The Atom Smasher - Are u worried??

I have been fed up watching people scared about how the mad scientists are trying to end life on earth. A simple news story on a very popular news channel in India had this as the headline. “Pull the switch and the World ends” , as expected the show gets the highest viewership for the day. These channels use cheap graphics, including a poor video from a very old english movie showing a mad scientist working on a machine trying to rule the world. People around me have been discussing this for days and i have been trying to end them by simply telling that if it was aimed at mass destruction, would the world let it happen?

I had not watched a news story for the fact that i believed it was crap, It made no sense to me. I managed to catch a glimpse of it when my sister was switching channels and there she was explaining what these people were talking about. Thanks a show called ‘Mega Structures’ on national geographic channel,
i was able to explain the experiment in more simple terms to my family and also explain why ‘Pulling the switch meant a lot to these scientists’. After talking to different people i noted that these people only knew the story from the angle the news channels were trying to tell, They did not know that work on the project had started 15 years ago, and it was to be tested for the first time in September. here is my insight into the biggest project in the history of science.

A view of the huge installations at one of the centres

A LHC is basically a particle accelerator, It will guide two proton beams in two opposite directions around a 17 mile underground tube that will be maintained at temperatures far below freezing point (1.9 K i.e minus 300 deg centigrade) . Over 1600 magnets are placed on its path to keep the protons rotating on the circular path, these magnets will help accelerate the speed of the protons. Some of these magnets will be used to  focus the beams on the correct path for maximum impact. At collision, they are expected to reach speeds almost equivalent to that of ’speed of light’. They are expected to carry a lot of energy, big enough to create ‘matter’ which is how universe was created.

These collisions present data, that the physicists think will help them understand the creation of the universe. If all goes right, matter will be transformed by the violent collisions into wads of energy, which will in turn condense back into various intriguing types of particles, some of them never seen before.These results are expected to indicate how earth and other planets are formed as a part of the universe.

Aerial View of the Tube used for LHC

Some scientists around the world have also been concerned of the fact that this collision may create a huge black hole that might suck the earth’s core and end all life on earth by causing mass destruction. These claims have been nullified by the researchers saying that even if these black holes were created they would be negligible in size and would decay. More interesting information is said to be revealed by this billion dollar experiment. The machine has been started on September 10, 2008 and the collisions are expected to be on October 10, 2008.

Scientists are also looking at proof to an illusive theory called Higgs Boson, sometimes referred to as the “God particle.” Scientists have theorized that the elusive Higgs Boson, if it exists, is what gives particles mass, but researchers have not found it. They hope o find it as a part of the experiment. The results of the experiment are aimed to close all loop holes into the most proven theory of ‘Creation of the Universe’, The Big Bang.

For more insight into the project read the following links.

• Download 6 minute video that explains the working of the project and the outcome
• Wiki - LHC
• Simple One page article to understand LHC
• Is the atom smasher safe?? (Video)
• “Worst Case Scenario” National Geographic News story, September 9 2008
• Read this 6 page article If u r looking at something more informative than pure science.

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Kunal

Reality Bites on India TV... Ouch!

Reality bites!! The word ‘Reality’ seems to carry a different meaning to the producers of some Hindi News channels. Have u seen IndiaTV?? Can u tell me if it is a news channel or a general entertainment channel. If u have not seen this channel on ur television, I give u a chance to give me the answer. Look at the pictures below:

Story : Abduction of Cows by aliens from outer space

UFO has abducted a cow. (Cotton County?? May be a location where they milk the cows  )

Until now there have been no clues of the cows. (Ask, Torque for ‘No scar(e)s’ )

India TV asks, ” Where has the cow gone?” (Yeah, advertise in this ’space’ ship )

Do Aliens Drink Cows Milk, Another one not posted says, do aliens worship cows like us?

(Do u want to be there too? Forms available at bank of baroda :D)

Real photo of the light falling on the cows from the alien ship. (Use Chinese mobiles for better light )

Are Indian Cows also on their hit list? (Did u look at the crystal undergarments ad, Yeah, I love Crystal ke underwear!!  What a waste of bandwidth)

There were many other pictures, I did not want to waste the bandwidth, unlike IndiaTv who prefers wasting important media footage time on some non sense.

Well, I don’t blame the producers for news like this, Use of negative marketing at its best.

Ad’s are made with the same mindset, either they have to be the best or the worst to be remembered.

This is no joke, this channel is under the news channel category. And if this is meant to be news, then i’d prefer being on the alien ship. IndiaTV, Is this is what real indian news.. Pheww, give me a break!

This channel is being broadcasted around the world, with the ’same name’. What are we trying to show as news from India?? Cows being abducted?? even a 5 year old would not believe news like that. Not just this news story, there were stories about how people in villages still followed primitive ways to solving a problem. Horror stories on how the popular Himesh Reshamiya song ‘ Ek baar aaja’ invited ghosts. As a educated person in  India should know, these stories may be true but they apply only to a small percentage of the population. Whatever may be the case, do we want to broadcast news like this under the name of ‘India’.

