For the time being, Doordarshan’s feeding frenzy may have been curbed. Alarmed at the way Zee Telefilms walked out of its foreign matches deal with the Board, and possibly worried at the discounts that the Board has had to keep giving Nimbus to offset the feed-to-Doordarshan rule, the Board has extracted a promise from the I&B Ministry that could have a restraining effect on DTH operators.

DTH operators Tata-Sky and Dish TV indirectly benefited from the new mandatory signal-sharing law, with private channels running into losses.

The ministry has now said that it would form a new set of guidelines where the DTH operators would have to get into direct individual agreement/ contract with the private sports broadcaster holding the telecast rights.