Dish TV: to see or not to see
4 July 2008
If you are a resident of Gelephu you get to watch Al Jazeera. If you are a resident of Paro you get to watch Ten Sports. And if you are a resident of Phuentsholing, tune in to India TV and Zee Music. TANDIN PEM reports
But if you are a resident of Thimphu, jolly good luck because BICMA is in the neighbourhood watching you switching the channels.
Lately it’s not just been about what channel you like to watch- the onus is now on who provides it, how they provide it and on what grounds these channels are provided or banned.
Although Dish TV is said to be illegal in Bhutan, people are increasingly using it- either because they say the cable operators are not consistent in their delivery of programmes or they do not get the channels they want to watch. To accommodate the broadcast of the European Cup, Thimphu cable operators had to use Dish TV and Tata Sky to provide ESPN, which went missing just as the European Cup kicked-off. Residents in Thimphu were left frustrated- with the operators, with BICMA’s decision to ban channels like Ten Sports and others.
Jigme Karchung of Etho Meto Cables said, “The installation of Dish TV has become a big issue. Although it is illegal, it has come into Bhutan affecting our business very badly,” Kinga Azo, a Thimphu businessman, watched every game of the European Champion’s League in Paro. He drove late at night, caught the game on Ten Sports (which is aired in Paro) and drove back early in the morning to Thimphu.
He said he installed a Dish TV system recently and can now get on with his favourite channels irrespective of the providers and the regulators.
The BICMA Director, Kinley T Wangchuk, said there are possibilities that Dish TV might be legalized. The matter has been put up to the government for a review.
Cable operators said that if Dish TV is legalized then their business will definitely be affected. “If Dish TV is legalized then the owners of Dish TV should pay the tax we are presently paying. We pay two types of tax- 30 percent of the amount collected from our consumers and income tax,” said Jigme Karchung.
Although Dish TV has not yet been legalized, it has already started affecting the cable business. An employee of Sigma Cables in Paro said that the number of cable subscribers has decreased with the increasing popularity of Dish TV.
As of now, the number of channels approved by BICMA for cable operators is 40. If cable operators air channels not included in the approved list, they are warned by BICMA.
“They are sent a warning letter and given a date to take it off the air. And if the cable operator is still not doing it then their licence is liable for repercussion and cancellation,” the director said, “If Dish TV is legalized then BICMA will not be able to regulate the number of channels to be aired and thus it will have to be self-regulatory.”
An unhappy cable operator said Dish TV should be completely taken of- whether it becomes illegal or legal. Moreover, the operators should also be allowed to show as many channels as they want to. Although the use of Dish TV is still technically illegal, BICMA is yet to enforce a proper system of monitoring its usage. “Initially we were doing it with the help of customs and dzongkhag but it has been very difficult for us to constantly monitor it,” the director said.
He said some of the operators have also been using it to air Ten Sports and ESPN. BICMA said the censorship of certain channels is due to the excessive violence; glamorization of drugs and rape, and soft pornography- and that it was done to protect the vulnerable parts of society.
A civil servant requesting anonymity asked, “How can a group of people sitting around a table decide what’s good for us to watch and what’s not? It’s simply not reasonable.” The chairman of the Association for Private Cable Operators said, “If the government legalizes Dish TV, then it not only affects us but also the people.”
But there are differing views on what BICMA thinks, what the cable operators want and the public that is the final recipient of it all. Jigme, a young Thimphu TV aficionado, said he was not happy with the quality and quantity of programmes provided by the operators in the capital. He said the public must get the most for the least, and that if it meant installing a Dish TV, it was perfectly okay. Another avid sports fan pointed out the immaturity of the censors in blacking out channels such as Ten Sports. He argued that if wrestling was the reason for the blockade, then Star Sports should be banned too.
He added that it was rather channels like Sony Music, serials, Star Plus and the rest of that emotional drama being played out in every Bollywood inspired channel that was more harmful to society- encouraging emotional blackmails, gossip, envy, jealousy, revenge, et al. Such themes, he said, were detrimental to individual and society-wide ways of thinking. He asked, “Since when did watching sports make youngsters anti-social?” For cable operators, profit or the lack of it seems to be the real grievance behind their rejection of Dish TV. They showed concerns that if Dish TV was legalized in Bhutan, their business would be in danger.
The dishes get still messier as Dish TV is not meant for the Bhutanese market- a customer buying a Dish TV has to be an Indian national. Presently there are 48 cable operators in the country The number of people using Dish TV is unknown.
Loading ...
Comments
One Response to “Dish TV: to see or not to see”
Leave your comment
Loading ...Zakar for Thursday September 02 2010
th Day of the th Month - Year
Auspicious for:
Inauspicious for:
Recently Updated
- Nganglam needs the same favours
- Yangphel open archery tournament in the quarters
- Meet the wicked lady of Bhutanese films
- From dung to clean energy
- Contractors appeal to PM to solve stone shortage crisis
- Villagers cry foul of farm road alignment
- Tor Jap – hurling ritual cakes
- PTC teachers need professional incentives
- Tudors win easy over Aspens
- 136 power tillers distributed
Popular Articles
- Building and selling skills (535)
- Coming of the new God (270)
- Bhutan’s GDP growth up (80)
- Archery range still threatens lives (55)
- In peace, the King sleeps (40)
- First Bhutanese to run world-class marathon (378)
- Bhutan runs NY marathon (333)
- Burning a mountain with a single thought (203)
- Buddhas and Bars (159)
- Of those 6 months in Phuenthsoling (51)
Archives
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jun | Aug » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Dish TV has to legalized in Bhutan, since we have the right to use since we are purchasing from our own pocket to enjoy the quality of picture with more quantity of channel in our choise.