I would definitely not leave out the other hindi news channels, who give importance and footage to news that would be of no meaning if not telecasted. There are various other things happening in the country that are more important than ‘ Vidya balan’ hot expose for a well known men’s magazine. I salute Barkha Dutt for the coverage of the Kargil war, bought into light the pain that the jawans were taking so that we could sleep without fear. I salute all such people who make India Proud, Dr. APJ Kalam is one such person. I’m glad that he resigned from the president’s post as i feel he has more to contribute to science and technology than be a part of the dirty political group.

We print the photos of an American who showed terrific performance in the Olympics, while the Indian who won the country a bronze medal gets the last page. Cricket takes the center stage, while the national game, Hockey, slowly starts to fade into the distance. Does the Media have a role to play in it?? Yes they do. I don’t see one single news channel that lays importance on a person who could have earned Rs.100 had there not been a bandh called by a stupid political party for even stupid political reasons. The media is more interested in what brand is Shahrukh khan taking up. What is Sachin Tendulkar doing when he is Injured, even for that matter ‘Where are Aishwariya and Abhishek going for HoneyMoon??’, What the Hell.

India Tv has been broadcasting similar kind of stories for while now. I wonder if the Broadcasting ministry is even talking a look at it. Actually speaking, are so many news channels required? I remember the days when my father waited for the 9′o clock news to begin on the national channel. Then came some 24 hr news channels, where breaking news seemed like something really important. Now is time where channels like India TV make ‘ Amitabh bachan ko film shooting ke dauran zukaam hua’ as an important news story, for that matter a ‘Breaking news’. India Tv has made such a bad reputation in my mind that, i have put it under parental lock, so that i don’t watch the channel even by mistake. I hope channels like these vanish soon, and DDnews stays forever.

Comments Welcome, Atleast one 

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Kunal

Reality Bites on India TV... Ouch!

Reality bites!! The word ‘Reality’ seems to carry a different meaning to the producers of some Hindi News channels. Have u seen IndiaTV?? Can u tell me if it is a news channel or a general entertainment channel. If u have not seen this channel on ur television, I give u a chance to give me the answer. Look at the pictures below:

Story : Abduction of Cows by aliens from outer space

UFO has abducted a cow. (Cotton County?? May be a location where they milk the cows  )

Until now there have been no clues of the cows. (Ask, Torque for ‘No scar(e)s’ )

India TV asks, ” Where has the cow gone?” (Yeah, advertise in this ’space’ ship )

Do Aliens Drink Cows Milk, Another one not posted says, do aliens worship cows like us?

(Do u want to be there too? Forms available at bank of baroda :D)

Real photo of the light falling on the cows from the alien ship. (Use Chinese mobiles for better light )

Are Indian Cows also on their hit list? (Did u look at the crystal undergarments ad, Yeah, I love Crystal ke underwear!!  What a waste of bandwidth)

There were many other pictures, I did not want to waste the bandwidth, unlike IndiaTv who prefers wasting important media footage time on some non sense.

Well, I don’t blame the producers for news like this, Use of negative marketing at its best.

Ad’s are made with the same mindset, either they have to be the best or the worst to be remembered.

This is no joke, this channel is under the news channel category. And if this is meant to be news, then i’d prefer being on the alien ship. IndiaTV, Is this is what real indian news.. Pheww, give me a break!

This channel is being broadcasted around the world, with the ’same name’. What are we trying to show as news from India?? Cows being abducted?? even a 5 year old would not believe news like that. Not just this news story, there were stories about how people in villages still followed primitive ways to solving a problem. Horror stories on how the popular Himesh Reshamiya song ‘ Ek baar aaja’ invited ghosts. As a educated person in  India should know, these stories may be true but they apply only to a small percentage of the population. Whatever may be the case, do we want to broadcast news like this under the name of ‘India’.

I would definitely not leave out the other hindi news channels, who give importance and footage to news that would be of no meaning if not telecasted. There are various other things happening in the country that are more important than ‘ Vidya balan’ hot expose for a well known men’s magazine. I salute Barkha Dutt for the coverage of the Kargil war, bought into light the pain that the jawans were taking so that we could sleep without fear. I salute all such people who make India Proud, Dr. APJ Kalam is one such person. I’m glad that he resigned from the president’s post as i feel he has more to contribute to science and technology than be a part of the dirty political group.

We print the photos of an American who showed terrific performance in the Olympics, while the Indian who won the country a bronze medal gets the last page. Cricket takes the center stage, while the national game, Hockey, slowly starts to fade into the distance. Does the Media have a role to play in it?? Yes they do. I don’t see one single news channel that lays importance on a person who could have earned Rs.100 had there not been a bandh called by a stupid political party for even stupid political reasons. The media is more interested in what brand is Shahrukh khan taking up. What is Sachin Tendulkar doing when he is Injured, even for that matter ‘Where are Aishwariya and Abhishek going for HoneyMoon??’, What the Hell.

India Tv has been broadcasting similar kind of stories for while now. I wonder if the Broadcasting ministry is even talking a look at it. Actually speaking, are so many news channels required? I remember the days when my father waited for the 9′o clock news to begin on the national channel. Then came some 24 hr news channels, where breaking news seemed like something really important. Now is time where channels like India TV make ‘ Amitabh bachan ko film shooting ke dauran zukaam hua’ as an important news story, for that matter a ‘Breaking news’. India Tv has made such a bad reputation in my mind that, i have put it under parental lock, so that i don’t watch the channel even by mistake. I hope channels like these vanish soon, and DDnews stays forever.

