Indian Viewers - STAR CRICKET , will it be as elusive as Neo Sports ?

[aditya123]

Cricket in India was once the most accessible sport on Indian television.
There was a time not long ago when we could get all matches (including the Pura Cup and English County season) on T.V .
But all this has changed now. Channels are now becoming more and more inaccesible to the viewing public which makes me wonder why they were ever launched.
It all started with Neo Sports launched by Nimbus and I still do not know whether anyone other than the Nimbus guys actually do get to watch it (either on DTH or on cable).

ESPNSTAR, the Murdroch owned group which was the most professional of all Indian sports channels was one channel along with Ten Sports which was easily accessible till the recently concluded England-West Indies Test Series.
However all that has changed now that ESPNSTAR have launched a 24-hr cricket channel of their own just before the start of the England-West Indies ODIs .
This channel will apparently air all the cricket that ESPNSTAR has rights to and that is were things get bleak.
The India-England Series,The Twenty20 WC,The Tour to Australia in the coming months will be `exclusively`on STAR CRICKET.
That is when I decided to phone the cable operator today,only to get the bad news confirmed. He has said that cable operators across Mumbai wont be subscribing for the channel due to the high subscription fees(as high as Rs.28)

Quite Ironic because we will be playing our most important series in the coming months and it won`t be on air (for most of us). In all the mess and the tussle between the cable operator and the Television Channels, it is the consumer which suffers.

This is a part of the tragedy called `Indian Cricket` and its commercialization.
I wonder where all this will lead to. The popularity of any sport depends on its coverage on TV and all this cannot be good for the sport itself.

Coming back to the point, I desperately want to catch the India-England test series, which I understand , won`t be on DD as well.
If STARCRICKET is available on TATASky, which I presume will be , I still consider the option of moving to TATA.

 

[AbBh]

If the matches wont be telecast on DD then its really sad news. I wont switch to TataSky because I havent heard many complimentary remarks about them. I hope that DD fights for the telecast rights even a 5 minute delayed telecast is better than nothing.

 

[aditya123]

If the matches wont be telecast on DD then its really sad news. I wont switch to TataSky because I havent heard many complimentary remarks about them. I hope that DD fights for the telecast rights even a 5 minute delayed telecast is better than nothing.

Na, the DD guys only show matches of `national importance` .
While they consider the `India-Bangladesh ODIs` as nationally important, they do not care whether people get to watch good test cricket.

All the national importance reason is humbug and the only reason is that they are more interested in the revenue generated which is more with the telecast of ODIs than tests.
We`ll have to catch the action on cricinfo 3d yet again.

 

[sohum]

If the matches wont be telecast on DD then its really sad news. I wont switch to TataSky because I havent heard many complimentary remarks about them. I hope that DD fights for the telecast rights even a 5 minute delayed telecast is better than nothing.

Na, the DD guys only show matches of `national importance` .
While they consider the `India-Bangladesh ODIs` as nationally important, they do not care whether people get to watch good test cricket.

All the national importance reason is humbug and the only reason is that they are more interested in the revenue generated which is more with the telecast of ODIs than tests.
We`ll have to catch the action on cricinfo 3d yet again.

When the courts made the ruling, they considered only ODI cricket would be popular enough for the general public (which is generally true--people wouldn't skip work, for example, to watch a test match). Thus DD is required to broadcast only ODI matches, whether they take place at home or away.

As for the question of Star Cricket, I think the main blame lies with the conglomerates of cable operators. This is a perfect, live example of why oligarchy's are not good in the long run. The three large cable operators in Mumbai--InCablenet, Hathway and someone else--have in effect held the channels to their mercy. Because viewers will complain and hence in the end the channels will have to give way.

What is surprising that even on the DTH services offered by these companies, one cannot get the channel. I can understand that when it comes to normal cable, the cable operators think twice about making an investment (they have to pay Rs. 28 per viewer) but I really cannot see why they don't just offer it to the DTH consumers who would be willing to pay for the channel by itself. I, for one, would happily shell out Rs. 28 for one month of cricket.

As usual, I think this mess will resolve itself. For now, the only suggestion I would have is to call your cable operator and give them a piece of your mind, although that won't make much of a difference. You could also write to local newspapers (like Mumbai Mirror or TOI) with your point of view on this fiasco that happens everytime India play abroad.

If STARCRICKET is available on TATASky, which I presume will be , I still consider the option of moving to TATA.

I remember reading on an Indian broadband forum that Tata Sky should have Star Cricket because of good relations with ESPN-Star.

