• Cable TV sector is seller’s market and operators’ function as a cartel. Nearly 70% of subscribers do not have an option to change their cable operator
• Consumer has no say in the types of channels s/he wants to watch
• There is a dire need to regulate the sector in order to prevent consumers from bearing this undue burden, both financially and mentally

• Assess the structure of cable TV market in four metros
• Gauge the level of influence, cable operators have on consumers
• Identify level of consumer awareness about CAS

• 7 out of 10 households do not have the option to change their cable operator. With no choice available, most of these households face a frequent hike in cable subscription charges
• While majority of subscribers receive more than 50 channels, most of them usually watch less than 15 channels
• 78% households pay between Rs.150-300 per month, with Kolkata being the least expensive metro and Delhi the most expensive
• Majority of respondents (63%) are not in favour of accepting Conditional Access System (CAS)
• 8 out of 10 respondents do not want any increase in their monthly bill, if CAS is implemented

• 43% receive 20-25 channels;
• 29% receive 40-50 channels; and
• 28% receive above 60 channels.

• 37% respondents watch less than 5 channels;
• 53% watch between 5 to 15 channels; and
• 10% watch more than 15 channels.

Thus, only a handful of channels are viewed by most of the consumers as against the total number of channels broadcasted. Favourite channels differ region-wise but are mostly same in a particular region and amount to merely 2-3 channels per family on an average.

• 19% respondents were of the view that services provided were of poor quality;
• 58% said that they were fair; and
• 23% said they were good. 

• About 14% pay less than Rs.150;
• 67% pay between Rs.150-200;
• 10% pay between Rs.200-250;
• 6% pay between Rs.250-300; and
• 3% pay more than Rs.300 as service charges.

• 92% pay on monthly basis; while
• 7% pay on quarterly basis.

• Around 64% respondents confirmed that there has been an increase in service charges in the last one year;
• 48% said that the charges increased by less than Rs.50;
• 14% said that the increase was between Rs.50-75;
• 9% said it was between Rs.75-100; and
• 5% confirmed that it was above Rs.100.
• 49% of the respondents attributed this increase to the increase in number of channels.

• 45% confirmed that they were given receipts for payment of subscription charges; while
• 54% were not given any such receipt.

• 34% said their cable operator rectified complaints within a day;
• 35% said complaints were rectified in two days;
• 22% said in seven days; and
• 8% said it took their cable operators more than 7 days to resolve their complaints.

• Out of the 18% who demand a complaint docket number, an impressive 54% receive the same
• However, overall only 13% of total consumers get a complaint number by the operator.

• 74% respondents said that cable boys in their areas do not have any identity cards; while
• 12% confirmed that cable boys in their locality had identity cards.
• 94% said that the boys employed by their Cable Operators did not have any uniform.
• 57% mentioned that they mostly recognized cable boys by their faces while 2% relied on collection cards.

• People are not happy with the rentals they pay considering the quality of services they are provided.
• Nearly 70% respondents did not have the option to change their Cable Operators due to domain cartels formed by them.
• A handful of consumers feel the need of set-top box as customer can then make a choice of the channels s/he wants to watch.
• Consumers reported that the behaviour of operators is generally not very good, primarily because there is no choice.
• Some consumers expressed the need of a regulator for the cable TV industry.

Cable TV: Results of Phase II Survey (2004)

The survey was conducted in four metropolitan cities of India: Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai during March-May, 2004. The survey was conducted by sending questionnaire to randomly selected households. This was complemented by personally interviewing some of the respondents. A total of 1506 persons were surveyed, of which: 282 were from Delhi, 392 from Kolkata, 434 from Mumbai, and 398 from Chennai.

I. Demographics

1.1 Respondents by Occupation (Table 1)

• Majority of respondents (51%) belong to service class
• 16% respondents are students and 13% businessmen
• Housewives constitute 7% of those surveyed
• Self-employed and retired persons constitute 6% each

In terms of the four metros:

• Delhi: maximum number of respondents are students, closely followed by service class.
• Kolkata: maximum number of respondents belong to service class, followed by businessmen.
• Mumbai: maximum number of respondents are those whose occupation is service, followed by students.
• ·Chennai: while maximum number of respondents belong to service class, a significant number are self-employed, businessmen and housewives.

