By A Correspondent
Big RTL Thrill has inked a distribution deal with Dish TV ensuring that the dual feed action entertainment channel will be available on the DTH platform (Channel No 488).
Speaking on the occasion, Vijay Koshy, Vice President of the channel, said: “By signing on Dish TV, the reach of the channel will increase exponentially and we are certain that it will live up to the expectation of the viewers.”
By A Correspondent
Direct-to-home company Dish TV, Asia’s largest today announced as best managed company in Asia in the Media sector by Leading international magazine Euromoney for the Euromoney’s ‘Best Managed and Governed Companies – Asia poll 2013’.
This is the 14th year of the poll, which is conducted among a total of 144 leading equity analysts at the largest investment banks and research houses in the Asia Pacific region. Analysts were asked to name the companies they found most impressive across a number of factors including management accessibility, accounting transparency, profitability, growth potential and corporate governance procedures, among others.
RC Venkateish, Chief Executive Officer, Dish TV India, stated, “We are very proud of the acknowledgement that Euromoney has given us. This success is the result of continuous efforts of the team, ensuring that investors and stakeholders confidence is maintained through transparency and good governance. We have always believed we have a strong investment case and will continue to push the barriers by gaining further access to a wider investor base. Such recognition of our efforts incites us to move forward with the same zeal and enthusiasm.”
By A Correspondent
Dish TV India Limited has reported third quarter fiscal 2013 unaudited standalone operating revenues of Rs 5,578 million, recording 13.1 percent growth over the corresponding period last fiscal. EBITDA of Rs1,377 million registered 4.8 percent increase over the corresponding quarter last fiscal. EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 24.7 percent.
Highlights
Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Dish TV India Limited, said, “The Indian media industry is witnessing a sea change as it moves towards a fully digitized environment. With the government remaining committed to the cause, stakeholders across the value chain are working overtime to make the best of the opportunity. As digitization sweeps the pay-tv households in India, platforms with evolved business systems and processes having last mile reach are likely to have an upper edge. Amongst DTH platforms, Dish TV with its technological lead and superior product line-up is one of the best placed to capitalize on the digitization mandate,” he added.
Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, Dish TV, said, “While the distribution industry remained on tenterhooks preparing for digitization, the third quarter saw the much debated compulsory switch off of analog television signals take place in key metro markets. Although lack of execution in Chennai and Kolkata was a dampener, festival demand coupled with mandatory conversion in Delhi and Mumbai brought the DTH industry back to the 1 million plus monthly run-rate. DTH garnered around 35 percent share of incremental additions post the sunset date.”
He added, “In line with our expectation, we witnessed significant subscriber uptake around the sunset date of 31st October. Dish TV achieved the largest share of 28 percent amongst DTH platforms in the digitization territories. ‘Dish+’, India’s first standard definition recorder, played its part in differentiating and attracting consumer interest in a crowded market.”
Commenting on the third quarter performance, Mr Goel said, “A larger base did create pressure on the average revenue per user which, primarily supported by price hike in the second quarter, increased marginally to Rs 160. In the third quarter, apart from the usual additional spends typically experienced due to the festive season, additionally this year the company’s investments to capitalize on the digitization opportunity are also reflected in higher costs during the quarter. A seasonally higher marketing expense was as per budget. Content cost for the year is expected to be within the guided range of 12 percent increase over the previous fiscal.”
By A Correspondent
Even as Kolkata struggles to reach 100 percent digitization, DTH operators are leaving no stone unturned to attract consumers. Dish TV is offering special digitization delight to its Bengali viewers in Kolkata by adding two more leading Bengali news and entertainment channels to its lifetime free offer, in addition to the game-changing initiative aimed at viewers in the four metros which fall under the digitization. Under this offer, the customers will be eligible to receive a basic channel tier comprising of 70+ channels free of cost for life. The channels that will be available along with 70+ Free Channels offered under Lifetime Free offer to only customers in Kolkata include Rupashi Bangla and Kolkata TV.
Commenting on the development, Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV said, “Dish TV has always stood up to its promise of providing maximum width and depth of content with an overall of 400+ channels & services. This is a unique facility for valued subscribers who will choose our services during digitization, and is a highly differentiated and extremely consumer-friendly move. And now by adding two exceedingly popular Bengali news and entertainment channels to the lifetime basic tier free offer, we’re extending ourselves as a more personalized option to Dish TV subscribers in Kolkata.”
Viewers availing this offer have to remain active by subscribing to a regular package at least twice during a year. The offer is not available with any other DTH or digital cable, and Dish TV claims that it has encouraged thousands of people to shift to them. For the record, Lifetime Free offer spans five years.
