October 2004: Concerned about the chaos in the cable industry, the state government announces a census to ascertain the number of cable homes and check under-declaration within three months. It remains incomplete till date.

September 2005: The government announces a ban on astrology programmes on TV. Barring a few, most Bengali cable channels continue to air the programmes.

July 2006: Cable industry stakeholders are summoned to Writers? Buildings to discuss various problems. The government says that the issues would be taken up with cable watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Why haven?t the efforts of the government to restore order to the cable conundrum yielded results? That?s the question on the minds of the nearly 20-odd lakh cable television viewers in Calcutta. And the answers are not hard to find.

?The main problem is of vested interests. Cable operators, broadcasters and multi-system operators (MSOs) present their own version of events to the government, allowing the confusion to prevail,? offers an official of the leading city MSO.

Understanding the intricacies of the trade is the other problem point, feels a spokesperson for another MSO.

?It?s a fire-fighting situation now, where the government steps in during major switch-offs, usually involving cricket matches,? he adds.

Then there is the state-Centre tussle. The cable and satellite trade is looked after by the information and broadcasting ministry and the state?s role continues to be minimal.

?The guidelines are set by Trai and disputes are resolved by TDSAT. Among all the states, only West Bengal is trying to sort out the cable mess by itself and failing, because it is trying to keep everyone happy,? complains an entertainment broadcaster.

All this combining to create revenue losses worth crores for the government.

The solution seems simple: make a more serious and dedicated attempt at understanding the industry. ?A core team should look into this on a continuous basis and take small steps instead of trying to solve all the problems together,? suggests a broadcaster.