MUMBAI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) will on July 21 hear Viacom18‘s petition alleging material contractual breaches, misrepresentation and under-reporting of subscriber base by MSM Discovery.
Viacom18 has also sought damages of Rs 1.27 billion from MSM Discovery.
In the petition, Viacom18 also wanted some interim reliefs from the tribunal. The company, when asked, did not specify the reliefs sought from the tribunal.
Viacom18 is a joint venture equally owned by Network18 and media conglomerate Viacom.
The dispute has arisen following the decision of Viacom18 to terminate its distribution contract with MSM Discovery and shift its four channels – Colors, MTV, Nick and Vh1 - to a new joint venture between Sun Network and Network18 called Sun18. The contract with MSM Discovery was for a three-year period starting from 1 April 2009.
The petition is being heard by a division bench of the tribunal comprising chairperson SB Sinha and member GD Gaiha.
In a parallel move, MSM Discovery had moved the Bombay High Court against Viacom18‘s decision to shift its television channels to Sun18, but the court did not grant interim relief. The high court will hear MSM Discovery‘s petition on 17 August. Viacom18 has agreed to give a copy of its agreement with Network18 to MSM within seven days from 16 July.