By A Correspondent
Dish TV, the DTH service provider, has announced a game-changing initiative aimed at viewers in the four metros which are due for digitization. Dish TV’s customers will be eligible to receive a basic channel tier comprising of 70 channels free of cost for five years. TRAI had recommended at providing the basic tier (free-to-air channels) at Rs 100 per month to their subscribers. The Dish TV subscribers will have to recharge the option every six months with Rs 200.
“The offering is valid for four metros: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. We are adopting the telcos’ method. The free-for-lifetime offer did not reduce their revenues neither did it affect the size of the industry in negative way. We are sure that with this package, consumers will have more choice, and will recharge to avail access to more channels,” said Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV.
The launch will be supported by a 360-degree media campaign. Mr Kapoor said, “The media campaign will be launched in all four metros within a week. The total outlay for the whole campaign is to the tune of Rs 30 crore.”
By A Correspondent
Dish TV has launched “Dish+”,India’s first standard definition box with unlimited recording facility. Dish+ is positioned at a consumer-friendly and competitive price of Rs1,690 (against all other SD boxes at Rs 1590) with a free 4 GB pen drive as promotional offer. Post VCR, there is no recording device available with consumers and there is a huge vacuum to fulfil the consumer need. Dish+ fulfils the ‘need gap’ of recording facility for the consumers.
Speaking on the launch, RC Venkateish, Chief Executive Officer, Dish TV India, said: “Being pioneers and market leaders, we have constantly reinvented and redefined the market with thought leadership to be ahead of the pack. Dish+ is being launched in 42 cities of Phase I and Phase II of digitization and will clearly demonstrate Dish+ as a better alternative for all viewers who will shift from analog to digital.”
Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV India, emphasized: “Dish+ is a comeback of recorders in the living room and is a clear differentiator vis-Ã -vis other alternatives including digital cable. Its highly competitive launch price will position it as a preferred option amongst all DTH buyers”.
The unique feature of Dish + is its compatibility with any USB device enabling consumers to simply plug and play an existing USB stick/ HDD, and build an entire genre based library of their favorite program. Dish+ offers unmatched advantage of recording on SD. Dish+ is user-friendly with features like “plug-n-play” through an external USB device. This enables all benefits of a traditional DVR like recording and playing back programs, Pausing or Rewinding live TV, different play-back positions, event based recording (EBR), time based recording (TBR) and so on.
By A Correspondent
“Drop cable, upgrade to Tata Sky,” reads the latest ad of the direct-to-home (DTH) service provider, as the cut-throat rivalry between DTH players and cable operators intensifies in the countdown to the first phase of compulsory digitisation in the top four metros by June 30.
“Your TV will continue to run on your inverter even during a power cut…isn’t this a reason enough to choose Tata Sky over cable,” said another advertisement, as the DTH major unleashes its third phase of print and out-of-home (OOH) ad blitzkrieg to lure millions of cable users in the top four cities to its services.
Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer of Tata Sky, said the campaign is directed at educating consumers so that they can make an informed choice. “Our latest print campaign tells subscribers to do their homework before they buy a set-top box (STB) so that they chose Tata Sky and not just some dabba (box),” said Mehra. It’s not targeting any cable operator, he added.
With over 9 million subscribers, Tata Sky is the second-largest DTH service provider in the country, after Dish TV.
Last December, Lok Sabha passed the Cable Television Networks (Regulation)
Amendment Bill, 2011, which makes it compulsory for cable companies to convert their analogue system to digital in a phased manner from June 2012.
Consequently, in the first phase of digitisation, India’s top four metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata – will have to replace all analog television networks with digital transmission from July 1, 2012.
This means that all cable subscribers would need to get digital STBs in order to ensure that their TVs don’t go blank. By March next year, as many as 38 cities across the country would be brought into the digital fold.
While phase 1 has around 10 million TV homes in the four metros, over 90 million analogue cable TV homes are estimated to convert to digital by the end of fourth phase in December 2014.
Stakes are indeed high for DTH players who have a ready, captive base of millions of analogue cable TV customers, who just need to install a digital set top box in their homes.
“DTH is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 20 per cent for the next 5-7 years,” said Abhishek Chauhan, Senior Consultant, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia & Middle East. DTH contribution would increase to more than 30 per cent to overall the pay TV market, reducing the cable providers’ contribution to less than 65 per cent, he says. While the number of DTH households in the country is set to go up from 37 million in 2011 to 86 million by 2016, digital cable would see its subscriber base jump from a mere 6 million to 75 million, according to a recent FICCI-KPMG report.
