Zee's ambitious Headend in the Sky (HITS) programme seems to have run into trouble with Star and ESPN-Star Sports refusing to join the distribution platform.

Sony is also yet to decide on a tie-up with Zee for the Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) HITS platform.

Zee's distribution subsidiary Siti Cable, which is marketing HITS under the Galaxzee brand name, has been talking to the other broadcasters on this project for some time now.

However, it was clear at the last meeting of the implementation committee meeting for the conditional access system held on July 14 that there were still wide differences on this issue.

When Zee's Jawahar Goel announced that the broadcaster was offering the popular pay channels, including Star Plus, for Rs 128, his claim was refuted by Star CEO Peter Mukherjea, who said his company had not entered into any agreement with Siti Cable to provide its signals on the HITS platform.

"The issue of broadcast rights is very important to us. If our signals end up being beamed in places where we are not allowed to, then we will be in the dock for piracy," Mukerjea said.

A spokesman for ESPN-Star Sports also confirmed that it would not provide its signals to Zee's HITS platform. Sony, on the other hand, is yet to take a decision.

"We are right now in negotiations with Zee. If we strike the right deal we will go ahead with it," Sony CEO Kunal Dasgupta said.

When asked what Zee's strategy would be if the other broadcasters refused to join its HITS programme, Jawahar Goel said, "We are talking to them. They will join the platform in due course."

The prime concern of most broadcasters over the HITS platform is related to security aspects.

The HITS programme involves the setting up of a back office company that downloads all channels in a single location.

These channels are then encrypted and beamed up to a satellite. The satellite then acts as the headend i.e., the location of the CAS and the subscriber management system that keeps track of the billings and other related information.

The signals are then received by cable operators who have to 'trans-modulate' them and then distribute it among their subscribers. The subscribers can then receive the channels through a digital set-top box.

Most broadcasters are apprehensive of the fact that they will not have any control over where the CAS-encrypted signals are downlinked.

Since, a footprint of a satellite covers a huge geographical area, the signals can be downloaded in certain areas without the knowledge of the broadcaster.

The refusal of Star and ESPN-Star to send their signals for Zee's HITS system may mean that houses covered by Siti Cable in the CAS-notified areas may not receive these channels from September 1.

"If Star does not send its signals to us, cable homes covered by Siti Cable will not receive its channels," Siti Cable head Rajiv Khattar said.