FTV encryption rescheduled to 1 December

French fashion channel FTV’s plans to switch to an encrypted feed appear to have gone awry and it has now set 1 December as the new date for this to happen.

As per the original plan, 1 November was to see the channel becoming an encrypted feed. When contacted Rajan Kaaicker, CEO Distribution Group, Modi Entertainment Network, the channel’s current distributor in India, said 1 December was the new date fixed for the channel’s’ encryption but gave no reasons for the delay.

The rollout of set top boxes was continuing he said, adding that he expected the rollout to be more or less complete before the end of November.

Queried as to why FTV had been knocked off TV screens in Kolkata, Kaaicker played down the issue and said the matter was being sorted out. Kaaicker said he expected FTV to be back on air in Kolkata within a week.

RPG Netcom, the leading signal provider in Calcutta, reportedly dropped FTV in response to the imminent switch to a pay channel, saying it did not see any demand from viewers.