 

[gamerkid22]

Now this is terrible really as Star Cricket is not yet started in Mumbai. All important series are on Star Cricket including the warm-up matches against English county sides. Its all started by Neo Sports and Nimbus as they were the one's who telecasted the matches only in some parts of Mumbai and DD are just telecasting the ODI matches and not the test matches. Infact during the India-Bang test series i read in the newspaper that DD won't telecast the Test matches as poeple watch only ODI's as they are more interesting than Test matches and telecasting Test matches will be a big financial loss to them(These was the statement given by DD officials).

Moreover they were telecasting Eng-WI test series on ESPN but as Star Cricket is launched they are telecasting the Natwest Series on it and ESPN just shows the highlights early in the morning.

India-Saf ODI series was telecasted on DD and SAB but according to me DD is the worst channel to watch cricket matches(infact i think no one ever watch DD except for the cricket matches) and SAB has only Hindi commentary.

I hope that Star Cricket will be telecasted here in Mumbai as soon as India-England series starts.

 

[sohum]

Gamerkid, you're really mixing up a few things. It is not Neo Sports fault that Star Cricket isn't being broadcast by the cable operators. Neo Sports has been on the CAS system and all viewers who have registered under CAS will be able to view it.

ESPN-Star and cable operators have a history of squabbling which reopens every time an Indian series comes around. In the past, it was because ESPN/Star raised their rates as soon as an Indian series rolled around. This time, they started a new channel. I think I can safely conclude that one of the main reasons this keeps happening is because the cable operator is a middleman who wants to act like a leader. Until we have more direct communication between channels and consumers, we will be at the mercy of this idiocy.

So, this problem has been around long before Neo came in the fray.

Dunno if this article caused this topic to be started but if it didn't, just an update on the situation. The article in ToI claimed that an ESS spokesperson claimed that "over half of Bombay has access to the channel". Which is simply not enough, in my opinion.

 

[aditya123]

I cannot understand how they can be happy with just 50% of the people getting the channel.
Getting the cable operator to subscribe for the channels has become a more difficult these days because of the DD agreement that has come in place.
The cable operators now come up with a classic `chalta hai` reply saying that we have to be content with the telecast of the ODIs on DD.

Under normal circumstances they would have been forced to subscribe for the channels as there would have been no other option available.

Also, this is yet another case of the channels trying to cash in on the high profile India matches.

It happened with TEN SPORTS during the 2002 FIFA World Cup and also with ESPNSTAR quite a few times in the past.

I hope we get the mess sorted out. I do not think that it`ll get sorted out by itself. The cable operators have not shown the will to subscribe for Sports channels even for India series in the recent past starting with the Malaysia tri-series telecast on Zee.

Till then we can keep ranting in this thread.
Please keep us posted about the developments and whether you guys got any updates from your cable operator regarding this .

Which part of Mumbai are you guys from ? Which cable operator do you fall under ?

Iam from Dombivli and we have SITICABLE which is the third cable network Sohum mentioned.

 

[sohum]

I'm in Malabar Hill (South Bombay) and am unfortunately a subscriber of InCablenet. I called InCablenet a couple of days back (before the media coverage started) and they said that there was nothing to worry and the channel would come in a few days. I had presumed at that time they were just doing that to keep us happy but let's see.

The plus side is we get to see the England-West Indies 3rd ODI on ESPN because there is a practice game on Star Cricket.

 

[prarara]

I was thinking of getting Direct TV, they've this channel called Cricket Zone ( I think), or maybe it was Star Cricket, but will that show Cricket non-stop, so I don't have to order packages like I did with Dish TV?

 

[aditya123]

I took heed of Sohum`s advice and have written to Mumbai Mirror regarding the same.
I would like some of the more articulate members of the froum like Sohum to write to Mumbai Mirror as well.

 

[tech.007]

star cricket is growing and it will soon catch up with sky sports.
get ready to watch all overseas indian match on star cricket........

 

[Insomniac]

And you know what else sucks?

I wanna watch Saqi and Mushy and Rana against the Indians today, but Star Cricket doesn't even come in Pakistan.

And I think its available, but the cable operators here won't buy it either. :@

Anyone else in Pakistan getting Star Cricket yet?

 

[smssia0112]

I doubt you'd get the Pura Cup, not even we get it on TV.

 

[Insomniac]

We used to get the Pura cup if I recall correctly...

 

[icyman]

Star Cricket will shortly be available on TATASKY.
I just called the hotline and they have confirmed the news.

In my opinion,this channel will be better than the stupid nimbus channel.
Nimbus lacks the professionalism.Their graphics remind you of a shoddy powerpoint presentation.