ITV

Category: DTH Operator

  • Videocon d2h delists from NASDAQ, merger with Dish TV likely on 22 March

    Videocon d2h delists from NASDAQ, merger with Dish TV likely on 22 March

    MUMBAI: Videocon d2h, which is looking at a merger with Indian direct-to-home (DTH) company Dish TV, has announced that it will be delisting from the US bourse NASDAQ.

    The amalgamation scheme between Dish TV and Videocon d2h is likely to take place on 22 March 2018 after due regulatory approvals from the Maharashtra registrar of companies and the high court. Videocon d2h shareholders will get Dish TV shares through global depositary receipts. Dish TV shares will not be registered in the US.

    Videocon d2h had made its intention to delist in mid-December 2017 but later postponed it because of a change in its plan to amalgamate with Dish TV. 4 April 2018 will be Videocon d2h’s last date of listing and it will be delisted from 5 April. After this, Dish TV will have to file the remaining requirements of US regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to terminate Videocon d2h’s reporting obligations. The deregistration will be effective 90 days after Form 15F is filed.

    “Pursuant to the Scheme and following the effectiveness of the amalgamation, all outstanding equity shares of Videocon d2h, including equity shares underlying the ADSs, will be mandatorily exchanged for new equity shares of Dish TV. Dish TV is expected to be subsequently renamed Dish TV Videocon Limited. Videocon d2h ADS holders will receive new global depositary receipts (GDRs), each GDR representing one equity share of Dish TV, exchanged at a rate of approximately 8.07331699 new GDRs for every one Videocon d2h ADS (rounded off up to eight decimal places), unless such holders elect to receive equity shares of Dish TV in lieu of GDRs by cancelling their Videocon d2h ADSs,” a release to the NASDAQ stated.

    The combined company is to be named as Dish TV Videocon and will hold approximately 29 million subscribers, making it the second-largest DTH company in the world. There was a halt in the merger scheme when Dish TV wanted Videocon d2h to clarify some of the insolvency proceedings against it.

    Also Read :

    Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger date postponed

    Dish TV re-evaluating Videocon d2h merger

  • DishTV launches ‘Aapla Manoranjan’ for marathi Viewers

    DishTV launches ‘Aapla Manoranjan’ for marathi Viewers

    MUMBAI: Dish TV, Asia’s largest DTH brand, has partnered with Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., one of India’s leading filmed entertainment content house to launch Marathi regional value added services for its valued Marathi audience. A 24-hour Marathi service ‘Aapla Manoranjan’ is now available at Channel number 1232 on DishTV platform. With the launch of this new service, customers can now enjoy the complete Ad-Free and 24X7 Marathi Service packed with Movies, Plays and Songs.

    ‘Aapla Manoranjan’, DishTV’s new regional offering is now available to the subscriber on free preview of 15 days. The viewers can continue to enjoy amazing Marathi content with a nominal subscription price of Rs 38 + GST.

    The full entertainment package includes Marathi Songs, legendry Plays and two Marathi movies every day. In addition to this, every Sunday there will be a world satellite TV premiere of a newly released movie which hasn’t been telecasted on any satellite channel like Bus Top, Paisa Paisa & Suagr, Salt aani Prem on this service.

    Speaking on the initiative DishTV, Senior vice president-Marketing, Mr. Sukhpreet Singh said: “We’re committed to provide the best of entertainment to our viewers across all regions. With an overall bouquet of 600+channels & services and with this new regional service offering, we’re excited to bring the best content and excellent TV viewing experience to our Marathi audience. The addition of ‘Aapla Manoranjan’ will cater to the needs of our Marathi subscribers across India for complete entertainment in their preferred language.”

    Shemaroo Entertainment Limited – Director, Hiren Gada said, “We are pleased to associate with Dishtv and bring to the viewers Aapla Manorjan, a premium marathi content service that will air the finest of marathi films, songs and even theatre. It will be fueled by Shemaroo’s rich and exhaustive library of content and programming prowess. Marathi cinema with its thematic diversity, technical excellence and high production values has made a mark for itself in the industry and amongst cinema lovers. We are sure that this new offering will thoroughly be enjoyed by the viewers of Dishtv”.

