KOCHI: The seemingly unending tussle between ESPN Star Sports and the Asianet Satellite Communications Limited has ensured that the subscribers of the latter will miss the live telecast of the eagerly awaited series between India and England beginning on Thursday.ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd senior director, affiliate sales, Rajib Mukherjee said here on Wednesday that despite the company's best efforts to reconcile all outstanding issues, Asianet had stuck to its guns."Asianet cable was adamant and wanted unreasonable discounts", Mukherjee said."It was apparent from the initial stages of the discussion that it had made up its mind to discontinue our services".The signals of the popular sports channels have been off air on the Asianet network since July 7. The Champions League T20, the English Premier League, India's tour of Australia and the Formula1 season are among the other sporting events lined up on ESS."The contract with Asianet cable had expired on May 31 but we continued our services because we wanted to ensure that all viewers got to see the India-England series. Asianet switched off the services of the ESPN Star Sports bouquet comprising ESPN, Star Sports and Star Cricket channels on July 7"."Our local office has been inundated with calls from sports enthusiasts but we are helpless if the cable operator refuses to pay the broadcaster. That is when we are ready to renew the deal at last year's conditions even when the rates have been increasing across sectors", Mukherjee said.Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Asianet told Express that the cable operator always worked for the interest of the customers."This switch off is to protect consumer interest", he said."Asianet has been providing the services for about 18 years now and has kept the subscription rates stable across Kerala in spite of huge cost escalation. The ESPN bouquet of channels is already collecting huge money as subscription compared to other broadcasters"."Other channels have come in to share content, including top class cricket, football and tennis matches, which call for drastic reduction in subscription. If we agree to the demands of ESS, we will have to increase our subscription rates. Asianet is trying to address the issues and also planning a legal recourse to protect consumer interest", he said.
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