On Poila Baisakh, as the Bengali year changed calendars, a clutch of local channels turned a chapter, too. Or, at least, they tried to.

Before a government prod could turn into a mighty push, six Bengali cable channels ? ATN Kolkata, Bangla Ekhon, Spandan, Sonar Bangla, Sristi and Taaza ? announced early this month that they would voluntarily stop airing ?unscientific? programmes (read, astrology, Feng Shui and the like).

But the promise to cut off the ?significant revenue-generators? was on the sole condition that multi-system operators (MSO) in the city do not charge exorbitant rates for placing these channels on their networks.

A fortnight since the announcement by West Bengal Association for Better Television Broadcast ? the umbrella body for the six channels ? and a week from Poila Baisakh, only three of the six have managed to come ?clean?.

?As promised, my channel stopped airing astrology programmes by Poila Baisakh,? says ATN?s Tapan Roy. Taaza, too, followed suit, while Bangla Ekhon hardly had astrology content to purge.

The star turn has hit channel fortunes. ?These programmes bring in a lot of money and discontinuing them affects our revenues. But the MSO Indian Cable Net is asking for three times of what we were paying and as a pressure tactic, has pushed our channel way back. Manthan is also seeking to double its demand,? complained Roy.

The three channels which have not stopped airing the astrology programmes are in wait-and-watch mode.

?We are seeking government help since the MSOs are not cooperating. We also have to get the substitute programmes ready,? says Sristi?s Ashok Agarwal. ?But we plan to stop the programmes by May.?

Placement or carriage fee is the amount MSOs charge free-to-air channels for a spot on their network. With free channels far outnumbering the limited slots on offer, more lucrative the position, higher is the price to pay.

And MSOs see nothing but good business sense in this.

?Because of the existing infrastructure with the last-mile operator, on an average around 55 channels reach every TV set in the city,? offers Indian Cable Net CEO Amit Nag. ?Of these, 40 are taken up by pay channels and around five by Doordarshan. Around 80 to 90 free-to-air channels want one of the 10 remaining slots,? Nag explains. The slot is usually won by the highest bidder.

?We are beaming 14 of the 18 Bengali cable channels, while four more are trying to enter. Is the market big enough to accommodate so many channels with similar content?? asks Nag.

?Till about a year ago, these Bengali channels were doing fine without astrology programmes. So why not now?? demands a CableComm spokesperson.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had recently expressed concern over astrology programmes aired on local cable channels and announced that the law department would explore the options of prosecuting the channels.