Comments Welcome, Atleast one 

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Kunal

Colors Launches.. Time to earn money, says TataSky

Colors - A new general entertainment channel was officially launched all over the world on 21st July 2008. Khatron Ke Khiladi - A new fear factor show, hosted by Action King Akshay Kumar gathered all the attention before the launch.

TataSky never misses out on any money making opportunities, and here was one that it wanted to cash in on. They were sure that at least 50% of their subscribers would want to watch the new channel at any cost. The channel, moved straight into the Life Style Gold Pack. Prices increased from Rs.30 to Rs.45. The announcement came in only a day before the actual launch, not allowing customers any opportunity to think. As expected, lot of people including me subscribed to the pack.
[The show is boring, so is the channel. Read the 'First Look at Colors'. Rs.45 down the drain,  I wish I could go back and change it  ]

TataSky however is enjoying this. Assuming 1 million (50%) subscribed to the pack, TataSky grows Rs.1.5 Crore richer over the month. TataSky also earns some extra amount of money as people are forced to buy the entire pack. Packaged with channels that mean no entertainment leave alone general entertainment, People had to buy it to watch the new show.
[ Mann! Their marketing team is one of the best in the world! ]

Unhappy with my decision to have bought the pack, who do i blame?
Rs.45 has been deducted from my account, blaming somebody is going to be of no help. I leave a query about the pricing on the ‘My Query’ section. Replies that they give are generally stupid. This time was no different either. I received a call from their customer care, as expected they had a standard reply ready. “Sir, The prices have been hiked because of the new channel ‘Colors’ which could later be converted to a-le-carte”. Didn’t I know that??

I did not want to discuss anything else as i was sure of the replies i might get. Yet, decided to carry on with the conversation. Only reason being that they would be charged STD for having called me from bangalore. 

Simple mathematics over the package pricing says Tata has earned more with the change than before it. Here is how it works.

Package rates before 1st June 2008
Rs.350 (South Jumbo) + Rs.30 (LS Gold) + 199/12 (Sports Gold, Only available annually) = Rs. 396.60

Package rates w.e.f 1st June 2008:
Rs. 310 (South Jumbo) + Rs.40 (Sports Pack) + Rs.15 (Ten sports, a-le-carte) + Rs.45 (LS Gold) + Rs.30 (Sports Gold) = Rs.440

Excess Cost paid by the customer : Rs.440- Rs.396.6 = Rs.43.40 per subscriber

Total Earnings pm for 2 million subscribers = Rs. 8,68,00,000 (Rs. 8 crores and 68 Lakhs)
Total Earnings Per Annum =  Rs. 1,04,16,00,000 (Rs. 104 Crores and 16 Lakhs)

TataSky earnings over an year : Rs. 105 Crores approx, Customer benefits : NIL.

Not to forget, most of the favorite channels are still not on. The controversy with ESS has blind folded customers about the increase in the package cost of sports gold, It has almost doubled (Rs.16 to Rs.30). These calculations of course were made assuming all 2 million customers buy the packs, which may not be the case. Even if 50% was assumed, TataSky would make more than 50 Crores, Customers still get no benefits.

Apart from the name, there is nothing good about TataSky. Luckily I got vouchers for half the price using Giftmate, I’m shielded from this change, I pity for people who still have to bear it. The blog would mean no sense to anybody, But when ur family or friends decide to buy Tatasky, redirect them here.

More Links about TataSky on the Blog:

• Another Bad Experience With TataSky - No More Cheers
• TataSky - My Experience
• Conspiracy Called TataSky
• India BroadBand Forum -TataSky DTH

Google for many more links.

I feel cheated, Must be the same with the remaining customers. SOS!

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Television - My 4th essential

“Zindagi jeene ke liye sirf teen cheezo ki zaroorat hoti hai, Roti, Kapda aur Makaan.”

Translation : The three most important things to live life -  Food, Clothing, House.
Has the time come to add television to the list of essentials to live life? asks my friend. I wonder where this topic popped into his mind while we were busy watching a movie on his computer. The Movie stopped and the drama began when we started to discuss. I Love TV and its of course the most essential activity in my life . My friend normally likes to take the discussion long and far, that day was no different, It even went up to the extent that we discussed it for over an hour.

“Television is not an essential in my life” said my friend. ‘Hmm’ i wondered, ‘ Who does not like watching television? ‘. When I’m away and have not been watching television, I feel home sick! I miss my sofa. Hey, I’m no couch potato. U could call me a freshly fried chip as I’m no comparison to a potato.