Table 1. Respondents by Occupation

1.2 Size of the Family (Table 2)

• On an average, size of the family ranges from 3.9 members in Chennai to 4.9 members in Kolkata. In Delhi and Mumbai average family size is 4.6 and 4.7 respectively
• In all four metros, majority of members in a family are adults (age > 20 years)

Table 2. Size of the Family

1.3 Number of T.V. sets in the house (Table 3)

• Majority of respondents own one TV set (78%). This is also true for all the four metros individually.
• For all four metros combined, 17% own two TV sets, however, in Delhi, significant number of households (about 36%) own two TV sets.

Table 3. Respondents by No. of TV Sets Owned

II. Cable T.V. Scenario in the Four Metros

2.1 No. of channels received (Table 4)

• Majority of respondents (about 72%) receive 50 or more channels
• However, there is some variation across metros. Except Delhi, most subscribers in the other three metros receive 50 or more channels.

• Delhi: 36% subscribers receive 50 or more channels.

• Kolkata: most of the respondents (91%) receive 50 or more channels

• Mumbai: majority of respondents (72%) receive more than 50 channels

• Chennai: 77% respondents receive 50 or more channels

Table 4. Respondents by Number of Channels Received

2.2 No. of channels watched (Table 5)

• Most subscribers (83%) watch less than 15 channels. In case of the four metros:

• Delhi: most subscribers (93%) watch less than 15 channels

• Mumbai: 94% households watch less than 15 channels

• Chennai: 86% respondents watch less than 15 channels

• Kolkata: In comparison, 60% watch less than 15 channels

Table 5. Respondents by Number of Channels Watched

Channels watched vis-à-vis channels received (Table 6)

• It was earlier observed that majority of consumers receive more than 50 channels, however, most of these subscribers (79%) usually watch less than 15 channels.
• Thus, consumers usually pay for more than 35 channels, which they do not watch. This is a clear example of restrictive trade practice followed in the cable TV industry.

Table 6. Respondents by Channels Received vis-à-vis Channels Watched

• A similar trend is observed across all metros (Table 7)

• In case of both Mumbai and Chennai, majority of subscribers receive more than 50 channels and most of them usually watch less than 15 channels.
• In contrast in Kolkata, though 9 out of 10 subscribers receive more than 50 channels, however, a little over half (58%) of these subscribers, usually watch less than 15 channels.
• The case of Delhi is little different as majority of subscribers receive less than 50 channels. It is observed that most subscribers (92%) usually watch less 15 channels.
• In case of each of the four metros, majority of subscribers watch less than 15 channels

Table 7. Metro-wise Status of Channels Received vis-à-vis Channels Watched

2.3 Awareness about disputes (Table 8)

• 74% respondents are not aware of disputes between cable operators.
• Interestingly, maximum awareness about disputes between cable operators is in Kolkata with 37% of those surveyed responding in the affirmative.

Table 8. Respondents by Awareness of disputes between cable operators

2.4 Option to change cable operators (Table 9)

Majority of subscribers (seven out of ten who responded) do not have an option to change their cable operator.

Table 9. Respondents by Option to Change Cable Operator

There is some variation across metros with respect to choice available with consumers in terms of changing their cable operator:

• Delhi: Half the respondents in Delhi have an option to change their cable operator.
• Kolkata: In contrast, almost all households in Kolkata (about 99%) do not have the option to change their cable operators.
• 65% consumers in Mumbai and 69% consumers in Chennai do not have the ability to change their cable operators.

Thus, Delhi and Kolkata are at the two extremes in terms of consumers’ ability to change cable operators.

2.5 Monthly Cable TV Subscription Charges (Table 10)

• Majority of consumers (82%) pay between Rs.150-300.
• Interestingly, this is true for consumers owning either one- or two-TV sets as 84% of consumers owning one-TV set and 81% of consumers owning two-TV sets pay between Rs.150-300 per month as subscription charges.
• In fact, the average price paid by consumers owning one-TV set is Rs.210, which is a little less than the average price of Rs.226 paid by consumers owning two-TV sets.
• There is not much difference in the monthly subscription charges paid by households in lieu of the number of TV sets owned by them.
• The average monthly subscription charge for all metros is Rs.213

Table 10. Monthly Subscription Charge by No. of TV Sets Owned

In case of the four metros (Table 11):

• There is not much difference in the monthly subscription charges paid by consumers owning either one- or two-TV sets in each of the four metros.
• Majority of respondents in Chennai (91%) and Kolkata (89%) pay between Rs.150-300 as monthly subscription charges. In Mumbai, about 80% respondents pay in this range, whereas in Delhi only about 60% respondents pay between Rs.150-300. In fact, in case of Delhi, about 35% respondents pay more than Rs.300 per month as subscription charges.