Tata Sky In Legal Mess

NEW DELHI, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- Tata Sky which is one of the leading DTH service providers of India is in trouble. The endeavor to get HD feed of the ongoing FIFA world cup 2010 from ESPN on a non discriminatory basis has met with a roadblock. The Delhi High Court has refused to admit its plea saying that the company yet does not have the required infrastructure to transmit HD channels in the country. It knocked on the doors of the Delhi High Court since ESPN Star Sports the telecast rights holder of the tournament was giving HD feed to rival DTH companies. However, the feed was being given not on per subscriber tariff basis.

Dish TV which is a rival of Tata Sky managed to strike a deal with ESPN for broadcasting the FIFA World Cup for its subscribers in HD format. In fact other DTH companies in India like Airtel Digital TV and Sun Direct have also approached ESPN for getting the HD feed for their users. The DTH players in India are trying to cash in on the FIFA fever that has grabbed the nation. They are trying to increase their user base by a fair margin during this event. The right holder ESPN is also using this opportunity to charge a premium from the DTH operators on a lump sum basis.

Tata Sky alleged that the move by ESPN violates the norm and regulation for offering HD feed to DTH operators. However, Delhi High Court refused to entertain its plea and said that operator itself is not ready with the infrastructure.