MxMIndia

Tag: DD Free Dish

  • It's high time that research organisations provide M&E with a comprehensive overview, writes Indrani Sen

    TV Industry Needs a Better Household Establishment Survey

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenAs per the latest Performance Indicator Report (PIR) released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), subscription to the private DTH service continues to decline. A comparison between Q4 2021 and Q1 2022 shows a collective loss of 1.6 million paid active subscribers to DTH. It seems the various marketing initiatives introduced by the private DTH operators in 2021 have failed to arrest the slow and steady decline of the subscribers.

     

    The same TRAI report shows that the cumulative active pay subscriber base of the top 13 cable and HITS platforms rose Marginally from 4.58 crore to 4.59 crore in Q12022, while the subscriptions to some other smaller MSOs declined. On the whole, it can be said that there is a stagnation in the subscriptions to cable TVs.

     

    The dark horse in the arena of DTH operators is the DD Free Dish. According to various reports available, increase in number of channels available through DD Free Dish between 2017 and 2021 as well as addition of better-quality channels has doubled its subscribers from 22 million in 2017 to 43 million in 2022. Different Government sources have been claiming that DD Free Dish is the largest Dish operator in India covering more than 25% of the TV viewing households. The growth of users of DD Free Dish presents a totally different picture from the slow decline seen in the private DTH subscriptions. However, we have no clue regarding who are the users of DD Free Dish or what is their demographic profile. We often assume that the use of DD Free Dish is prevalent in the lower income groups in small towns or rural areas, but the actual penetration of DD Free Dish may be quite different from our assumptions.

     

    We need to take into account three additional factors for a complete understanding of the source of TV viewing in India. First is the rapid growth of the OTT market in India; the second is the growth of smart TV sets and the third is the partnership of the telecom operators with the OTT players which are providing the TV viewers with alternative platforms for viewing TV content.

     

    According to the Ormax OTT Audience Report 2021, the Indian OTT space has 353 million users and 96 million active paid subscribers. Most of the TV content is available today through various OTT platforms promoted by the TV Channels. The growth of internet and introduction of smart TV sets have eliminated the need for separate subscriptions to the TV content through Dish operators or Cable TV operators. So, the decline in direct subscription to TV through DTH or cable TV needs to be reviewed along with the growth in OTT subscription and smart TV sets by households.

     

    Today, all telecom operators offer free access to more than one OTT platforms along with their pre-paid and post-paid services. A typical telco-OTT partnership is an ideal example of a symbiotic relationship which allows both parties to benefit. The strategy enables the telecom operator to ensures customer retention and adoption and the OTT players to enlarge the viewership of their content.

     

    However, when we try to get an overview of TV viewership in India, we find that we do not have a complete understanding of the source of TV viewing. It is high time that research organisations provide the Media & Entertainment Industry with a Household Establishment Survey which indicates the type of TV subscription along with the ownership of TV, so that the users of the data get a clarity on the total picture. We have come a long way from the time when such household establishment surveys used to provide information on B&W and colour TV sets. We now need to know about the platform used for viewing TV contents, the type of TV set owned by the households as well as the type of subscriptions made by the household. Both BARC and MRUC should plan for household establishment surveys accordingly.

     

  • To reach out to wider audience

    FoodFood channel to go live on free DTH service

    By Our Staff

     

    Sanjeev Kapoor
    Sanjeev Kapoor

    FoodFood, the 24X7 food and lifestyle channel that started over a decade ago by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, is all set to go live on the Free-to-Air (FTA) DTH service, DD Free Dish.

     

    Speaking on the development, Kapoor said: “FoodFood has always been at the forefront of breaking barriers in the industry as the first 24×7 food lifestyle programming and now again being the first to reach rural audiences. I firmly believe that food is a universal language that breaks all barriers of cultures, races, and borders. With FoodFood, I want to reach as many people as possible looking for relevant content on food to make taste buds tantalized and possibly their lives brighter.”

     

  • Prasar Bharati dumps small DD Channels to accommodate private channels, writes Indrani Sen

    DD Free Dish Latest Auction: Who wins, Who loses?

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    DD Free Dish has come a long way since its launch in 2005. Last year during the pandemic while Prasar Bharati had an auction of 53 MPG2 slots in March, 2020, followed by various auctions for limited number of channels for limited periods, allowing the Broadcasters to experiment with the pros and cons of having more than one channel from their stable on DD Free Dish.

    This year finallym the 52nd DD Free Dish Auction was announced inviting applications from eligible channels across six buckets of TV channels for the period of one year beginning from April 1, 2021. Prasar Bharati announced the reserve price for MPEG-2 slots according to the below bucket/categories:

    • Bucket A+(All Hindi GEC TV channels) – 15 Crore

    • Bucket A(All Hindi Movie TV channels) – 12 Crore

    • Bucket B(All Hindi Music channels, Hindi Sports channels, Bhojpuri GEC channels, Bhojpuri Movie channels and Hindi Teleshopping channels – 10 Crore

    • Bucket CNews & Current affairs (Hindi / English / Punjabi) channels – 7 Crore

    • Bucket D– All other remaining Genres/ Regional channels and Regional Teleshopping channels – 6 Crore

    • Bucket R1– Devotional / Spiritual / Aayush channels – 3 Crore

    Any channel participating in the auction had to bid above the reserve price in that particular category.

     

    During the last week, there has been a lot of excitement in the TV industry over the 52nd DD Free Dish Auction. According to industry sources, there was keen competition among Broadcasters for getting the slots across all buckets. Particularly in the News & Current Affairs category, the news channels have ended up investing huge amounts to secure slots on the distribution platform of Prasar Bharati. The final round of auction took place on last Saturday and the final list has been released on March 1, 2021. The results declared shows that 10 players have won the slots in A+ category while 15 players have won the slots in A category as shown below. The results also shows clearly that DD Free Dish has become an essential component of the marketing strategy of all the major Broadcasters.

      Category A + Hindi GEC   Category A Hindi Movies  
    1 ABZY Cool 1 Wah Movies* 9 Maha Movies
    2 Azaad 2 ABZY Movies 10 Manoranjan TV
    3 Big Magic 3 B4U Kadak 11 Movie Plus
    4 Color Rishtey 4 B4U Movies 12 Rishtey Cineplex
    5 Dangaal 5 BDM 13 Sony Wah
    6 Shemaroo 6 Bflix Movies 14 Star Utsav Movies
    7 Sony Pal 7 Dhinchaak 15 Zee Anmol Cinema
    8 Star Utsav 8 Enterr10 Movies    
    9 The Q India * Expected to be relaunched as Dhinchaak 2
    10 Zee Anmol        

    Bucket B earlier used to be reserved for only Hindi Music, Sports, Teleshopping, etc. The inclusion of Bhojpuri channels in that bucket reflects growing viewership of Bhojpuri language beyond its linguistic territory. Of the 13 TV channels winning slots in this category, 7 are Bhojpuri channels. In bucket C, 12 News Channels have fought the auction and both buckets D and R1, have 5 applicants each. As per the information available the news channels winning slots in the auction are Aaj Tak, Aaj Tak Tej, ABP News, India TV, NDTV India, News18 India, News Nation, Republic TV Bharat, TV9 Bharatvarsh, Zee Hindustan and Zee News. The industry grapevine is saying that the news channels have ended up investing proportionately major chunk of their expected annual revenue in the DD Free Dish auction and couple of them may back out subsequently.

     

    As of now, Prasar Bharati has got INR 730 + crores from the sale of 57 MPG 2 slots on the DD Free Dish from the 52nd DD Free Dish Auction which shows a 23% increase over the last auction of INR 594.25 crore collected from the sales of 53 MPG2 slots in March, 2020. The Bucket A of Hindi Movies Collectively has got the highest collection at Rs 194.85 crore, but a Hindi news channel has come out as the single highest bidder at Rs 22.05 crore.

    .

    The total number of channels participating in the auction has crossed the number of 53 slots which were available for the auction. The senior officials of Prasar Bharati have been huddled together in meetings over last Friday and Saturday trying to decide which Doordarshan channels they should delete from the DD Free Dish offerings to allow all the private channels to come on board.

     

    It is not really fair for a Public Broadcaster to take such a step as the axe is bound to fall on some smaller Doordarshan Channels catering to small states. Prasar Bharati is yet to declare which Doordarshan channels have been taken out from DD Free Dish to accommodate the private channels. Last year, I wrote in this column about the silent coup by Prasar Bharati. I am an ardent supporter of the DD Free Dish strategy, however, Prasar Bharati should not promote this strategy at the cost of depriving smaller states from the viewing Doordarshan programmes in their own language on the DD Free Dish.

     

  • With effect from June 10

    Zee Anmol & Zee Anmol Cinema make comeback on DD Free Dish

    By A Correspondent

     

    With a view to consolidate its viewer base and reclaim its leadership position in the HSM rural market, Zee entered the free-to-air space with its return to DD Free Dish starting June 10.

     

    Commenting on the relaunch of Zee Anmol on DD Free Dish, Zee Chief Consumer Officer Prathyusha Agarwal said: “Over the years, Zee Anmol has shared a special relationship with rural India through its deep-rooted understanding of the rural viewer. In the current scenario, we see a tremendous increase in demand for differentiated content on DD Free Dish, especially as a learning from recent wins in Bhojpuri with Zee Biskope and Punjab markets with Zee Punjabi. Our library at ZEE has riveting stories of women with vision and resilience that have the potential of inspiring women in the rural markets who are in search of a role model to look up to. We see this as an opportunity for Zee Anmol to reclaim its leadership position in the HSM Rural market through the channel’s reintroduction on DD Free Dish.”

     

    With Zee Anmol Cinema’s comeback, the channel aims to occupy a distinct position in the Hindi Movie space by establishing a personal connect with our viewers. Added Ruchir Tiwari, Zee Hindi Movies Cluster, Business Head: “Rural markets take the centrestage with more than half of the TV viewership coming from the heartland. With the on-going health concerns, there is an increasing need for entertainment across the country, especially FTA channels considering spending power is decreasing. The recent jump in viewership of movie genre is a testimony to that.  With this move, we are hoping to, once again, reach out to a large, content hungry audience base and become their number one choice for wholesome family entertainment.”

     

     

  • Coming up: a win-win proposition for viewers as well as channel owners in the post Covid-19 scenario, writes Indrani Sen

    The Silent Coup by Prasar Bharati

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    In February 2019, post TRAI’s NTO, big broadcasters had pulled out their Hindi mass entertainment channels from DD Free Dish which subsequently led to loss of viewership, weekly GRPs and ad revenue for those channels. The four big broadcasters, who submitted fresh bid invitation for vacant MPEG-2 slots by Prasar Bharati and won the e-auction held on June 2, 2020, must be sighing in relief now after getting five channels back on DD Free Dish. With effect from June 10, 2020, DD Dish TV subscribers would be able to view Star Utsav, Sony Pal, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Zee Anmol Cinema. It is definitely a win-win proposition for viewers as well as the channel owners in the post Covid-19 scenario.

     

    Considering that these channels were earlier earning on an average 100 times more that the average carriage fee of Rs 6 to 8 crore paid per annum to DD Free Dish and most of them lost 50% + of their ad revenue after pulling out from DD Free Dish, it is no wonder that they have all boarded back the DD Free Dish Band wagon at the first available opportunity. The five channels are in dire need of restoring their ad revenues in the post-Lockdown stage and cannot do without the viewership numbers which DD’s free-to-air platform promises to add. It is a silent coup by Prasar Bharati for making DD Free Dish an essential part for the survival and growth of these private channels.

     

    In most of the statistical analyses of subscribers of DTH providers, DD Free Dish is not included which makes the advertising and media Industry forget about its existence. While Doordarshan does not have the built in mechanism to measure the growth of DD Free Dish connections, estimates available from government sources as well as private consultancy firms unanimously agree that DD Free Dish is the leading DTH service provider in India.

     

    On June 23, 2019 at a programme to launch distribution of DD Free Dish TV set top boxes in Kashmir, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar claimed that (https://www.indiantelevision.com/dth/dth-operator/dd-free-dish-has-35-crore-subscribers-prakash-javadekar-190623) Doordarshan was the biggest DTH service provider in India with 3.5 crore (35 million) subscribers of DD Free Dish.  He further claimed that there are total 5.5 crore (55 million) DTH connections in India. The 2019 FICCI-EY report estimated 30 million subscribers for DD Free Dish and predicted that it would cross the 50 million mark in near future.

     

    It is evident from the activity related to DD Free Dish on various private e-commerce sites that their business is doing well. From the sale of DD Free Dish set-top boxes on Amazon (https://www.amazon.in/STC-DD-free-Dish-Set-Top/dp/B07FNKDGGC ) to installation of DD Free antenna on Indiamart (https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/d-d-free-dish-antenna-installation-5874029873.html) to sale of remote  on Flipkart (https://www.flipkart.com/mase-remote-dd-free-dish-controller/p/itmfdcbspgtjqmgg) , e-commerce sites are doing brisk business due to the popularity of the DD Free Dish.

     

    DD Free Dish is available in Ku-Band on GSAT-15 (at 93.5°E). It has been upgraded from time to time. The number of channels available increased from 80 to 104 in 2019, of which 26 channels are reserved for Doordarshan. Currently 104 SDTV channels along with 40 radio channels of AIR are available to the subscribers. DD Free Dish has been the greatest contribution which Prasar Bharati has made to broadcasting in India since the satellite TV’s invasion from the sky and privatisation of TV channels. If the set top box for DD Free Dish can be made technically enabled to receive WiFi signals then a new vista of media consumption will open to the vast audiences belonging to  “Bharat”.

     

     

  • All the signatories have submitted this request in “SD mode”

    FTA channels seek govt help to combat losses

    By A Correspondent

     

    In view of the hardships being faced due to the lockdown, a section of FTA broadcasters have written to the Government of India, asking for immediate assistance.

     

    Here’s what is their missive:

     

    “This is a unanimous humble request extended by a syndicate of Free-to-Air Broadcasters having their channels placed on Prasar Bharati’s esteemed DTH Platform DD Free Dish. Due to this pandemic, all the signatories are submitting this request in “SD mode”, names of whom are mentioned at the end.

     

    Sir, as we all know the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted the Indian economy. All sectors of the economy are reeling from the impact of the nationwide lockdown, including media and entertainment. Advertisement bookings have nosedived by ~80%. Commercial advertisements are the sole revenue stream for Free-to-Air channels to support all its costs of Content, Operations, Carriage, Marketing and Transmission and in the current scenario, we have been struggling to deal with a steep de-growth and the biggest impact is on advertising revenues that is likely to see a 70-80% pullback.

     

    In line with Government’s vision of making best of entertainment accessible freely to all socio economical class of Indian population through the DD Free Dish platform, all the Free-to-Air channels play a very important role especially for the poorer sections of our society  and thus it’s commercial viability & sustainability must be taken into consideration.

     

    We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Government of India for inclusion of “Electronic Media”, which reaches the length and breadth of the nation as one of the “Essential Services” during the lock down period. We intend to continue reaching out to our millions of viewers on a daily basis and for which our teams are working tirelessly.

     

    Sir, as early as end of March, we all in our individual capacities had reached out to DD Free Dish with a certain request of waving carriage fees for a quarter (April, May and June) owed by us to them in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

     

    In response of which we were in receipt of letter dated April 7, 2020 offering a deferred payment schedule in lieu of the waiver of 3 months’ outstanding payments sought for, and that too with a provision for furnishing a bank guarantee (valid upto 31.07.2020) of equivalent amount. Availing the said relief has been subjected to interest levy at 5.7% per annum and GST on the interest amount.

     

    Sir, the aforesaid relief would not serve the purpose at this juncture, but instead put additional hardships on the Company in terms of bank guarantee charges, interest payments and GST amounts with effectively no relief on the total carriage fee payments.

     

    In light of the current adverse business environment, our request requires a lot more sympathetic consideration, considering our revenues have been eroded. There are few channels which have been recently launched on 01.04.2020 and they are facing the brunt with no revenues at all.

     

    As responsible corporate citizens of this nation, upon the request of our Hon’ble Prime Minister it has become our foremost duty to pay all our salaries on time which in turn will ensure that livelihood of hundreds of people. We wish to draw your attention once again to the fact that with business coming down to 10-15% of normal monthly business, we will be only in a position to disburse salaries and any more expense burden in the current & coming months will affect our salary paying capacity in such marginalised incomes.

     

    We, therefore, humbly place our request in front of your kind self which is a waiver of 100% Carriage Fees due to Prasar Bharati for first quarter (April, May and June) and 50% for second quarter i.e. (July, August and September) for Channels who have secured MPEG-2 slots on Prasar Bharati’s Free Dish Platform during the recently held 44th E-auction.

     

    We base our request post understanding the time that the entire industry would need for normalcy to return.

     

    In view of the facts furnished above, we all would appreciate your personal intervention in this matter so that broadcasting sector as a whole tides over the current situation.”

     

     

  • It will not be surprising if we see the entry of private Free DTH players in the strong regional markets in near future, writes Indrani Sen

    To be or not to be… on DD Free Dish

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Over the last two weeks, we have seen various news reports about Prasar Bharati’s new, yet-to-be-proposed policy for Free Dish slot auction among private broadcasters.  A report in www.economictimes.indiatimes.com highlighted a reminder letter sent by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) to Prasar Bharati on the subject of reviewing  and recasting of their policy for auctioning of free slots on DD Free Dish TV  platform to private broadcasters in (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/dont-subsidise-private-channels-review-free-dish-policy-ib-ministry-to-prasar-bharati/articleshow/63707567.cms ). The same report was carried by other websites and newspapers.

    According to the above report, the ministry officials said that from August 2017, PrasarBharati has not responded to any of the six reminders sent by the Ministry on the subject. The article quoted from the ministry’s letter “Recognising the limitation of the present arrangement it was suggested that these co-branded channels could be operated on a revenue share basis, this will ensure DD brand is not diluted and DD has a continuing stake in revenue growth…..This limitation should have been identified when the Free-Dish was thrown open to private channels.” In this connection, we can recall some interesting numbers.  PrasarBharati earned Rs 85.10 crore from the auctioning of 11 slots on DD Free Dish in July 2017. Prasar Bharati’s earnings from a single auction saw a phenomenal rise from Rs. 25 lakhs in its first auction to GEC channels in 2005 to Rs 85.10 crore in its last auction in 2017. Obviously, when the system of auctioning was introduced, neither the Ministry nor PrasarBharati had visualised the potential of The DD Free Dish platform.

    According tohttps://www.livemint.com/Politics/L1SzhVVx4ik3EO63ytq4WL/IB-ministry-suspends-auction-of-slots-on-DD-Free-Dish-to-r.html, Doordarshan earned more than 30% of its revenue from Free Dish at Rs 264.17 crore for the year 2016-17. It was the highest-ever revenue earned from the DD Free Dish platform. Overall, the broadcaster earned Rs 827.51 crore in the year 2016-17, surpassing its annual target of Rs 800 crore.

    Prasar Bharati cancelled the auction of slots on DD Free Dish scheduled in August 2017 citing administrative reasons. Subsequently we learned that I&B Ministry had asked the broadcaster to suspend e-auctioning of slots on DD Free Dish until further notice. TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal) had advised Prasar Bharati vide their order dated October 27, 2017 to carry out a comprehensive review of the policy of DD Free Dish. Meantime, private broadcasters whose contract expired were allowed to broadcast on DD Free Dish on a pro rata basis as per TDSAT order.

    We learnt recently that Prasar Bharati has told TDSAT that it will come out with a new policy for its free direct to home (DTH) DD Free Dish in a few weeks.“Following Prasar Bharati’s submission, the tribunal has posted the matter under the same head on 28 May” (http://www.televisionpost.com/prasar-bharati-to-come-out-with-new-policy-on-dd-free-dish-in-a-few-weeks/). The Prasar Bharati Board has appointed a Task Force for coming up with the new policy. Now the question is on what basis this new policy will be framed.

    An article on TOI, Pune on Saturday, April 21, 2018 quoted sources who said: “the government is keen to push a revenue sharing model, where private channels are asked to bid for DD Free Dish slots and also share a portion of their revenue with the public broadcaster.” We got a hint of this from Shashi ShekharVempati, CEO, Prasar Bharati who commented in the FICCI EY Report 2018 under Looking Beyond for Prasar Bharati:“Public broadcasters to move away from only government funded to self-sustained models, which mean: Platforms must be based on revenue sharing models …”

     

    Currently, Prasar Bharati does not have any clue regarding the number of subscribers accessing DD Free Dish across the country, let alone their distribution by states/ urban and rural, etc. The number of subscribers quoted by the Ministry as well as TRAI is based on market estimates by private organisations. As per TRAI, there were 66.99 million active pay DTH subscribers in 2017 apart from the subscribers to DD Free Dish which was estimated to be 22 million. The private TV channels are available through the paid Dish TVs and cable operators and the TRPs earned by them come from a combination of all the distribution platforms. Naturally the advertising revenue earned by the TV channels is also based on the availability of the channels through all the distribution platforms.

     

    Source: http://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/PIR_July_Sept_28122017.pdf

    In the current system of distribution, the TV channels pay a carriage fees/ placement cost to the DTH distributors/ cable operators based on how many subscribers they have. The DTH distributors/ cable operators also share a percentage of their subscription fees with the TV channels. The range of the carriage fees as well as the subscription fees varies widely based on the number of subscribers, the popularity of the TV channels as well as individual negotiations between the two parties.

    The TV channels agreed to pay for slots on DD Free Dish in lieu of carriage fees/ placement cost. Prasar Bharati had kept a reserve price of Rs 8 crore for non-news channels and Rs 6 crore for news channels. Several channels left the platform over last couple of years as they found the reserve price to be too high. A new model based on revenue sharing over and above the auction fees may turn away the private broadcasters from DD Free Dish when there is no scope of earning from subscription fees.

    Such a move may not be beneficial to Prasar Bharati as the FTA TV channels may choose to opt out from the platform of DD Free Dish. The rural TV viewers will be deprived of quality content and penetration of TV in rural areas may slow down. There is an untapped rural market across the country and our Government increased the FDI in the DTH sector from 49% to 74% in 2013 and to 100% in 2015. Therefore, it will not be surprising if we see the entry of private Free DTH players in the strong regional markets in near future. There is a high chance that if a new policy for allocating slots on DD Fee Dish based on revenue sharing is launched, it may boomerang and hamper the growth of the distribution platform.