  • Tata Sky woos new customers with free Star Sports channels

    Tata Sky woos new customers with free Star Sports channels

    MUMBAI: After Airtel Digital TV cut signals to Star India channels, Tata Sky has played smart and is working towards increasing its subcriber base.

    To acquire new customers, it has launched a new offer under which all new acquisitions on the platform will be provided Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Hindi channels free of cost from 9 March to 27 May.

    New HD connections will get the standard definition (SD) channels free but the high definition (HD) version will be only available once they pay HD access fee.

    The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 featuring 60 matches will be held from 7 April to 27 May and is likely to give Tata Sky a competitive edge. The offer will mean that new customers will be able to enjoy the upcoming IPL free of cost without having to pay for costly sports subscription packages.

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    Airtel Digital TV disconnects Star India channels

    JSW acquires 50% stake in Delhi Daredevils

  • Airtel Digital TV disconnects Star India channels

    Airtel Digital TV disconnects Star India channels

    MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Airtel Digital TV, has temporarily discontinued Star India channels from its subscription packs from 8 March 2018, as it has not been to arrive at mutually acceptable terms with the broadcaster.

    The DTH operator offers 22 popular Star channels across genre and languages free of cost to eligible customers for a period of one month as part of its promotion. To receive these channels subscribers will have to give a missed call on designated numbers.

    On 16 February, Star had issued a disconnection notice to Bharti Telemedia for non-signing of the subscription agreement, non-payment of subscription fees and non-submission of subscribers reports.

    “Due to failure to arrive at mutually acceptable terms with Star India with effect from 8 March 2018, all Star network channels will be temporarily discontinued from your packs,” the DTH operator informed its subscribers.

    The DTH operator is offering Living Foodz HD, &Prive HD, Discovery Jeet HD, DSport HD, and Disney International HD as a replacement for Star’s HD channels. For the remaining Star HD channels, it will offer a proportionate refund to the subscribers.

    Also Read :

    Star India bags production rights for IPL 2018

    SC could take up TRAI-Star case on tariff regulations

    ISRO, DoT turf wars delaying connectivity reach: govt official

     

  • Videocon d2h re – launches exclusive movie service as Evergreen Classics

    Videocon d2h re – launches exclusive movie service as Evergreen Classics

    MUMBAI: Videocon d2h has tied-up with Shemaroo Entertainment to re-launch its d2h Classic Movies service as Evergreen Classics. This VAS Service is available from February 15th on Channel 215 and will be on one month free preview with refreshed line up of classic old Hindi movies till 15th March 2018.

    Evergreen Classics service will showcase classic Bollywood movies right from the black and white era to the 80s. Besides movies, viewers will enjoy a special original chat show, watch biographies, songs and get trivia about their favourite yesteryear stars. The service is designed to take the millennials through those glorious Evergreen Classics which they have never experienced but only heard about. Videocon d2h Evergreen Classics will showcase the rich collection of movie like Pyaasa,  Mahal, Mother India, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Boot Polish, Andaaz, Devdas and many more. 

    Executive Chairman Videocon d2h Limited –  Mr. Saurabh Dhoot said, “We reaffirm our strategy to provide innovative holistic family entertainment. I am delighted that we are launching Evergreen Classics.”

    Shemaroo Entertainment Limited – Director, Mr. Hiren Gada shared, “Evergreen Classics brings to the audience a carefully curated service of the finest movies by notable film makers from the golden era of Bollywood, coupled with original programming.  The service is fuelled by Shemaroo’s exhaustive library of content and programming expertise.  Evergreen Classics is in line with our endeavour to always add value to our business partners and boost their offerings with our content prowess.  We are sure that the audiences will definitely enjoy this offering.”

