[fordday]

For my videocon D2H connection I gave my selections on Feb 1st. The submission went successfully and got acknowledgement as "We will get back to you shortly". Nothing happened afterwards.

Today I did the same channel selections again. To my horror, they have fixed the first 100 channels, which you cannot remove at all. It was possible to remove channels earlier, without touching the 25 mandatory DD channels.

I selected 25 of my own and it shows 125 channels. Submitted and got acknowledgement and then nothing else.

This is getting on my nerves.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by fordday

For my videocon D2H connection I gave my selections on Feb 1st. The submission went successfully and got acknowledgement as "We will get back to you shortly". Nothing happened afterwards.

I too did the selection twice and got the same message. It seems they have changed the plan but I cannot verify since there is no way I can see my selection. Some of the channels that I selected seem to be not enabled.

Now their website is not accessible.

[mvadg]

I wonder if there are any SLAs for the Rs 130/- ! Any penalties for arbitrarily blacking out channels when it does not suit the local politicians, etc. ? "Bandh" type situations,;I remember just recently the cable TV operators shut off cable for a day to "protest" something, but I did not see any reduction in the cable bill.

And should we be paying at all? Aren't we paying for content already? We pay for goods and services along with any other costs that they can tack on - including "convenience fees", "RTO fees", and most important - "advertising". Pay channels were meant for ad-free content.

If someone can throw more light on the reasons why we should be selecting and paying for content on a channel by channel basis instead of just an access fee, it would really be helpful.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by bejoy

I too did the selection twice and got the same message. It seems they have changed the plan but I cannot verify since there is no way I can see my selection. Some of the channels that I selected seem to be not enabled.

Now their website is not accessible.

I forced an account refresh and all the channels that I selected are appearing now.

One good thing happened with all these fiasco is that I have some select HD channels that I would have paid a lot otherwise. Now my monthly rent is less than ₹200

[centaur]

Today is the 4th day I don't have anything apart from the free channels on my Videocon D2H. Channel selection had been done and acknowledged with a "We will get back to you shortly" message. No one ever got back since 31st Jan. Their customer numbers just wont even connect, forget being able to talk to anyone of the execs. Emails are not responded to either. Website does not allow a login and the app is total crap. The best part - while I am being given channels worth 130 bucks, my daily deduction is as per my earlier monthly package which was around 600 bucks a month. So videocon is kind of ripping me off by charging for something they are not providing. I guess I am done with Videocon though I suppose its the same case with most other major providers too. Might get off TV for a while till this nuisance dies out and things get streamlined. Family has to go through trouble of not being able to watch their shows, but then there is no alternative at present. Videocon just sucks big time

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by centaur

Today is the 4th day I don't have anything apart from the free channels on my Videocon D2H. Channel selection had been done and acknowledged with a "We will get back to you shortly" message. No one ever got back since 31st Jan.

Force a refresh from the website. Use the url below:
https://www.d2h.com/refresh-account.php

or sent SMS "REF" to +91 92120 12299

I was in the same situation and after the refresh, I see all the channels that I selected.

I got an email response too after around 8 hours.

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by vvrchandra

The primary Tata Sky connection was updated couple of days ago while the multi/addon TV got updated and is showing the channels and price in the app. There is a gap of 2 to 3 days between the primary and multi TV updates.

This is very useful information and multi TV users should take note of this. Many were confused. Thanx for sharing sir.

Originally Posted by cs_rajesh

+1 yes, I too have Hathway Cable and I face the same situation. It gets complicated since I have 2 connections, one for my elderly parents. The cost is expected to rise from approx 450/- per month to around 1200+ per month for both connections together. All my family members are in agreement to drop cable and switch to internet for entertainment as a whole. TRAI regulations favor Channel Owners and Service Providers and not end consumers, for sure.

Actually it does save us money. Just if you do it right. Obviously choosing large amounts of channels is a pain and you'll never get it right if done manually. Unless you're a super computer and can calculate how to smartly use the channels as part of bouquets and save money. So how do you do it?

Well, the link to do the same is on the TRAI website which opens up an algorithm based system where you just put in all the channels you want to subscribe to and this thing smartly slots them all neatly in to various bouquets so that you save hugely on what would be other wise huge la-carte costs. What's more, this thing is very accurate and chooses bouquets that you would otherwise not even thought of as you can't possibly look up all bouquets and tabulate them according to what will give you all that you want without missing a single channel (I have a Kerala bouquet and also Zee bouquet which I would never have otherwise thought of selecting but it's working according to my selection) and gives you an OPTIMIZED LIST according to your choice of channels with all your picks ultimately bringing down the costs. IT WILL ALSO SAVE YOU FROM CHOOSING TWO CHANNELS BY MISTAKE IN A BOUQUET AND ALSO IN LA CARTE WHICH WOULD DOUBLE COST OF THAT CHANNEL/S. You can also save as PDF etc and use this list to to your final selection with your service provider. BELIEVE ME, THIS IS THE FIRST THING EVERYONE SHOULD BE DOING FOR CHANNEL SELECTION. IT'S THE SMARTEST AND MOST LOGICAL AND FAST THING TO DO FOR THE JOB AND ALSO BEING ACCURATE. I missed only one 'Epic' channel which I chose later. I still have 10 channels more which I can choose from my 125 which I'm paying for.

