The over 20,000 cable operators in the city heaved a sigh of relief with the Union government deciding to postpone the deadline for a switchover from the analogue system to digital system to November 1.
Cable TV operators in the city thanked chief minister Jayalalithaa who had written to the Centre asking to extend the deadline.
City cable operators, who feared losing revenue with the prospect of the TVs going black, are now a relieved lot.
“The deadline extension has come as a huge reprieve for us as otherwise all televisions without STBs would have blacked out after July 1 leading to loss of revenue for several thousand cable operators.
Thanks to the firm stand taken by chief minister of Tamil Nadu, we got the extension,” said Kayal Ilavarasu, president, state cable TV operators association.