KOLKATA: The city is set to migrate to the a la carte subscription regime on March 31 with at least 1.5 lakh blank screens. While the majority has not taken part in the migration process, the rest have either moved to the direct-to-home (DTH) platform or happen to be defaulters who have faced disconnection. A small section is believed to have chosen to discontinue with multiple cable TV connections.Till last week, the number of blank screens across the city was more than 2 lakh. MSOs and cable operators had expected the figure to slide considerably by March-end with the board exams coming to an end and the IPL kicking off. But that has not happened. “This proves that there is now a substantial section which is not interested in cable TV. They have moved to the Internet and prefer live streaming. Also, the share of DTH will rise since the price difference has now narrowed. So, MSOs are bound to lose some customers,” said Mrinal Chatterjee of MSO Bengal Broadband.SITICable director Suresh Sethia, however, hoped that the number of non-compliant subscribers will drop sharply within a fortnight. “Things should improve in 15-20 days once the IPL hots up. It takes around a week for the IPL to warm up and the interest level to peak. Once it does, there will be a rush to get the channels back. We may lose some multiple-connection homes but the IPL will wean back the majority of those still out of the fold. We expect all our subscribers to return by mid-April,” said Sethia.Some MSOs pointed out that the number of disconnections has seen a spurt due to the change in the payment system. While earlier cable operators would be flexible with subscriptions, often allowing many to skip payments for months, the new digital system leads to an automatic disconnection once the monthly payment date has passed. “Thousands are facing disconnection since they are still not used to making payments within the stipulated date. The MSO servers no longer allow operators the leeway to collect money at longer intervals and make a payment later,” said Chatterjee.An official of MSO Hathaway agreed. “We will now have 5%-10% blank screens constantly since a section will continue to default. But they will keep coming back to the fold so the loss will be temporary,” said the official.The number of blank screens is higher outside Kolkata. SITICable, for instance, has 2.66 lakh severed connections across Bengal. Even if the number of blank screens drop in Kolkata, it may take longer across the districts, felt industry insiders. “There has been a rise in subscription fee. Those who subscribed to packages for less than Rs 200 may opt out,” said an MSO official.

Stay updated with all the Kolkata Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.