The number of cable and satellite (C&S) households is estimated to reach approximately 176 million by 2016, of which paid C&S households is estimated at 168 million, representing 89 per cent of total TV households. In 2011,146 million households in India had television sets; 119 million of which used cable or satellite services, says the report.
While Tata Sky has been relentless in its campaign against cable, Dish TV has a different strategy. “Direct attack on cable operators is a short-lived approach,” said Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV. Differentiated offerings and emotional connect with users is a sustainable strategy, he added. Dish TV has, in fact, tied up with neighbourhood operators to push its own set-top boxes and install connections.
Meanwhile, Tata Sky has been running a campaign to shed its premium image and spread awareness about the impending digitisation and the value-added services that it offers.
Perceptions on pricing in multiple television households, vacation time charges, relocation charges and prices about offerings are some of the issues that ‘Poochne mein kya jaata hain’ campaign started to address since last September. Created by O&M, the commercials urge consumers to ask while underlining the range of offerings.
“Poochne mein kya jaata hai campaign was our way of telling customers that it’s possible to get a world-class service at an affordable price,” said Mr Mehra of Tata Sky. The latest campaign in this series informs one about the affordability of DTH services.
Sonu & Cookie (characters from the last campaign), try to find items which are cheaper than Tata Sky. But every time they bring one to the shop, the shopkeeper surprises them by informing them that Tata Sky’s package is even cheaper.
‘Get the quality of DTH at the price of cable,’ says a print commercial of Den Networks, one of the largest multi-system operators having presence in a number of states, just a few months back. And a subsequent radio ad raised the pitch by mocking at DTH players – ‘DTH stands for Don’t Try at Home.’
Tata Sky was quick to come up with a tit-for-tat print advertisement – “World-class digital box or any other dabba. What will you choose?”
“Den has been the first cable TV MSO in India to launch a nationwide brand campaign, created by Bates,” said a Den Networks spokesperson, adding that different players will experiment with different types of messages and campaigns to attract subscribers.
Digital cable has some inherent advantages such as weather-proof services that are not interrupted by rain, service through the local cable operator who is known to the household for years and is just a phone call away, to address any technical or service queries, the spokesperson says.
While such kinds of advertisements may be attention-grabbing tactics, they also help consumers in making a better choice, say advertising and brand experts.
“These are attention-grabbing tactics as consumers are in the process of making up their minds,” said Jehil Thakkar, Head, Media and Entertainment, KPMG. While now there is an opportunity for DTH players to acquire analogue subscribers from cable, the latter would obviously try its best to keep users under its fold, he added.
Most advertising that we see around are intra-category fights, driven on the shoulders of brands such as Pepsi vs Coke, Rin vs Surf, Bajaj vs Hero. However, it’s the category versus category fight, for example GSM Vs CDMA, which is the game changer, say brand experts.
In a fight like this, end consumers stand to gain, said Prathap Suthan, Chief Creative Officer of Bang in the Middle, an independent ad agency. “And this is exactly what is expected when it gets into a category versus category fight.”
Tata Sky is clearly and visibly a better constructed and sustained brand among DTH players, feels Suthan. “When you stand for a category, and you represent a category (just as Tata Sky has done), other brands will look small or will be made to look small.”
The other DTH brands, it seems, have sort of abdicated the position of category leadership to Tata Sky, he added.
Source: The Economic Times
Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved
By A Correspondent
Viewers will now be able to watch their favourite shows on Sony Entertainment Television in pristine High Definition from May 28. The HD feed will be available for analog and digital distributors. It will be available on Tata Sky, Airtel, Dish TV and Videocon, covering almost all the current HD universe. Apart from this, it will also be available on Hathway, Seven Star & other key cable networks.
NP Singh, COO, Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd said: “I am pleased to announce that our flagship channel Sony is all set to be broadcast in HD. Traditionally, SET Network has always embraced technological excellence and going HD is another step in that direction. Improving viewer delight is our aim and I am sure that our consumers will enjoy the enhanced viewer experience immensely.”
Sneha Rajani, Senior Executive Vice President and Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television said: “As a channel that has always been a pioneer in its content offering for the TV audience at large, Sony will continue to keep its viewers in the forefront and be a leader in the marketplace. Going HD is a continuation of that focus and a very proud moment for us all.”
The other channel already on HD in the MSM bouquet is SIX. The IPL is also broadcast in HD on Max.
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) comprises Sony Entertainment Television (SET), one of India’s leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India’s premium Hindi movies and special events channel, SAB; a family comedy entertainment channel; SIX,,a premier sports entertainment channel, PIX, the English movie channel and MIX a refreshing hindi music channel.
