DTH
Dish TV to get new CFO from 1 October
MUMBAI: Dish TV India is going to have a new chief financial officer (CFO) come 1 October 2024. Rajeev K Dalmia who is currently holding the post will vacate it on 30 September following his superannuation and will cease to be a key managerial personnel of the DTH operator.
Replacing him is Amit Kumar Verma with effect from 1 October 2024. This was decided by the Dish TV board on 18 September.
It may be recalled that there was a change in the directors of Dish TV earlier this month at the AGM when the appointment of two independent directors Garima Bharadwaj and Azeezuddin Mohammad was not approved by the company’s members. They were immediately replaced by Amit Singhal and Parag Agarawal. Additionally, CEO Manoj Dobhal was also reappointed as a director at Dish TV.
DTH
TDSAT adjourns Tata Play–Culver Max dispute to 30 March
Row dates to May 2025 after Tata Play dropped 25 Culver Max channels
NEW DELHI: The long-running broadcast carriage dispute between Tata Play and Culver Max Entertainment was on Friday adjourned to 30 March after proceedings before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal were disrupted by technical difficulties.
The bench, led by chairperson justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel with member Sanjeev Banzal, briefly took up the matter before deferring it. The adjournment was also recorded at the petitioner’s request.
The commercial row dates back to May 2025, when Tata Play dropped 25 Culver Max channels from its direct-to-home packs, citing contractual disagreements. Culver Max alleged the move breached both the interconnection agreement and the regulatory framework laid down by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, prompting it to approach the tribunal.
On 21 May, 2025, Culver Max issued a disconnection notice claiming unpaid subscription dues of Rs 128.42 crore for services up to 31 March, 2025. Tata Play disputed the demand, arguing that the dues were contested and that disconnection would violate regulatory norms.
In an interim order on 27 May, 2025, the tribunal stayed the proposed disconnection, subject to Tata Play depositing Rs 40 crore. The amount was paid on 3 June, ensuring continued carriage of the channels. The tribunal later restrained the broadcaster from disrupting services, recording Tata Play’s submission that channels remained available on an a la carte basis and that only bouquet composition had changed.
Culver Max subsequently sought recall of the interim relief, alleging misstatements by the DTH operator. It placed a statement of accounts before the tribunal, pegging total dues at Rs 124.87 crore, including invoices raised up to October 2025, and claimed more than Rs 63 crore remained unpaid even after adjustments.
Tata Play countered that invoices from June to September 2025 had been settled and that October invoices were not yet due under contractual timelines, characterising remaining differences as routine reconciliation issues.
The tribunal has since allowed Culver Max, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India, to withdraw its audit petition after placing the subscriber audit report on record, and dismissed the recall plea.
With Friday’s hearing cut short, the dispute over carriage fees, dues and bouquet structuring will now return to the tribunal on 30 March, prolonging one of the sector’s most closely watched broadcaster–DTH stand-offs.
