New RIOs out: JioStar raises channel bouquet prices by 18%, Zee & Sony by 12%

Major broadcasters have unveiled their revised Reference Interconnect Offers (RIOs), presenting a mixed trend in channel pricing. While some channel rates have increased, others have either remained unchanged or have been reduced.

JioStar has emerged as the broadcaster with the highest channel bouquet rates, with an overall price increase of approximately 18%. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI, now Culver Max) have raised their bouquet prices by around 12%.

JioStar’s Star Value Pack (SVP) Hindi and SVP Hindi Basic packs for standard definition (SD) are now priced at ?110 each, reflecting an 18% hike from the previous combined rates of Star India and Viacom18’s individual Hindi base packs, which were priced at ?60 and ?34, respectively. These bouquets include channels across genres such as general entertainment, movies, infotainment, kids, and sports.

Created from the merger of Reliance Industries and Disney Star, JioStar has introduced 83 channel packs comprising 134 channels—85 standard definition (SD), 44 high definition (HD), and 5 free-to-air (FTA) options. Additionally, the lineup includes 19 news channels from Network18. Regional language bouquets for Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Odia, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam are also available. The SPP Marathi Lite Hindi HD and SPP Bengali Lite Hindi HD packs are the costliest, priced at ?240 each.

In a-la-carte pricing, JioStar’s popular channels such as Star Plus, Star Gold, and Colors Hindi have maintained their rates at ?19. Colors Marathi remains at ?15, while Star Bharat’s price rose from ?12 to ?15, and price of Star Plus HD increased from ?22 to ?25. On the other hand, some channels saw price reductions—price of Colors Cineplex dropped from ?19 to ?15 and price of Star Utsav fell from ?0.50 to ?0.10.

ZEEL and SPNI also announced revisions to their offerings. Price of SPNI’s Happy India Smart Hindi Pack increased from ?48 to ?54, and price of Zee’s All-in-One Hindi SD Pack rose from ?47 to ?53, with the addition of the English entertainment channel Zee Café. SPNI plans to launch Sony MAX 1, a new movie channel, in April.

For a-la-carte SPNI pricing, channels like Sony Pal and Sony Max 2 saw their prices double, from ?0.50 to ?1 and ?1 to ?2, respectively. Sony Sports TEN 4 increased moderately, from ?17 to ?19. For Zee, &TV saw the steepest rise at 66%, from ?6 to ?10, while Zee Café experienced a sharp 70% price cut, from ?10 to ?3.

In January 2023, Network18 and ZEEL introduced revised RIOs, effective from February 1. IndiaCast, Network18’s distribution arm, discontinued over 25 bouquets, including Colors Wala Hindi Budget and Budget Plus (?25 each) and Colors Wala Hindi Value (?28). These were replaced with new options such as Colors Wala Hindi Value (?34), Colors Wala Hindi Value Plus Sports (?45), and Colors Wala Marathi Value (?40).

ZEEL also updated the a-la-carte pricing for channels like Zee Cinemalu and Zee Picchar, reflecting broader trends in the evolving broadcast pricing landscape.

This pricing revision highlights the shifting dynamics of India’s broadcasting industry, with consumers facing notable adjustments in subscription costs for popular packages.

One continuous bone of contention between broadcasters and cable operators has been the increase in prices of TV channels as per TRAI’s new tariff order or NTO 3.0 which came into effect in 2023 allowing broadcasters to hike prices of channels, that are a part of the bouquet, to Rs 19 from Rs 12 earlier.

Cable operators, who have constantly been opposing the price hike, had met Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti to discuss the concerns regarding the price hike by broadcasters.

TRAI had even put on hold the price hike of TV channels till June 2024 to ensure smooth Lok Sabha elections to avoid any face-off between broadcasters and cable operators.