Calcutta is the slowest among the metros to switch to the conditional access system (CAS) regime.

Only 10 per cent of the cable homes — in the CAS footprint zone — have got a set-top box (STB) installed for watching “pay television” — through CAS or DTH.

In comparison, 25 per cent of Mumbai and 14 per cent of Delhi homes in CAS-mandated zones have switched to the new format of television viewing.

The findings are from an AC Nielsen survey, commissioned by TV ratings agency TAM Media Research.

The survey looked at how CAS and DTH television fared during the first few days after CAS was introduced on December 31 in specified areas in the three metros, where around 21 per cent cable homes fall in the CAS-mandated area.

Between January 11 and 16, only 2.77 lakh homes — around 17 per cent of the total 16.33 lakh homes in the CAS-mandated areas — had got themselves a set-top box in the three metros, revealed the survey.

Another 1.98 lakh homes — an additional 12 per cent — were waiting for the connection — they had subscribed for the box but it hadn’t been installed.

In Calcutta, 20 per cent of cable TV homes — in pockets of Alipore, New Alipore, Behala, Chetla, Budge Budge, Garden Reach, Thakurpukur, Tollygunge, Haridevpur and Mahestala — are in the CAS zone.

According to the survey, 46,000 homes — 11 per cent of the total in the CAS-mandated zone — in Calcutta were waiting for the boxes, while 41,000 (or 10 per cent) homes had already switched to CAS or DTH.

Besides throwing up the numbers, the study also tried to find out the reason behind slow penetration of the new regime in mandated areas.

The survey highlighted that price of STBs is slamming the brakes on the roll-out and consumers in Calcutta are more price-sensitive than their counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai.

So, the response from 83 per cent of the homes without an STB in Calcutta was — price of the box was a deterrent. Price was a bother for 72 per cent in Mumbai and 46 per cent in Delhi.

“It is difficult to generalise like that, as the financial status of the people in the mandated zones need to be considered… Besides, if the viewer is hooked to the free-to-air regional channels, he may not be interested in the pay channels,” observed Nripendra Mishra, chairman, Trai.