Real Madrid?s Luis Figo: Missing on screen

One week and counting and Calcutta is not amused.

Around 80 per cent of the city cable homes continue to remain without a glimpse of some of their favourite sporting action. Be it crucial English Premier League matches, like Sunday?s Liverpool-Arsenal showdown, or Spanish Football League?s Real Madrid-Levante tie, the ongoing Australia-New Zealand Test or even the India-Spain hockey match, the non-availability of ESPN and STAR Sports is taking its toll on the consumer.

?There is significant pressure from the consumers,? admitted a central Calcutta cable operator. ?With month-end approaching, some consumers are even threatening to not pay for the two channels.?

The stalemate continues with the parties involved ? Indian Cable Net, Manthan and ESPN STAR Sports ? refusing to sit down for negotiation, and the state government in no mood to intervene.

?We are not in a position to recover the dues from our operators,? said a spokesperson for Indian Cable Net. ?And we had informed ESPN STAR Sports several times about it, without a response from them.?

Last Sunday, ESPN STAR Sports switched off beam on multi-system operator (MSO) Indian Cable Net for dues to the tune of Rs 3.5 crore.

Another MSO, Manthan, blacked out the two channels in solidarity with Indian Cable Net the next day.

With most eyes on the 22 yards at Eden Gardens, fans of other sports seem to be all but forgotten by cable operators.

?Doordarshan is showing the Test match and that?s all people want to see,? offered Alok Jana, an operator and steering committee member of Indian Cable Net.

Jana would be surprised at the piracy reports from different parts of the city. ?I did see the channels briefly in place of my cable channel on Saturday,? said a viewer on Ballygunge Station Road. The Sunday night high-profile matches are likely to boost that further.

Consumer bodies, supposedly concerned about the viewer, have little to say or do, either. ?It?s nothing acute,? feels Mala Banerjee of Federation of Consumer Associations. ?If they had stopped news channels, we would have to act. Besides, there is no legal recourse that we can take.?