    Videocon d2h takes pride in presenting its subscribers with a robust line-up of more than 650+ channels and services, including a host of regional channels. It offers a wide range of active services like Smart English, Smart Games. The other active services include d2h Hollywood HD, d2h music, d2h spice, d2h cinema in both Standard Definition and HD, etc.

  • Despite lower ARPU, Videocon d2h posts higher Q3 profit

    Despite lower ARPU, Videocon d2h posts higher Q3 profit

    BENGALURU: The Saurabh Dhoot-led Indian DTH player Videocon d2h reported profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 30.85 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, quarter under review). The company had reported PAT of Rs 16.78 crore for the immediate trailing quarter Q2 2018 and PAT of Rs 21.77 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter Q3 2017. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9 per cent yoy in Q3 2018 to Rs 291.41 crore from Rs 267.24 crore. Adjusted EBITDA less capex increased 62.9 per cent yoy to Rs 188.50 crore during the quarter under review as compared to Rs 115.70 crore.

    Videocon d2h revenue from operations increased 7.2 per cent yoy during the quarter under review to Rs 833.6 crore from Rs 777.39 crore. Subscription and activation revenue increased 7.3 per cent yoy to Rs 763 crore in Q3 2018 from Rs 711.20 crore.

    Subscriber matrices

    The company’s subscriber base increased by 1.6 lakh  (1 crore = 10 crore = 100 lakh) during Q3 2018 to 134.1 lakh from 132.5 lakh in the immediate trailing quarter Q2 2018. The company had a subscriber base of 127.7 lakh in Q3 2017. Videocon d2h reported a quarterly subscriber churn of 1 per cent, higher than the churn of 0.62 per cent reported for Q2 2018. Subscriber churn for Q2 2017 was 0.87 per cent. The company has reported lower average revenue per user of Rs 208 for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 212 for the immediate trailing quarter, but higher than the Rs 205 for the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Videocon d2h

    Total expenses increased 6.5 per cent yoy to Rs 726.59 crore in Q 2018 from Rs 681.97 crore. Operating expenses increased 8.9 per cent yoy to Rs 423.61 crore in Q2 2018 from Rs 407.38 crore. Administration and other expenses reduced 14 per cent yoy to Rs 18.89 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 21.97 crore. Employee benefits expenses declined 4.3 per cent yoy to Rs 28.92 crore in Q2 2018 from Rs 30.21 crore. Selling and distribution expenses reduced 3.5 per cent yoy to Rs 50.84 crore in Q2 2018 from Rs 52.69 crore.

    Company speak

    Videocon d2h executive chairman Dhoot said, “I am pleased to report that we continued to deliver a strong quarterly result with our adjusted EBITDA being our highest ever quarterly adjusted EBITDA at Rs 2.91 billion. Our adjusted EBITDA per subscriber continued to improve further and came in at Rs 73 per subscriber per month.”

    “We continue to see a recovery on the ground and expect overall business prospects to improve driven by several factors including lower content availability on the FreeDish platform and the Indian government’s focus on increasing affordable housing and improving rural income levels in the recent budget,” he added.

    “During the quarter, the company received all the necessary approvals relating to its amalgamation with and into Dish TV India. The two companies now intend to file the relevant intimations / e-forms with the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Maharashtra, Mumbai in the last week of February 2018, which filing date will become the effective date for the proposed merger. The company will issue the relevant timelines and other mandatory notices in relation to the merger in due course,” concluded Dhoot.

    Also Read :

    Dish TV-Videocon d2h deal on course

    Dish TV re-evaluating Videocon d2h merger

    Videocon d2h reports another profitable quarter

  • Sharlton Menezes joins Tata Sky as head of digital content

    Sharlton Menezes joins Tata Sky as head of digital content

    MUMBAI: Sharlton Menezes has joined DTH operator Tata Sky as head of content for digital. Based in Mumbai, Menezes, who took up the role last month, is reporting to Tata Sky’s chief content officer Arun Unni.