Well, It really does not matter what’s on air, It just has to entertain me. I have no favorites, I just switch channels and watch whatever is on. Now, I work for a software company. I spend more than 10 hrs in front of the computer.  And now, i feel like a couch potato 

I miss my television more than ever. I have to watch television for at least an hour to get some sleep, I don’t care how much sleep i catch up on, but i make sure i catch up on at least one hour of television. I did realize that too much of television was not helping me concentrate on the studies, when i was in college. I had to manage my study time to occupy my TV time. I still managed to pass my graduate degree with good marks, Just missing distinction. I wonder how i managed to achieve that, while i never missed a cricket match that was telecasted just before the exams. I even remember watching the Cricket world cup matches each day before my final exams in XII grade. I again somehow managed good marks, and needless of influence got myself a college seat. Life’s been interesting, but no time have i sacrificed anything for the cricket matches 

Lately a lot of music reality shows are being aired on most of the channels, Weekends we (the family) are pretty much occupied watching television. Not many interesting shows, but some did catch my attention. Just because of the quality of production. At least these people were not use cheap camera tricks and pauses to attract attention. But it is the foreign content that amuses me the most. All of their reality shows have content and concept. At least their shows had no connection with music. If someone has been watching shows like The Beauty and the Geek, Hell’s Kitchen, Monster House, Wife Swap, While you were Out, fear factor, The Real Hustle, Who wants to be a Superhero, The Apprentice, Survivor (One of the favorites) and a few other shows, should understand why they are are more interesting than any other Indian reality show. Not to miss friends, Every episode is funny and worth watching over and over again. Wait, A question popped in my mind. Why cant shows like these be made in India? Well, People in India are not so open minded, also there are restrictions to the content that can be aired on national television. Therefore, Musical contests.

Most of my time is spent watching these reality shows (there are plenty of them, Even the repeats don’t bore u), I don’t miss out on watching some seriously good stuff on NGC and the Discovery Channel. Shows like, Man Vs Wild, Dirty Jobs, Mega Structures, Air Crash Investigation, Future Weapons, Myth Busters, Human Brain, documentaries on various sciences amuse me further. Thanks to the content producers and the television 

How did i forget this imortant one, Cricket. When Its cricket on TV, there is no moving. I’m there watching every ball, Be it a test match or T20. My parents complain of my late night watching, which of course i completely agree is affecting my eye sight. But since i spend most of the time in office, I literally find no time for the 4th essential in life, and unluckily all of the favorite shows are aired only in the 10 pm -12 am slot. I’m addicted, but at least like some other people, I’m not typing away or browsing on useless sites like the orkut, or the facebook.

Interestingly though, It is the internet that helps watching television, free. Wondering how? I usually make use of the free vouchers that Giftmate makes available on a regular basis. Recently,I used some of the offers from Giftmate and recharged my TataSky connection. Don’t just let this encourage u to buy TataSky, read some of the older posts on the blog before u decide on anything related to TataSky.

But somehow i never managed to convince my friend. He kept disagreeing for all the reasons that meant nothing to me or were not worth mentioning in this post. Just to end the debate, I asked him to sum up on why he never agreed with what i had to say. Bang, The door opens. Behind the door stands his mom with tray full of snacks for us, Yes i wanted that badly now  While my friend explains about what we had been discussing, I munch away on some snacks. Surprise, Surprise! She has the answer to my question.

“Why does he not agree with me?”

“He spends most of the time in front of the computer, either working or browsing the internet “. Orkut seems to take the same amount of time that i spend watching television, End of the argument.

Well, is there a 4th essential? We were not able to decide. For now we have accepted the old saying “Roti Kapda aur Makaan”. To him the 4th essential happens to be the internet, to me its my favourite passtime, Television. What’s ur 4th Essential?

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Giftmate.. Saving Subscription

My 4th Essential TV, Subscriptions at half the price.

How? Thanks to a service called Giftmate.
A latest offering on most of the E-Commerce websites, Giftmate, also called as Paymate is just another payment option. It is mainly a pay-by-sms service. Linked to a unique mobile number, A user can recharge the account using credit card or internet banking.  A user can buy any product from the 3000+ sites associated to Giftmate. Once an order is placed, the users can then select paymate as their payment option and confirm the order by a simple sms. Using such accounts, u expose ur credit card information to only one publisher, In this case, Paymate. How did i use this to my advantage?

More info about ‘how to use‘ and ‘where to use‘.

I was introduced to Giftmate by one of the members of India Broadband Forum(IBF), In the TataSky section (Most active). He had posted information on how he used an offer from Giftmate to his advantage and recharge his TataSky connection for half the price. As Giftmate had only come into existence at that time, It had a lot of freebies to offer. The offer was about receiving 100% cash back for purchases made before a certain date using Giftmate.  I registered my mobile number by assigning a Rs.200 Voucher to it using the my online banking account. It was immediately activated and i used it to buy a TataSky voucher from IndiaPlaza. After about a  weeks time i received a free voucher worth Rs.200 from giftmate, Used it for recharging the TataSky connection again. Effectively paying only half the price.

One month into using Giftmate, The company decided to offer vouchers to all users at half the price, That is u pay 500 and get a voucher worth 1000, Cool eh..  I used it with two mobile numbers, recharged TataSky again. Half the price this time too.

