Free Cricket Match Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar Faces Legal Challenge: TDSAT Notifies the Platform
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has recently given Disney-Star notice regarding its free mobile streaming of cricket matches. To find out more about the circumstance, continue reading.
Key Points: – A petition against free streaming of cricket matches has been filed by the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF).
– Disney-Star has been asked to respond by October 3 by TDSAT.
– Jio Cinema and Disney+ Hotstar are vying to provide free cricket match streaming.
Fans of cricket, get ready for some potentially awful news. You may have to think about paying to watch next cricket games, including the World Cup, as the age of free cricket match streaming is maybe coming to an end.
In response to a complaint over the free streaming of cricket matches on Hotstar for mobile devices, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has sent a notice to Disney-Star. This criticism relates to both the impending cricket World Cup and the just finished Asia Cup.
The All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF), which claims that this practice adversely affects the cable business, submitted a petition that served as the impetus for the notice. The broadcaster allegedly received payment from the cable sector for the rights to distribute and transmit signals. In view of this, TDSAT has instructed Star India to respond to the accusations and issues brought forth by AIDCF by October 3.
To stop Disney-Star from enabling free cricket match streaming on its OTT platform, AIDCF has petitioned TDSAT. AIDCF claims in its filing that “while on the one hand the respondent (Disney Star) has contracted for distributing and transmitting signals of the live events (Asia Cup and World Cup) to the petitioner (AIDCF) and similarly situated entities on a payment basis (à la carte or part of a bouquet), on the other hand, the respondent is causing transmission of the very same content on a completely free-to-view basis for consumers of the respondent’s own platform.” The non-discrimination principle, which forms the cornerstone of the legal framework controlling TV signal transmission over wired or wireless systems, is violated, according to AIDCF, by this conduct. Nine cable networks’ AIDCF has asked TDSAT to direct Disney Star to stop streaming cricket games for free on its Disney+ Hotstar platform.
The practice of providing free cricket match streaming has spread to all of the main OTT services, including Jio and Hotstar. Through a paid streaming service, Star India broadcasts the games on the Star Sports network. All Jio app users nationwide were given free access to the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year via JioCinema. Even if these platforms want to reach more people, the cable sector has clearly been harmed by their free sports streaming.
The total number of paid TV distribution channel customers would drop by 5 million to 120 million in 2022, said the FICCI-EY research. The cable TV industry saw the largest fall, with a 4 million subscriber base drop to 64 million. No matter how the case turns out, it will probably have an impact on viewership patterns.
