New TV Channel Pricing Policy – How Does it Affect You?

The new channel pricing policy released by TRAI will help consumers save on their annual subscription prices.

TRAI has made subscribing to channels much more flexible now. 

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

(This story has been updated as of 1 February, when the new channel pricing regime kicks in).

New TV channel prices kick in on 1 February 2019 for consumers in the country. These changes, as observed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), promises to make lives easier for you and I, by lowering our TV viewing budget. Viewers can now only pick and pay for the channels they want.

This has come about because television viewing in India is at its crossroads, with consumption of digital content via the internet on the big screen slowly but surely catching up. And it was hard for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to ignore the obvious concerns of the consumer, who is now paying for dual media of content.

Which is why TRAI’s latest change in tariff for TV channels comes as a big relief for people, who virtually end up spending up to Rs 20,000 annually on subscriptions.

People quoted in a BloombergQuint report say they end up spending close to Rs 20,000 on digital and TV channels right now in a year. With the new ruling in place from TRAI, those numbers are likely to change for those who're still glued to the TV channels on the big screen.

The new policy also requires broadcasters like Star and Zee to publish their channel rates and ask cable operators and Direct To Home (DTH) service providers to offer all channels a la carte at a maximum monthly price of Rs 19 each, the report adds.

The people quoted also believe they should be paying for channels, which they want to watch and not for everything that is offered as part of the package.

This is where TRAI has chipped in, probably hearing people’s wishes to ensure he or she only pays for channels of their choice. The new pricing policy for broadcasters will ensure people aren’t spending close to Rs 20,000, just for viewing content.

In its order citing data by the Broadcast Audience Research Council, the TRAI has validated its reasoning behind asking channels to lower the prices, and make subscribing to channels a flexible affair. Consumers surely ain’t complaining about this one.

As per the BARC data quoted by TRAI, more than 90 percent of families view or flip 50 channels or less.

The change in pricing for the channels has resulted in minor tweaking in the structure of how the channels are priced. The BloombergQuint report says that the broadcasters have started making all free-to-air channels paid, by charging as little as 50 paise and then offer them in a bundle.

This according to experts will ensure that consumers as well as the broadcasters are on an equal footing.