Four television broadcasters Star, Sony's One Alliance, ESPN Star Sports and Zee-Turner have decided to deliver signals directly to consumers through their local cable operators -- cutting out the multi system operators in the process.

The broadcasters said the experiment was a local effort to serve the interests of the consumers of INCablenet in Mumbai only.

However, analysts feel the experiment, if successful, could prompt broadcasters to reach out to local cable operators in smaller towns too.

Sricharan Iyengar, vice-president (affiliate sales), ESPN Star Sports said, "Yes, we are evaluating the option of giving the local cable operators the decoders ourselves so that they are able to deliver our channel directly to their consumers."

"Considering the stalemate with INCablenet in Mumbai, a lot of our consumers are losing out. In fact, in the last few days, the piracy of signals has also increased and we want this to stop," he added.

Iyengar said a number of local cable operators across Mumbai -- some of whom are still affiliates of INCablenet -- approached the broadcasters and evinced interest in setting up their own headends. The broadcasters have decided to give the decoders to committed, long-term players.

"To protect our consumers and give them what they have paid for, we are ready to give decoders to the last-mile operators on our own," said Sunil Khanna, chief operating officer, Zee Turner.

Similarly, Tony D'silva of Star India said, "In the interest of the consumers, we are open to the idea of directly giving out decoders to the local cable operators. Why should the consumers suffer because one MSO has not paid his dues to the broadcasters?"

Analysts and industry experts are of the view that it is a way of broadcasters flexing their muscles against the multi service operators, who refuse to pay them the valid subscription fees.

According to the broadcasters, there is no policy barring broadcasters from handing out decoder boxes to a new operator, wanting to set up his own headend and cable business.

The broadcasters have had meetings with several operators across Mumbai, and are currently evaluating the possibility of rolling out the boxes.

Iyengar said that they have had meeting with 20-25 operators across the length and breadth of Mumbai and hope to roll out the decoders by the weekend.