News channel blockade: Telangana cable operators counter-question Centre following summons

Hyderabad: Summoned by the Central government over blocking a certain news channel, the Telangana State cable TV operators sent a counter show cause notice asking why the said channels had not been questioned over hurting Telangana sentiments under section 19 of the Cable Television Act, 2011.

“As per the section 19 of the Cable Television Act, 2011, any channel that by any means resorts to hurting religious sentiments should be punished. But, the Central government has summoned us asking why we blocked the TV channels without 15-day prior intimation,” said Subash Reddy, president, Multi-System Operator Association.

He also added that as per the cable operator technology, the operators can only broadcast 105 channels. Besides, mandatory government channels (like DD), entertainment and religious channels were more in demand among the viewers.

“The displacement of the two channels from the slot was only due to severe opposition from the public. We have to listen to their demand on choice of channel,” said the MSO president.
There are over 150 MSOs across the 10 districts of Telangana.