    Menezes has around a decade of experience in the content world. He started his content journey with Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL), where he was head of content and marketing English entertainment (Zee Cafe and Zee Studio) for the majority of his tenure. In August 2015, he was elevated to business head-digital video at the company.

    He subsequently joined LeEco, a Chinese multinational conglomerate corporation. It entered into the Indian market with mobile phones. Menezes worked with LeEco for over a year till May 2017.

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    Tata Sky customises sports-viewing with Star alliance, in talks with Sony

    ICC’s appointment of Indra Nooyi raises eyebrows

  • Dish TV-Videocon d2h deal on course

    Dish TV-Videocon d2h deal on course

    MUMBAI: After a few hiccups, the merger deal between direct-to-home (DTH) operators Dish TV and Videocon d2h is on course again.

    As part of the amalgamation scheme, Dish TV and Videocon d2h will file the relevant intimations/e-forms with the registrar of companies (ROC) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) in the last week of February 2018.

    In a filing to the BSE, Dish TV has said that it “intends to take further steps for effecting the said merger.”

    The filing date shall be the effective date for the scheme.

    On 11 January, Dish TV had said that it is evaluating whether insolvency proceedings against the promoters of the Videocon Group will have an impact on its rights and obligations under its agreement with Videocon d2h.

    Dish TV had asked its advisors to the transaction to evaluate the position and advise the company with its findings within a period of 60 days.

    Before this sudden development took place, the two DTH companies were expected to file the relevant intimation/E-Forms with the RoC, MCA, Maharashtra, Mumbai, by 27 December 2017. However, the filing got delayed after Dish TV got to know about the insolvency proceedings against Videocon d2h promoters.

    Dish TV also said that the merger deal is being taken forward after receiving a go-ahead from the advisors. “Upon evaluation of the above circumstances by the Advisors to the Scheme, the Company shall be taking necessary steps for completion of the Scheme,” it added.

    For the purpose of seamless integration of the businesses of Videocon d2h into Dish TV India and for synchronising the operations of two companies to derive the benefits and objectives of the scheme, Dish TV has nominated two Directors namely Amitabh Kumar and Raj Kumar Gupta on the board of Videocon d2h.

    On 15 December, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had approved the merger between the two companies.

    Commenting on the merger deal, Dish TV India CMD Jawahar Goel said, “We acknowledge our shareholders’ growing impatience with respect to the merger. We would like to assure them that work around the completion of the deal is going ahead at full steam now and should be completed soon.”

    Also Read:

    Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger date postponed

    Sluggish rural consumption, distribution expenses pull down Dish TV’s Q3 numbers

    Dish TV re-evaluating Videocon d2h merger

  • Sluggish rural consumption, distribution expenses pull down Dish TV’s Q3 numbers

    Sluggish rural consumption, distribution expenses pull down Dish TV’s Q3 numbers

    BENGALURU: A recovered but not fully-up-to-speed rural sector and higher selling and distribution expenses during festival time led to Indian direct-to-home (DTH) major Dish TV India Ltd (Dish TV) reporting lower numbers for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, the quarter under review) as compared with the corresponding year ago quarter (yoy). Though the company added net 250,000 subscribers during the quarter, lower ARPU brought down Dish TV’s operating revenue and EBITDA by 1 per cent and 15.5 per cent, respectively, yoy. The company reported a net subscriber base of 1.61 crore at the end of Q3 2018. ARPU of Rs 144 in Q3 2018 was the lowest in the current fiscal as against Rs 148 in Q2 2018 and Rs 149 in Q1 2018. Dish TV’s ARPU before demonetisation in November 2016 was Rs 162. The company has reported net loss after taxes of Rs 3.58 crore in Q3 2018 as against profit of Rs 8.39 crore in Q3 2017.

