Tata Play removes Sony channels from all packs citing low viewership: Report

The removal began with one million subscribers on August 1, 2024, and will continue for the next 10 days.

According to a report by Mint, Tata Play, an Indian DTH TV service, will remove all Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) channels from the plans of nearly 10 million subscribers.

The removal started with one million subscribers on August 1, 2024, and will continue over the next 10 days, according to Harit Nagpal, the managing director and CEO.

The DTH operator said it was removing the channels due to low viewership, but SPNI called the decision "arbitrary" and "retaliatory".

Nagpal said that although 40-50% of Tata Play customers subscribe to Sony channels, only 25% of them actually watch the channels, based on viewership data.

He said, “Without return path data, it’s challenging to identify the 75% of subscribers who pay but don’t watch these channels. As a customer-centric company, we decided to remove these channels to reduce the monthly DTH bills of these subscribers. Those who want to continue watching Sony channels can subscribe again via our app or call centre, or by sending a text message. The reactivation is almost instantaneous."

He admitted that removing the channels would hurt the company's revenues but stressed that only viewers who wanted these channels should pay for them.

An SPNI spokesperson said in response to Mint’s queries, "SPNI has recently become aware of Tata Play's decision to remove Sony channels from nearly 10 million subscribers’ bouquets. This decision appears to have been made without notifying SPNI or considering subscriber preferences. We believe this is retaliation for exercising our audit rights on Tata Play's subscriber management system, where we've noted and communicated several discrepancies over the past years."

In March 2022, Tata Play decided to lower the subscription plans for nearly half of its subscribers. This move saved each subscriber ₹30-100 per month and helped the company keep more customers.

Nagpal said, “Given the flexibility we offer, we wanted to experiment with dropping the bouquet with the least viewership. In this case, it was Sony. This will reduce customer bills accordingly."