Lately Giftmate in association with Zapak ran a contest, The Zapak Cash League Contest. The contest required users to play games for free, and earn points. Based on the no. of points earned, users were awarded a certain amount of gift voucher from giftmate. All it required was 20 minutes of my time (I won Rs.100 Vouchers with 2 id’s on a daily basis). The prize money being offered dropped by almost 50% half way through the contest. By the time i had made a substantial amount of vouchers. People who wished to buy games from zapak, could add more points to their daily tally and win some vouchers against the purchase. I bought 2 games worth Rs.99 each and received Rs.350 vouchers from giftmate. 5 minutes is all that it took. I bought more games than play and kept adding vouchers to my account, Some free, some paid.
To receive the vouchers, I needed to register unique mobile numbers. I have only 3 in my house, Therefore I could register 3. The rest i used some of my friend’s mobile numbers. Some agreed instantly, while i had a tough time convincing the others. I’m sure one of them is fuming reading this blog. He wants less spam on his mobile phone. All i can say to him is that Giftmate does not sell any contacts and if u have been receiving any spam lately, its probably the mobile company.

Moving on. When i logged into the giftmate site to check my earnings (yeah, Earnings :D) on these registered mobile numbers, I saw another free offering from giftmate. Any US resident could send Rs.250 Voucher to any registered mobile no. in India for free. It required answering 5 survey questions.

How was i to get a US number?

Google!

Since i decided to not use somebody else’s number for my advantage, I decided to fake the no (Just trying my luck). I knew it had to be a 10 digit no. I answered all the questions and then registered it to send the voucher to my mobile number. Next second, I receive a 250 voucher. I used all the other registered numbers for this freebie. Only this time, I did have no time to tell anything to my friends. By lunch, while i discuss the offer with my friends and decide to give them free vouchers too, All i can see is that Giftmate in the meantime had withdrawn the offer.

This time i also put a thread on the forum for other agonized TataSky subscribers like me to enjoy some free TV time. Luck has it, Most of them had made use of it.

I have been enjoying all this for a while now, while saving a lot of Subscription cost. If u r using Tatasky or have been a regular online shopper across the sites linked to Giftmate, Go ahead and Giftmate.

I wish Giftmate now has a tie up with the oil manufacturing companies, It will then allow me to pick petrol for free :p

PS: I once read in a blog that giftmate offered vouchers worth Rs.250 for casting a vote on a reality show. People who think this is one reason to buy a TataSky connection, Think again. Read all my previous blogs related to TataSky and come to a conclusion. Luckily, I have been able to make use of such offers, i wonder for how long will these offers be available.

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This blog refers to the long suffering problems of the 2 million subscribers at TataSky, Following i paste a copy of the contents of the mail forwarded to the ccoo of tataSky. Read on to understand the problem better. Please note there has been no Reply to the same so far.

---

Hi,

This is in regards with the continuing problem of the channel offerings from TataSky and the rate at which they are offered.
People bought TataSky with trust in the name of the brand ‘TATA’ not knowing that they are going to face problems relating to it.

The Problem:

1. Channels that don’t interest the customer are added, the channel count
is increased only to lure the new customers.

On contacting the customer care relating to this, all we get as reply is that
the channel is available only on customer’s choice??.
Who chooses what the customer likes or dislikes? CC: Sir, we take surveys relating
to channels on regular intervals of time, Its TataSky who suggests us what to
show and what not to show.

We run a forum, where all the customers can login and discuss problems relating
to TataSky and this is the place where we even suggest a few people to choose
TataSky over the other competitors given the quality of video/ audio.

Not one member on this forum has said that they have received any such survey.
Where is the survey happening?
2. Channels that interest the customer are added to special add-on packs

Yes, this is happening. The customer care executive has another strange reply to that, ‘Sir, the channel distributors give it as a package and we give it to u’.

We as customers would not mind the packages if they were designed to suit us. A person who wishes to only see some South channels and some sports has to pay for the full pack. Even if he subscribes to ur pack, the charges are unacceptable.

When these channels are available for free as FTA, Why do u put them under special packs?

Why are these free to air channels not free??

TataSky receives a carraige fee from the channel boradcasters for putting them on the platform, Then why charge money from the subscribers?
U guys have not stayed away from sending us ad’s via alerts, all ur active services are crap and filled with ad’s, TataSky gets the money, The customer suffers.

3. Latest News: ESPN STAR, Star cricket moving to a spl pack called sports platinum pack, charged at Rs.75 a month.

When TataSky gets these channels at a much lower cost, why not pass the benifits on to the customers. TataSky decides whats good and whats bad for the customer, expecting the customer to take it just like in jail. It just does not make sense.

If u removing the channels and charging them in a separate pack why not reduce the base pack rates by the same amount,The base pack rates only go down for a bit, the add on pack rates are always high. Simply indicates Tata is money minded.

No reason is still given for having removed 13 zee channels, Rate still staying the same. If TataSky removes something, the money is saved,TataSky earns while we suffer.
4. Speculations, Speculations, Speculations.

Nothing in TataSky is clear or transparent, All the policies are hidden, The customer care does not know one bit about TataSky, We are more updated about the happenings in TataSky than the customer care itself, We run a forum that is a
better and valid source of information than TataSky customer care Center.

