The company, which has only 43 pay channels, has managed to create a whopping 72 packs and plans from them, under brands such as Value, Premium and so on.
At second place is TV18, which has around 50 pay channels, also has 50 channel packs.
Similarly, Zee group, which has around 55 pay channels, has come out with 48 packages under brands such as All-In-One, Family and so on.
Such a high number of channel packs has been criticized for potentially confusing consumers. So far, typical DTH and cable consumers have had to choose from only around one or two dozen packs and add-ons.
In fact, at least two DTH operators — D2h and Sun Direct — have decided to completely boycott over 100 channel packs, including all the packs of Star and most of Sony India’s bouquets, claiming that these are unwieldy.
Besides Star and Zee, Sony, which has around 25 pay channels, has come out with 28 channel packs.
Sun TV, a prominent player in the South with around 33 pay channels, has announced 26 packs.
Even a group like NDTV, which has only four channels in all, has come out with no less than six packages.
Times Network, which has 12 channels, has come out with four bouquets.
PRICING & TRAI RULES
From Feb 1, it will be mandatory for all users to either buy their channels one-by-one, or subscribe to the above packs.
The original intent of the TRAI’s Tariff Order of 2017 was to disrupt the existing pack system and offer choice to consumers to buy only those channels that they want.
For the same, the TRAI had banned broadcasters from pricing individual channels at much higher prices compared to what they were being sold at as a part of a pack.
In its explanation of the tariff order of 2017, the regulator pointed out that the individual a-la carte price of a channel was sometimes 10 times higher than what that channel would cost if purchased as part of a pack.