Originally Posted by fordday

For my videocon D2H connection I gave my selections on Feb 1st. The submission went successfully and got acknowledgement as "We will get back to you shortly". Nothing happened afterwards.

Today I did the same channel selections again. To my horror, they have fixed the first 100 channels, which you cannot remove at all. It was possible to remove channels earlier, without touching the 25 mandatory DD channels.

I selected 25 of my own and it shows 125 channels. Submitted and got acknowledgement and then nothing else.

This is getting on my nerves.

These "mandatory" channels are not counted in your channel list and you don't have to pay for them as far as I know. They're kind of promotional. In my Tata Sky these are about 100 odd of them but they don't count because otherwise my selection would have been about 225 or more channels but it is 115 channels. That's how it is at least in Tata Sky and should be same for all.


There are 3 things to consider which are seperate but people are confusing them together. They are:
1) 100 PAID CHANNELS AND BASIC COST OF 130 ODD RUPEES: You don't get anything for This Rs.130. It's just a rental for the provider for giving you the dth service. It allows you a slab of 100 paid channels which you choose to watch and after you cross 100 channels you add another slab/s of 20 rupees each for allowing to choose further 25 channels a slab.
2) THE "MANDATORY" CHANNELS: These are not counted amongst your channel selection list and are independent of your choice list. These are the about 100 free channels which was mentioned about but these cannot include other La CARTE channels what you choose. These are totally independent and you can't alter any part of it. At least that's how it's working for me on Tata Sky.
3) YOUR PAID CHANNEL SELECTION: You pay whatever is mentioned as the channel price unless it's included in a bouquet and then you pay the bouquet price but you anyway pay and it can't be included in the "100 free channels" about which are mentioned above in point 1&2. Free channels don't cost you but will add up in your channel slab.

Originally Posted by bejoy

I too did the selection twice and got the same message. It seems they have changed the plan but I cannot verify since there is no way I can see my selection. Some of the channels that I selected seem to be not enabled.

Now their website is not accessible.

Imagine millions of people thronging the dth sites for channel selection. I don't think the sites were ever built for that kind of traffic. The key is doing it up and not waiting for last moment rush. It's harder that buying a movie ticket black which you can still go ahead and do. With site limitations, no go.

Originally Posted by mvadg

And should we be paying at all? Aren't we paying for content already? We pay for goods and services along with any other costs that they can tack on - including "convenience fees", "RTO fees", and most important - "advertising". Pay channels were meant for ad-free content.

If someone can throw more light on the reasons why we should be selecting and paying for content on a channel by channel basis instead of just an access fee, it would really be helpful.

No, we're not paying the 130 bucks for content. This is like rent we pay for the service provider for providing us the dth connection. But your point about ad free content being free is very valid. We all should oppose this. These so called "premium" channels who show us ghosts, goblins, daayans, withches and what not, sometimes about a dozen in a single serial soap and ask us to pay premium 23 odd buck per channel are already raking in high moolah from the advertisers and are getting paid for it also. You time any half-hourly serial and in half an hour, only 15-18 mins is the showtime, rest are spent on ads.

So these smart broadcasters take money from the ad people, show us those ads and take money from us for watching it! What fun!! Win-win for them and we're only shelling out.

On a serious note, their working costs is nothing we know of so can't really say on it. But they're taking us for a ride, that's for sure.

Originally Posted by bejoy

I forced an account refresh and all the channels that I selected are appearing now.

Very important bite shared. People should try that in case the same issue. Thank you.

Originally Posted by centaur

Today is the 4th day I don't have anything apart from the free channels on my Videocon D2H. Channel selection had been done and acknowledged with a "We will get back to you shortly" message. No one ever got back since 31st Jan. Their customer numbers just wont even connect, forget being able to talk to anyone of the execs. Emails are not responded to either. Website does not allow a login and the app is total crap. The best part - while I am being given channels worth 130 bucks, my daily deduction is as per my earlier monthly package which was around 600 bucks a month. So videocon is kind of ripping me off by charging for something they are not providing. I guess I am done with Videocon though I suppose its the same case with most other major providers too. Might get off TV for a while till this nuisance dies out and things get streamlined. Family has to go through trouble of not being able to watch their shows, but then there is no alternative at present. Videocon just sucks big time

Please read my reply to bejoy above.

[cs_rajesh]

Originally Posted by pixantz

Actually it does save us money. Just if you do it right.
Well, the link to do the same is on the TRAI website which opens up an algorithm based system where you just put in all the channels you want to subscribe to and this thing smartly slots them all neatly in to various bouquets so that you save hugely on what would be other wise huge la-carte costs.

I did what you suggested and even after spending 1/2 an hour and including every channel I remember me or my family members watching, I get a quotation of Rs 1030/- and when optimized, it is Rs 1009/-. I used to have access to far more pay and free channels on my cable in the past for just 380/- bucks!