By Paritosh Joshi
We are down to just over a month for mandatory digitisation in the 4 metros. Newspaper stories suggest bullishness among DTH players even as major cable providers signal some nervousness and even seek extra time to get all their ducks in a row.
Let me say this bluntly.India will lose a massive opportunity if all the spoils of digitization went to DTH.
But first, a quick look back. To the beginning of this developing story.
India’s economic liberalization and initiation into C&S television happened almost simultaneously. Even as Peter Arnett on CNN was telling the world about the bombing of Baghdad during Operation Desert Storm in early 1991, Dr Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister Narasimha Rao were getting busy with preparing the blueprint for India’s economic liberalisation. Almost by some divine providence, television and the economy were both getting set to kick into high gear in tandem. As the period since has shown with impressive consistency, as television has grown wider and deeper, so has the economy.
Inevitably, technology has reached the point where the legacy of the analog system must be superceded by digital technology. The change is not sudden, having begun with the Conditional Access System (CAS) in 2002 and gathered momentum with DTH’s arrival in the form of Dish TV in 2005. While CAS was unable to make much headway, even in markets where it was made mandatory, DTH saw accelerating growth after the launch of Tata Sky in 2006, and then an operator explosion, starting 2008.India now has as many as six commercial and one public service DTH services, more than any other major market in the world.
By definition, DTH services cover a very wide footprint, typically the entire Indian subcontinent, and often extending to points well beyond that. This provides great advantages to multi- or pan-national audiences, but is of little use to broadcasters or content owners who target a more tightly defined audience, be it based on ethnicity, language or geography. Also, since the service is delivered via satellite and doesn’t have a native return path, return paths have to be bolted on separately using a terrestrial or cellular telecom network, or an independent vendor’s internet service as is being tried by Indian DTH operators.
Terrestrial digital cable services, on the other hand, frequently bundle television and internet services on the same cable and, by implication, have an inbuilt return path from viewer to platform operator. This creates a range of opportunities in terms of bringing transaction based services, payment solutions and so on that are accessible from a simple TV remote. Indeed, the best of breed in many parts of the world now offer triple play (TV, Internet and Basic Telephony) or even quadruple play (triple + Cellular Telephony) off a single connection.
In addition to their versatility, digital cable systems simply have much more bandwidth to accommodate more content and services than satellite transponders. This advantage will become more significant as more genres and channels move from standard definition to high definition (or SD to HD is common parlance). HD channels use 3 to 4 times the bandwidth of SD and as setup costs of HD fall, broadcasters will be looking to deliver better viewer experiences with the switch.
Amongst all the issues we have raised above, perhaps the most significant is the possibility of localizing television. Every city and town in the country is, potentially, a distinct television market. There is local news to be reported. There are local stories that must be told. There are local merchants who must advertise to their customers. And there is plenty of creative talent that is raring to have a go at tapping into these opportunities. If only there is a platform that can support them.
That platform is not DTH.
Paritosh Joshi was until recently CEO, Star CJ. He has been a marketer, a mediaperson and been a key officebearer on industry bodies. He can reached via his Twitter handle @paritoshZero
By A Correspondent
Close on heels of closing distribution deals for BIG CBS Prime and Love, the BIG CBS Network, a JV between Reliance Broadcast Network and CBS Studios International has inked the distribution deal for the third channel BIG CBS Spark on Asia’s largest DTH provider – Dish TV.
Positioned as the ultimate music destination, BIG CBS Spark offers the huge 12.5 million subscriber base of Dish TV access to the best music mix from the international and Indian market spread across genres.
BIG CBS Spark, targeted at the youth audiences and catering to their entertainment requirements, is loaded with music and peppered with hit shows like the Cheaters, Maximum Exposure, Smash Cuts, Oblivious and Real TV.
This deal takes the total reach of the BIG CBS Channels to a strong 42.5 million households, making sure it reaches its international English entertainment content to its relevant target audiences in India.
With excellent synergies coming into play, the deal helps both businesses benefit with the digitization reform which is in the anvil.
Speaking on the development, Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV, said: “Dish TV, being the pioneer and market leader in DTH industry, has now the bouquet of Big CBS channels for all its valuable customers. We are proud to extend our partnership to the entire BIG CBS Bouquet – BIG CBS Prime, Spark and Love to our 12.5 million subscribers; Dish TV endeavors to bring entertainment at par best in terms of quality content, we hope that our alliance will mutually benefit each other.”