Given all the speculations that remain unclear, We the forum members have decided to start a hate thread against the service and have decided not to suggest anybody TataSky even when TataSky is offered for free.

We did suggest a few people, based on quality of service, It was bad but acceptable at that time, TataSKy claims its picture quality to be DVD, but has never understood the Term DVD quality picture and sound, We the customers accepted it.

Now the recent speculations on the channel packages make the same unacceptable, The quality is bad, u better take cable.

No particular reason is given for the removal of multiple camera angles, Highlights on demand for the IPL and the coming Australia west indies series, Only reply received, The content provider does not will to give, hiding the face that TataSky is not willing to pay for the same,

Revised Motto of TataSky:
We want more money, Not happy customers.
We want to lead the market, don’t want to stay there.

Does not look like u want to stay there, as the big competitors enter, Tata makes a move that only leads to more customer disconnecting. Nice strategy! earn as much as possible before the launch of new services, then we will offer everything for free. Nice work Guys!

Make all this a part of ur so much grouse website. It was never fun being on thewebsite, There is nothing exciting.

Referral coupons are offered, But u need to buy through the customer care of TataSky at MRP, Does TataSky realize the discounts are available in the local markets. U have the STB in ur hand, and dont have to worry about getting it installed.

Buy it from the CC and have the tension of whether the product will be delivered on time, will it be in good working condition.
Let us all tell u, the programme is a failure. Get over it, Dont waste money on it. TataSky sure can make a fortune by it.

We were all happy customers, If u dont realize, each of us in the forum have 1000+ balance on our accounts only trusting that no matter how bad the service is, we still feel it is better than the other providers. Now is the case where we deny this.
It has been the worst.

We will all be leaving happily once our balance is over. U guys enjoy our money. Thanks for making us realize, If it is Tata, stay away from it, even if it is free.
We can assure u one more thing, None of the forum members, TataSky Users are going to buy ur Nano car, We realize it now.
It may be cheap, but we are sure Tata has already formulated a way to cheat the customers and earn money from the Cust-se-mar (die of pain, customer). Lemme suggest u one, Make the engine run on a apecial fuel that can only be bought from Tata, Make money. Thats what u have been doing so far with TataIndicom to begin with, Now its TataSky’s turn.

Thanks to u and ur services.
Time is still not run out, Time to improve.

Get to know ur customers and value them.
We are not dumb and silent like ur Customer Care.

Kunal

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I hope somebody is listening, and doing something about it to save the money of the customer.

We feel cheated, TataSky has cheated 2 million people, and continues to do it over and over again, I have stopped trusting any product offering from Tata, Even the salt 

All the best who still feel Tata is a good product and continue buying it 

Kunal

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Update [ 29 May 2008]:

New package rates are as follows:

South Starter > Rs 175
Family > Rs 200
Super Saver > Rs. 260
South Value > Rs. 260
South Jumbo > Rs. 310

New Add On Packs applicable from 1 June 2008

Lifestyle Silver > Rs 30 (3 BBC Channels)
Sports Platinum > Rs 40 (Star Sports, ESPN, Star Cricket)
Ten Sports Ch > Rs 15 A la Carte
Sports Gold Annual > Rs 199 Annual Available on helpline only (Neo Sports)
Sports Gold Monthly > Rs 30 SMS and Webcare(Neo Sports)
Lifestyle Gold > Rs 30 Per month

Annual Pack

Super Saver Rs 2600 (Excluding Sports Channels and BBC Channels)
South Jumbo Rs 3100 (Excluding Sports Channels and BBC Channels)

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Update [ 01 June 2008]:

If i need all the channels that were previously available to me in the south jumbo pack priced at Rs.350 previously, i will have to pay a new subscription fee of Rs.395, An Increase of Rs.45, Unaccounted for.

Previous Rate: Rs.350 pm

New packs, I’ll need to buy:

South Jumbo: Rs.310 pm [Price reduced, Rs.40, from the original]
Sports Platinum pack: RS.30 pm [Espn, Star Sports, Star Cricket]
Sports Gold : Rs.30 pm [Currently, i have subscribed to it annually, when that expires i'll need to pay extra]
Ten Sports Channel: Rs.15 pm [Only A-le-carte channel]
Lifestyle silver pack: Rs.30 pm [3 BBC channels, of which i only watch one]

A total of Rs.415 per month, an increase of Rs.75 pm. Ans now TataSky claims it has reduced prices, I feel cheated and so are the other 2 million subscribers. Hope TRAI takes a look into this and something happens to cheer the subscribers.

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Update [ 03 June 2008]:

Surprises Surprise!

Whats in the newspaper today,

A public Notice

ESPN Does it again, A shot in the Arm Of TataSky

After All this, TataSky realises its mistake, The media comes into the picture, Questions being asked, No template replies can be given [Just like they did to customers]. Tatasky falls right on its back, nothing to decide, goes ahead and makes the channels available free of cost. Well Done ESS.

Inbetween all this ESS issues another ad, with DishTv, Offering its customers 500 Rs credit for every new connection. TataSky is doomed.

