In Kochi, all channels in the One Alliance group of SET — Sony, SET Max, Discovery, Animal Planet, AXN — except HBO, the premium movie channel, disappeared from the network of the largest cable operator in Kerala from end-April 2003.

On Thursday, with HBO also doing the disappearing act, home movie buffs are becoming desperate. With smaller cable operators also facing similar problems with broadcasters, the One Alliance bouquet of channels is likely to go off from other networks too in the near future, it is learnt.

Consumers on the other hand, have expressed dissatisfaction with the content that have come to replace the channels that have disappeared. The channels that have come as a replacement are "a bunch of rubbish," as one consumer puts it. According to S Rajeev, senior vice-president, Asianet Satcom, the issue is about the "arm-twisting" tactics of the broadcasters.

"The stand-off with SET is due to some commercial terms that are yet to be settled. To put it simply, we can no longer afford the One Alliance bouquet by paying the huge fees they have been demanding. Or else we will have to think about a hike in cable subscription fee, which the consumers definitely will not accept," he says.

According to him, the basic issue is regarding the connectivity charges that cable operators have to pay broadcasters. During the ICC World Cup, SET wanted the cable operators to pay higher connectivity charges.

The understanding was that the connectivity charges would be brought down after the World Cup, but that did not happen. "We cannot continue to pay broadcasters such huge fee, neither are we in a position to hike the subscription fee," Rajeev points out.

The connectivity fee charged by broadcasters is based on the subscriber base of each cable operator. Under-declaration of the subscriber base has always been a bone of contention between operators and broadcasters. As broadcasters hike the fee for pay channels, cable operators ''balance'' it by under-declaring the subscriber base.

According to H Ramachandran of Siti Cable, in metros the subscription fee ranges from Rs 250 to Rs 360, while in Kerala a hike in cable fee would erode the subscriber base. "All cable operators have written individual letters to broadcasters that we are not in a position to enhance subscription and hence cannot afford to pay them heavily."

Cable operators say that the last time when they joined hands to boycott ESPN-Star Sports, they had decided not to "encourage" any more pay channels. "This is an issue in which the interests of the consumers and the cable operators coincide."