Speaking on the alliance, Vishal Rally, Business Head, BIG CBS Networks said: “We are happy to have the BIG CBS Channel Network on Dish TV. This is part of our continued endeavour to reach the world-class content from India’s No. 1 English Entertainment Network – BIG CBS’s stable to audiences seeking English entertainment in India.”
This alliance complements Reliance Broadcast Networks’ recent campaign called ‘Choose Your Set-Top-Box Wisely’, designed to increase awareness and empower consumers with adequate information to make the right choice while choosing their set top boxes, while parallely enabling operators to build their brand equity. Reliance Broadcast Network has a robust well crafted 7 channel and is ready to maximize from the digital wave.
An equal joint venture between Reliance Broadcast Network Limited and CBS Studios International, BIG CBS Networks has changed the way English language television entertainment is served to Indian audiences. The JV, at start, launched 3 English language Entertainment Channels marking not just RBNL’s, but the Reliance Group’s entry into the television broadcasting space and CBS Corporation’s channel entry into India. The themed channels targeted at India’s fast-growing, upwardly mobile population are branded BIG CBS PRIME, a premium general entertainment channel, BIG CBS SPARK, India’s first international youth entertainment channel and BIG CBS LOVE, India’s first ever international entertainment channel for the contemporary Indian couple.
Dish TV is Asia’s largest direct-to-home company and part of the biggest media conglomerate – Zee Group. Dish TV has on its platform 330+ channels and services including 21 audio channels with 12.5 million subscribers, which is growing. The company has a vast distribution network of about 1400 distributors and 55,000 dealers that spans around 6600 towns across the country.
By Meenakshi Verma Ambwani
Stiff challenge from digital cable operators has forced India’s biggest direct to home (DTH) television company, Dish TV, to tie up with neighbourhood cable operators, opening up a new front in the war between the DTH and cable industries.
India’s top four metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata – will replace all analog television networks with digital transmission from July 1. This has led to a scramble between multi-system operators (companies which create and distribute a bouquet of channels through cable networks) and DTH operators who transmit their own bouquet of channels via satellites.
Their fight could end up giving a fresh lease of life to the local cable operators who were until now providing the last mile connectivity for the MSOs, but were faced with the threat of extinction with the launch of digital set top boxes.
Dish TV chief executive RC Venkateish said the company has launched a pilot project in Delhi and he expects to grab 1-1.5 million subscribers across cities in the short term through tie-ups with the cable operators.
These operators have been given the option to take up distribution and installation of Dish TV connections to customers and push Dish TV set-top boxes in cable households with the first phase of cable digitalisation.
Currently, the company has agreements with about thirty cable operators, but expects to roll out this scheme in the country and rope in about 3,000 local cable operators in the next two months.
“This scheme helps us open a new distribution channel and establish a personal contact with our customers. Our last-mile operators will install these boxes, service the connections as well as collect bills,” said Mr Venkateish.
These last mile operators will be paid commissions on the installation of set top boxes as well as a 15-20 per cent commission every time the customer serviced by them recharges his subscription.
North-Delhi based cable operator Rajan Sidana, who owns Chaitanya Cable Network, said that aligning with large DTH players like Dish TV would be a profitable deal for last-mile operators. “As it is, we are facing competition from DTH service providers and losing consumers to them. This is a way to retain our customer base and be able to offer them DTH as well as high-definition set-top-boxes on a commission basis,” he said. He services about 700-800 households and can offer feeds of several MSOs to consumers.
Other DTH companies may also join the fray soon. A senior executive from another DTH company who did not wish to be named, said that this is innovative way to grab more subscribers but warned that this could be an expensive way of grabbing consumers at a time when the DTH industry is making losses.
Vikram Mehra, chief marketing officer, Tata Sky said: “We have beefed up our service and installation teams and our customer care centres that will help us acquire new subscribers.”
Cable companies still dominate in the big metros and roping in the last-mile cable operators will help them increase their subscriber base in the metros. Currently several local cable operators have access to television feed from several multi system operators besides being an exclusive last-mile operator for at least one MSO.
Another South Delhi cable operator RS Bedi, who owns Skywaves, said, “This is an opportunity for existing cable operators who are being squeezed by MSOs to open up an alternative revenue stream. It will also help Dish TV reduce its downtime to cater to consumer’s service requests.”
He added that the margins being offered by Dish TV is attractive and the cable operator will not have to bother about laying cables and will not have to set control rooms. “This will help us grab new consumers as digitalisation kicks in,” said Mr Venkateish. Dish TV currently has 12.5 million gross subscribers and 9.5 million net subscribers in the country as of December 31, 2011.
Source: The Economic Times
Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved