Tata Sky, Zee in negotiations to renew distribution deal

[Umair Malik]

MUMBAI: Tata Sky has issued notice to discontinue the service of 33 channels of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), Zee Media Corporation (ZMCL) and Turner India on its direct-to-home (DTH) platform if they fail to renew their agreement in the next three weeks.

In a public notice to its subscribers, Tata Sky has said that the channels will be discontinued with effect from 31 July, which is more than 21 days from the date of publication of the notice.

Tata Sky has said that it has not been able to reach an agreement with Taj Television and Turner International India to renew their relationship after the expiry of the respective agreements on 31 July.
The 33 channels to be dropped from the DTH platform are as follows: Zindagi, &TV HD, Zee Anmol, Zee Classic, Zee Action, &Pictures HD, Zee Café, Zee Café HD, HBO, Zee Studio, WB, Zee Studio HD, Zee ETC Bollywood, Zing, Cartoon Network, ZeeQ, Toonami, Ten 2, Ten 3, Ten Golf HD, Living Foodz, Zee Tamil, Zee Salaam, CNN International, Zee News, Zee Business, India 24×7, Zee 24 Taas, 24 Ghanta, Zee Punjab/Haryana/Himachal, Zee Kalinga News, Zee Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh, and Zee Rajasthan News.

Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal said that the public notice has been issued to fulfil statutory requirement. The two parties, he said, are in negotiation to come to an agreement before the disconnection notice expires.

ZEEL distribution head Rajesh Sethi was not available for comment at the time of filing this report.

[zubair8xm]

agar ye channel khatam hoye to tata sky ko tata bye bye kehna pare ga