The government response came at the CAS Task Force Committee meeting on March 27, headed by Rakesh Mohan, Joint Secretary, Broadcasting, I & B Ministry, in which cable operators openly opposed the recommended FTA pricing of Rs. 45.90. They have carried out a signature campaign in the four metros and a memorandum was submitted to the Government saying that they could not work on the ridiculously low FTA rate of Rs. 45.90 per household. They are demanding an FTA price of Rs. 180.

Roop Sharma, President Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) and member of the CAS Task Force, said: "The cost of the FTA bouquet was worked out on the basis of the fictitious figure of 32,000 cable homes within a radius of seven km. The Bureau of Indian Standards had clearly maintained that only cable homes within the radius of 4.8 km of the cable head end would get a clear signal. Obviously the radius was increased to push up the number of cable homes, thereby decreasing the FTA prices." It is learnt that in the March 27 meeting of the CAS Task Force it was agreed to get the cable connectivity survey done through one of the three short listed independent agencies including ORG-MARG, Price Waterhouse Cooper and Tata Consultancy Services. The name of Price Waterhouse Cooper was suggested by the cable operators while the consumer bodies pitched for Tata Consultancy Services. The broadcasters had recommended the names of ORG-MARG and IMRB. The cable operator representatives struck down the IMRB saying it was not a reliable body and hence was not acceptable to them.

According to Roop Sharma, one of these short listed agencies will be doing the survey in Delhi and Kolkata which have high concentrations of independent cable operators. The agency will be given one week’s time to complete the survey and give recommendations with regards to FTA pricing. Till then, the cable operators have deferred their future course of action, which included cable blackout and recourse to legal action.

The Prannoy Roy-promoted New Delhi Television (NDTV) is likely to sign a content tie-up with the Indian Express group. Shekhar Gupta, editor and chief executive officer of the group, is also expected to host a show for the channel.

As per the alliance, every story that is broken by Indian Express will also be picked up by the channel. NDTV will also leverage the strength of Indian Express’ foreign reportage. While the English channel’s positioning is going to be up-market, Hindi, sources say, will still be classy but targeting the masses. NDTV officials were not available for comment.

The "break away" technology (just like the split editions in newspapers), which will also give the channels "local" appeal will work on a dual feed system. The system is expected to allow the channels to break away in a particular city or region and cover a local event, while the rest of the nation can continue to watch the national news.