ESS vs Airtel DTH: round two commences

MUMBAI: Subscribers to Airtel digital TV and IPTV could be in for a rude shock come 22 March. They could well be watching a blank screen instead of action between the Indians and the Ozzies during the fourth test of the ongoing test series. The reason: ESPN Software India has announced that it is going to pull the plug on not only Star Cricket and Star Sports (the channels that are telecasting the Test series) but also ESPN (that has EPL action). The sports network posted a notice on 1 March stating that it would deactivate the channels on the DTH and IPTV platforms within the next 21 days due to Bharati Telemedia and Bharti Airtel's "non-signing of agreements and breach of statutory obligations." In late 2012, Airtel digital TV had de-activated ESPN and Star Cricket HD channels from its platform citing prohibitive prices of the two channels. This is something that ESPN Software has objected to saying that the pricing of the HD channels is right keeping in mind the target audience that is expected to subscribe to them. The sportscaster had added that channels were being carried by two other DTH players - Videocon d2h and Tata Sky. Clearly, the two have been hard eyeballing each other for a while now. Viewers are waiting to see who will blink first.