India’s leading direct-to-home (DTH) provider, Tata Sky, has confirmed that the broadcaster has asked them to restrict the recording of live cricket matches during the India tour of Australia. Broadcaster Sony Pictures Network India has the broadcasting rights for the one-day international matches, the T20 internationals and the test matches of the India tour of Australia. This move will affect Tata Sky users who have purchased the Tata Sky + HD (STB) set-top box which allows you to pause, record and rewind live TV channels. Sony Pictures Network is broadcasting the Australia vs India cricket series live on various channels including Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Ten1, Sony Ten1 HD, Sony Ten3, and Sony Ten3 HD. It is not clear at this time if such a restriction has been implemented by rival DTH operators, including Airtel Digital TV, Dishtv and d2h.
News18 can confirm that while it is possible to pause and rewind the live match broadcast, the recording is disabled, although this may change. This means that you cannot record any part of the live cricket match broadcast. Social media users report that the pause feature is also disabled on their Tata Sky + HD STBs. “Dear subscriber, according to the mandate of the station, the recording of the Indian tour of Australia in all SD and HD versions of Sony Six, Ten1, Ten3 will be restricted until January 19, 21,” says Tata Sky in a message sent to subscribers. The Australia vs India series ends on January 19. It is interesting to note this demand from the station, because it seems to be the first of its kind. Never before have live TV viewers been subject to such a restriction, particularly on premium STBs that they may have purchased for the convenience of pausing and recording live TV. This could be an attempt to drive users to sign up for Sony Liv’s premium subscriptions to catch up on live streaming of India vs Australia cricket matches, highlights, and more. Sony Liv Premium is priced at Rs 299 per month or Rs 999 for a year.
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