ESS alliance with DishTv to take on TataSky

How bad can something be for TataSky, They have restored all channels not for the liking of the customers but to save their reputation. Just as this ad comes in paper, There is a news that Tata is the 6th most reputed company in the world! What big difference !!

After all this I’d say well done ESS!! What timing!!

---

Update [ 15 June 2008]:

A new scroller message is seen on ESPNSTAR Channels.

“ESPN STAR is now available free of cost to all the packs till 30th september 2008 or until our next update. “

“Ten sports is a-le-carte channels and is available for free  till 30th June 2008, our next update will arrive soon.”

“All BBC channels are available free of cost to all the packs till 30th June 2008, Our Next update will arrive soon.”

The only reason i see offering the espn channels for free till the end of September is that, the UEFA cup, The Asia cup and the other major sporting events end by September. The long awaited champions league, champions trophy are to be played only in October , November. Tatasky is good at playing all sorts of mind games. They now need time to rethink their plans. I’m sure even the next update is going to be a money sucker.

No Reply to the mail yet. The case was closed, when asked about why, They said that was mistakenly done, my reply would arrive soon. Its been more than a month, This explains the kind of service they offer.

All that i have received is the same old replies, I call them templates that are sent out on specific questions. To questions that u cannot reply, do not reply is what the cc is told, Close the case and tell it was a mistake. 

Isko laga dala tho life BARBAD kar dala

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Update [ 25 July 2008]:

TataSky under MRTPC lens :

DTH operator TataSky, which has removed some channels from its basic package has come under the scanner of fair trade regulator MRTPC for ‘monopolisation of price and imposing unjustified cost on the subscribers’ after it issued notice to the company.

In its petition, Voluntary Organization in Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE) alleged that the Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator by misleading its consumers arbitrarily increased the price.

“Action of TataSky in blacking out the said channels and removing it from the base pack enjoyed by the subscribers was clearly a monopolization of price and imposing unjustified cost on the subscribers and to deprive the viewer ship of the said channels unless the subscribers pay more,” said VOICE.

Read the full story at : TataSky under MRTPC lens

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Update [ 25 July 2008]:
DTH operators to submit quarterly performance report: Trai

NEW DELHI: Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has ordered the three existing direct-to-home (DTH) operators - Tata Sky, Dish TV and Sun Direct TV - to submit quarterly performance monitoring reports (PMRs) within 21 days from the end of each quarter to the regulator and the ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The information will include carriage fee charged from the broadcaster, number of registered and active subscribers on the last date of the quarter, details of subscription and installation plans, redressal of grievances of DTH subscribers by call center, and name and type of the channels dropped during the quarter along with the reasons for it.

Read the Full Story: DTH operators to submit quarterly performance report: Trai

---

Update [18 August 2008]

Interesting Topic: Another Achievement For TataSky - Tops the list for products that consumers should keep ‘Safe Distance’

Look at the following snapshot listing the top 10 companies:

Haha!! I'm Lovin It! ..

Read the full story here.

---

Also Read on this blog about TataSky:

• Colors launches - “Time to earn Money”, says TataSky.
• TataSky - My Experience

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Conditional Access System (CAS) Vs. Tata Sky

CAS Also called conditional access system, came into the cable industry in September 2004. Immediately there began protests against it the three leading metro’s(Mumbai,Delhi and kolkatta), The government springs back into action and delays the launch in these three metro’s.. But where does chennai come into the picture.. As Always Chennai remains quite about the issue and accepts the government order with both hands. Although there were few north Indians who did protest but since the count was low it was implemented anyway.

People at that time had to buy or rent set-top-boxes from the government operator SCV and Hathway to watch the pay channels (Generally the channels that people liked watching). People who protested bought it. I didn’t. Then after about two years DTH came into the picture with Zee-Dish TV DTH offering their service with exclusive offers and channels. Giant in the telecom industry TATA also started their own DTH service in the name of TATA sky as a partnership with star group. Tata Sky with its aggressive marketing strategy, quality service and their superior man power base began to take over tha DTH market. Dish TV took a cue from Tata Sky and began offering their service at lower rates and offering free subscription.

When did i select Tata Sky:
Late in the year 2006 when the tussle between DD and NEO sports began regarding the sharing of cricket rights, i was unable to watch a few matches because of the controversy. Then came the Cricket World Cup. Now is the time i had to decide to move into CAS or DTH. I consulted a few Friends before moving to Tata Sky. All of them suggested me to buy tata Sky for the following reasons:
1. Good quality services.
2.Exclusive content.
3.DVD Picture quality and Sound.
4. Tata being a business giant will offer premium services.
5.Movie-on-demand.

Some other things that i found regarding the other options: (Dish TV and CAS)
1.Cas is operated by the cable operator, therefore there were bound to be some trouble relating to Ur cable operator. Some one did tell me that he was not able to watch all FTA(free-to-air) Channels through his SCV set top box because his cable operator was not able to find the problem and solve it. As he had already bought the set top box, all he could do is to pay for a new STB or pay for getting the problem solved. This experience of my friend made me turn to DTH.

2.Dish Tv at that time was offering 6 months subscription free, Tata Sky was offering only three months for free. But another friend’s experience with Dish customer care left me with no option to only go for Tata Sky.