    Dish TV CMD Jawahar Goel said, “One year down the line from demonetisation, we have come a long way but somehow the sting in rural consumption is still missing. This was probably well recognised by the government and hence the impetus towards a stronger rural India. Television continues to remain the cheapest and most wholesome means of entertainment for the masses. DTH has presence in places where few other television service providers have reached. Dish TV, amongst such DTH players, has perhaps the deepest rural connect and hopes to benefit from rural India’s increasing propensity to consume everything including television content.”

    In its investor release for Q3 2018, Dish TV said that the pending Dish TV–Videocon d2h merger had hit a roadblock as the company was forced to evaluate the impact of certain proposed proceedings, against the Videocon group, on its rights and obligations under the definitive agreements, and consequential effects on the transactions contemplated thereunder.

    Dish TV, on 15 December, had secured the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s approval to the request made by the company for closing the merger of Videocon d2h with and into Dish TV.

    Talking about the merger, Goel said, “We acknowledge our shareholders growing impatience with respect to the merger. We would like to assure them that work around the completion of the deal is going ahead with full steam now and should be completed soon.”

    “We are excited about the future of the merged entity and are raring to put the business in overdrive as soon as the merger completes. Though we have lost some time in FY18, we would want to regain our leadership as well as extract the highest possible synergies in the year ahead,” he explained.

    A look at the numbers

    Dish TV reported a 1 per cent yoy decline in operating revenue for the quarter under review at Rs 740.77 crore as against Rs 747.98 crore. EBITDA for Q3 2018 was 15.5 per cent y-o-y at Rs 200.52 crore (27.1 percent margin) as compared with Rs 237.42 crore (31.7 percent margin).

    Total expenditure for Q3 2018 increased by 4.3 per cent y-o-y to Rs 775.12 crore. Employee benefits expense declined 1.5 per cent y-o-y to Rs 35.80 crore. Operating expenses in Q3 2018 increased by 6.2 per cent yoy to Rs 374.08 crore. Other expenses during the quarter under review increased by 8 per cent to Rs 127.84 crore yoy. Finance costs in Q3 2018 reduced by 18.4 per cent yoy to Rs 50.16 crore.

    Also Read :

    MIB clears path for Dish TV Videocon

    Dish TV reports improved operating profits for second quarter

     

  • Will clear bills of broadcasters in 4 weeks: Pantel

    Will clear bills of broadcasters in 4 weeks: Pantel

    MUMBAI: Even as Reliance Big TV announced its shutdown, it owed more than Rs 100 crore to broadcasters like Star India, ZEEL, Sony Pictures Networks India, TV18, Viacom18, Sun TV, and Discovery Communications India.

    The tribunal stated that the accommodation has been granted to Pantel and other non-official respondents on the condition that they will make sincere efforts to settle the claims of the broadcasters, particularly those of Star India and ZEEL at the earliest.

    The tribunal had also directed Star India not to disconnect signals to the DTH operator till the next date on the condition that a further amount of Rs 50 lakh will be paid by Pantel by 2 February.

    “We have been assured on behalf of respondent no. 3 that it will make sincere effort to settle the claims of all the petitioners at the earliest and in total it may require about four weeks to do so,” the TDSAT noted.

    Earlier, the tribunal had stayed the disconnection notice by Star India on the condition that an amount of Rs 3 crore will be paid on account by Pantel before the next date 30 January.

    Pantel had paid 50 per cent of the amount within one week while the company’s counsel handed over the cheque for the remaining Rs 1.5 crore before the tribunal. The delay in paying the balance Rs 1.5 crore on time was condoned by the tribunal.

    It also assured of settling Discovery Communications India’s claim of Rs 7.23 crore in the same time frame. The tribunal directed Pantel to settle the dues of Cinema 24×7 also within a week or two.

    ABP News Network, which has also impleaded in the matter, submitted the claim for a small amount of Rs 14 lakh approximately. The Pantel counsel assured that this claim will be settled as per mutual satisfaction within a week or two.

    Also Read:

    Reliance Big DTH to take FTA route under new management?

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