Again, I repeat, TRAI has simply paved way for every channel content provider to charge money and provider to add charge, (for example x amount for a bunch of y channels added).

TRAI's decisions has made it possible now for every content provider to set any price and also hike channel price (anytime) without having to change the pricing technology or no interference from middlemen such as local cable providers (who used to offer a lot of channels at less or zero cost). (somewhat like GST, once framework is set, govt can simply play with the tax rates and tune their income)

And that also means to contain cost, end consumers have to constantly visit their channel selection and perform cost computation and if found high, revisit or go through the channel list and make up one's mind to remove one or few channels and so on.


One cannot watch all these many channels together at any instant. Out of those all channels, we happen to watch one or few very often (for example news) but end up paying high cost for certain channels which we would have selected for occasional viewing (for example sportz / cricket). Why charge for a month when I would watch only for an hour or so?

Perhaps I can imagine a system like mobile billing, if the actual viewership can be measured with meter, for example, X minutes of a channel leading to X min x Rs Y / min . Maybe such models appear in the future and then perhaps I can imagine I would then pay for what I exactly watch.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by cs_rajesh

Why charge for a month when I would watch only for an hour or so?.

This would be wonderful if it happens, we can only dream of this model.
It would also be wonderful if the unsubscribed channels do not appear in our flipping list.

[centaur]

Luckily the channels started this afternoon without doing anything. So good for now.

Originally Posted by bejoy

Force a refresh from the website. Use the url below:
https://www.d2h.com/refresh-account.php

or sent SMS "REF" to +91 92120 12299

The website just does not allow a login in the first place. It just says 502 bad gateway. Will try the sms option though

Originally Posted by pixantz

Please read my reply to bejoy above.

Yeah the refresh through website doesnt work as I am just unable to login

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by cs_rajesh

Again, I repeat, TRAI has simply paved way for every channel content provider to charge money and provider to add charge, (for example x amount for a bunch of y channels added).

I agree. It is highly unlikely to result in any savings for most viewers.
Like the politicians who divide and rule, same strategy has been adopted to divide the viewing public. Earlier, all of us could compare our rates and protest as one group against the service provider or the local operator. Now...
Acche din have arrived.

[aadya]

https://www.timesnownews.com/busines...on-trai/362668

Some clarification from TRAI regarding Multi TV connections

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by cs_rajesh

I did what you suggested and even after spending 1/2 an hour and including every channel I remember me or my family members watching, I get a quotation of Rs 1030/- and when optimized, it is Rs 1009/-. I used to have access to far more pay and free channels on my cable in the past for just 380/- bucks!

I see that your selection makes up a total of about 200 odd channels. According to the new pricing structure, at least going the LA Carte way, that going to add up to a lot and is not a good idea. So I suggest that you make a list of all the channels you want, like, a manual list, and then look up the ready-made packs which are offered by either your service provider and/or broadcasters and check if you can find a suitable combo or pack that makes all of your stuff fit in.

Now ideally the Trai thingy should have done that but it didn't because I think you have chosen such a huge variety of type of channel/s that putting them all in any one suitable configuration wasn't possible.

Be sure to jot down your list selection tough, because otherwise you're sure to miss stuff. I had found a pack which was kind of suitable for me in about 580 bucks but on closely tallying with my list I found that the pack excluded some pretty important channels. So I went by the Trai thingy and got all my desired channels for a lesser price!

Also, going by the fact that you have chosen almost 200 channels, it suggests you have chosen a lot of them which hardly anybody will watch even once a month. In today's times and this pricing structure, that's a lavish liberty. Because even if we imagine you have a modest 10 family members and two tv's, thats roughly 20 channels per member average, it wouldn't be possible for all of them to watch all those channels even if they were glued to the tv's 24x7! So being more specific in the choices can help a lot too. Hope that helps...

[diyguy]

I am on Zee Dishtv and my accounts are still on the older schemes. I did select a reduced pack for both my connections but for now we are still receiving the older pack. I am getting recharge reminders of my older plan (prior to DeMo of TRAI) and being asked to pay for months to get 7 days free.
Anyone else with similar experience?

[ghodlur]

Its already 10th day of the new pricing regime since TRAI ruling and the DTH operators haven't trained their customer care to respond correctly to the customer queries.

I wanted to know from Tata sky when does the window for the reselection of channels be available and the customer care guy kept parrotting about some thing else. In all the discussion I came to know that the channel cost is being debited on daily basis from my recharge amount and I thought it was to be done on monthly basis. This means I can change the channel selection any given day and it will take 24 hrs to be effected. Tata sky stuffed a FTA promo pack consisting of 194 channels FTA and this contains channels which in my lifetime atleast I will not viewing, the FTA ones which I want to view are not in the pack. So tata sky refuses to allow me to change the channels in the FTA promo pack saying its mandatory as is the case with other DTH operators. I would like to know if that's the case.

Overall the entire exercise has been brain damaging with more bigger holes in the pocket. Can TRAI be taken to consumer court for this?