At that point of time Dish had a very poor customer care where people were hired to solve the basic problems such as aligning the dish, installing equipment etc.. Only if there was a very huge problem people belonging dish would come to rectify the issue. They of course would take their very own time to address the issue.

Then i Finally decided to go for Tata Sky. I should say i was initially impressed by the fact that i had to buy the box alone, pay the installation amount and only carry the STB back home. Then i had to make a call to the customer care and book an installation date. The next day the engineers came and installed everything efficiently without affecting the aesthetics of my house.

It started working immediately, where as in case of dish it is the customer who had to carry all the equipments back home and then get them installed. They would also have to pay for the installation only if they were satisfied by it, which was supposed to be paid on the spot. then the STB will have to be kept on for more than 24 hours for it to load all the softwares and load all the channels. i was satisfied with tata sky for about 2 months only.

My problems Associated with Tata Sky:
It was the day when ESS decided to launch thier own channel called Star Cricket which would show all the matches exclusively on star cricket.
( just for reference, For people who don’t know there is a forum running exclusively for tata sky customers to discuss issues in tata sky on: http://broadbandforum.in/tata-sky-dth/ to know more about tata sky read threads in this forum)

Members of the forum decided to call the Tata Sky customer care relating to adding the new channel. But to our surprise tata sky executives suggested us to watch the matches on DD which is a part of FTA channels. This was the time when we decided to launch a sort of revolt against Tata Sky threatening them to lose connections if they did not add the channels. Luckily the channels was added just before the match began. It was the day when we celebrated our victory on the forum. To our surprise tata gave us all an explanation saying that they were not aware of the new channel launch or that the Test matches were to be exclusively shown on Star Cricket. (even when we had made 100’s of calls telling them the same information).





Then came the issue of SUN Channels which were not a part of the package till this day. Tata had been fighting a case against Sun for not providing its content to Tata Sky for at least 6 months. Finally they made settlements out of court and sun agreed to provide their content t Tata Sky. This was the day when celebrations again went off in the forum. But today, 7/9/2007 Tata Sky has changed its package rates and increased the subscription amount to 350 INR for just adding about 15 SUN channels which are a part of FTA channels in CAS notified areas. Though everyone is happy about adding of the channels there are a few people who dont like the new package.
Now on the present day Tata Sky has added neo sports and few other channels.

These channels are provided for free until oct31 and then they will be moved to a gold pack which I’m sure will again lead to an increase in the subscription. They might also move a few other channels to the new pack and come up with packages in such a manner that subscribers might have to subscribe to the full package for watching their favorite channels. This again asserts the fact that once the customer database increses to a certain level they get to increase the cost. They should instead try to find means of reducing the expenses and somehow manage to keep the subscription under 350 INR. otherwise it will reduce the growth of TATA as a premium service provider.

My Comparision Of Tata Sky over CAS:
Most of my TV Viewing is related to sports and some other entertainment channels. Frankly, i watch only 50% of the channels that Tata Sky provides which means that i’m paying full subscription to have some unwanted channels.
If i was subscribed to CAS then i had the choice of picking the channels which i would want to watch and pay for only those channels. So here is the calculation of how much i may lose in the first year of my changeover to newer TV viewing experience.

(Assuming i watch only 30 quality channels)
CAS:
Initial cost: Set-Top-Box cost and smart card cost: 2400 INR
Installation Charges: 300INR
Monthly charges: 100 INR(FTA Channels) + 150 INR(30 channels*5 rs/channel) =250INR
Total cost for an year = 2400 + 300 + 250*12 =5700 INR
Tata Sky: (Assuming 300 rs package is average for all houses)
Initial Cost: 3000INR for STB
Installation Charges: 1000INR
Monthly rental: 300 per month (Now increased to 350INR if south package is selected)
Total Cost Per year = 3000 + 1000 + 3600 = 7600 INR

Therefore annually u spend almost rs.2900 extra if u have subscribed to a dth service.



Another point that i would like to make is that i did not subscribe to CAS because i thought i will hav to bear my cable operator for not giving me good service. Then after subscribing to Tata Sky and having been a part of the revolt to get Star Cricket on the Tata Sky platform i have realized that i will have to not only pay what they want me to but also fight for getting the channels. Another thing i realised was, i will get the channel after the fight but i will also have to bear the excess cost for getting that channel. This is driving me crazy.

The Advantage for being on CAS is immaterial of wat the channel has as content or whatever the popularity of the channel the customer has to pay 5rs a channel.
The Advantage with Tata Sky is its quality of service and the DVD quality, but hat is the only service they provide.So if u want quality at a high cost then Tata Sky or Dish Tv is the way to be.

The only hope for existing customers is what TRAI has to say about the pricing and quality of the DTH players. I hope TRAI steps in as soon as possible and brings in some regulations so that the customer is happy. If u are looking to move to DTH or CAS and are confused after reading my experience i would suggest u to stay out till January 2008 and then pick a choice cos by this date India should be having very many DTH players so that u can choose the right one.

I will also try to add more on this blog regarding what are the problems that i see are associated with Tata Sky. Read the blog regularly for updates.
Hope u find it useful.

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Kunal