(9 February 2010 11:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Zee Turner has threatened to switch off the signals of its 33 channels to Hathway Cable & Datacom, following the failure of negotiations stretched over months after the commercial agreement between the two expired last year.

Zee Turner said Tuesday Hathway has been “avoiding signing the agreement for airing these 33 channels despite numerous efforts by Zee Turner and now being overdue by almost 10 months.”

Zee Turner, however, did not discontinue its signals during this period and now claims Hathway owes it an amount of Rs 280 million.

Says Zee Turner CEO Dinesh Jain, “Most of the agreements with Hathway expired in March 2009. We waited very patiently for Hathway to renew the agreement.”

Hathway executives, busy with the initial public offering (IPO) that opened for subscription today, could not be contacted for their comments.

Zee Turner, which distributes channels like Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Cartoon Network, Pogo and HBO, now says it will stop signals to Hathway in cities that include Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

As required by regulation, Zee Turner had published an advertisement in the newspapers on 15 January, giving a 21-day public notice.