MUMBAI:  Is a joint venture between three DTH players – DishTV, Airtel, and Videocon2h - as erroneously and amateurishly reported recently really on the cards? The purpose behind the joint venture – it was reported – was to bring content costs down and carriage revenues up for the three DTH players.

“The fact of the matter is that several discussions and proposals are mooted by those in the ecosystem,” says an observer close to the discussions. “Indeed around six months ago the joint venture proposal was floated and some meetings were held. But it was being pushed by one player and the rest were just examining whether it was feasible and what were its merits and demerits. No concrete steps were taken to give it any shape or form.”

Says a senior executive at one of the three DTH players: “The talks simply died down and no further moves were made in that direction.  To the best of my knowledge it seems to have been put on the back burner – at least for now.”

Another executive points out that if the three were in agreement on this score, then why did Dish TV break away and announce its carriage fee rate card recently?  “If one goes by current indications, the other two are being cautious on the joint venture proposal,” says a media observer.

So you heard it here first: the DTH joint venture was only a proposal, which seems to have fizzled out – at least for now.