now in Italy, the Prime Minister Berlusconi is a media mogul; he's bigger than Subrato Rao. He owns three newspapers and he owns the three private channels that come in Italy. No other channel comes. And since he's prime minister, he owns the national network also. Everything is under his control. What activists and the communities have done there is a really novel thing. They have... (The video cuts.)
Shaina discusses the digital movement in Italy.
Berlusconi
Italy
Italy
access
activists
communities
digital movement
information
SA: Yes. Can you speak out loud?
AH: Please repeat yourself.
KH: The cable operators who are opposing them are not spared.They can pressurise them in many ways. They can increase the fines. ______ the customer goes to another provider. They have the power because of their monopoly, and we can't do anything. This uncle will tell you everything.
SA: I just took your hands.
AH: This is the biggest problem. A cable operator who ___ the money, who has the space, who...
SA: Has the network.
AH: ... Has the network; now he has to purely depend on the MSOs. Some of the cable operators have told me that if they don't pay them the money, or if they organise themselves to protest against the MSO's policies, the MSO threatens them and harasses them by increasing the amount of monthly payment to be made. If the operators want to shift from one MSO to the other, they all gang up against him. Externally they pretend to be independent agencies, but internally they are together. And they decide not to enroll these cable operators for their signals. In effect, making the operator completely jobless.
There is a discussion regarding the travails of cable operators that wish to separate from the MSOs and become independent.
MSO
cable operators
fees
fines
harassment
opposition
policies
protest
suppress
threats
SA: The latest thing they've done is increased your fees.
LK: They might.
KH: If they find out that he's involved, they might do that.
SA: No, not involved like this. But you were saying that they've increased the fee from Rs. 36,000 to...
LK: That's what I'm saying. To pressurise you, they will change it from thirty to forty.
AH: They say that if you're not paying forty thousand instead of the thirty-six that you're paying now, we will cut your connection. And if he protests again, either the fee will increase again next month or the connection will be completely stopped. He is going house to house to collect the cable fee from the consumers to pay it to them. Despite this, neither does he have a choice, nor the consumer.
The conversation moves to the various means by which the MSos choose to pressure the local cable operators.
MSO
cable operators
choice
consumer
fee
pressurize
protest
suppress
AH: It is against the TRAI rules. What the TRAI is doing as an independent agency, rules and regulations alone do not matter. Some implementation...
SA: Who is in TRAI right now?
AH: I think Vajpayee... Bejal.
KH: Bejal, Pradeep Bejal.
AH: Pradeep Bejal is the chairman. ___ after retirement from the Central Secretariat, they will come and sit there. And they have connections all over the world, so whatever the business people say they will implement it. They will frame rules, beautiful rules are framed, but there is no action taken on it. So when our bureaucrats go the world over and show them these rules, the world thinks it's highly democratic, while the people here suffer. So implementation is a must. Making a single rule and implementing it is better than making a hundred rules and not implementing a single one. That's all we can say.
TRAI
The conversation makes reference to Praddep Bejal, the now retired Head of the TRAI.
Broadband Blog has an open letter to Mr. Bejal on the eve of his retirement, discussing the various failure of the TRAI.
bureaucrats
implementation
regulations
rules
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