ITV

Category: DTH

  • Airtel Digital TV numbers improve as parent company numbers fall again

    Airtel Digital TV numbers improve as parent company numbers fall again

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Mittal-led Indian telecom major with operations in 16 countries, Bharti Airtel Ltd (Airtel) reported a year on year (y-o-y) drop in numbers for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 (Q2 2019, period or quarter under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter (Q2 2018). At the same time, its Digital TV services segment which contributes just about 9 percent or so to the overall numbers, had a 9 percent and 13 percent y-o-y increase in operating revenues and operating profit (EBITDA) during the period under review.  The results for the quarter under review of both – Airtel overall and its Digital TV segment are subdued versions of the previous quarter. The company’s board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per share, which is a complete pass through of dividend received from its subsidiary

    Airtel reported a y-o-y increase in its overall as well Airtel Digital TV subscriber base along with an increase in mobile data traffic. However, the competitive environment has ensured y-o-y subduction of India mobile services and home services segment financials. Hence, the improved numbers from Airtel’s Digital TV services, its B2B – Airtel business services, its tower infrastructure services and its African operations numbers are reasons for cheer for the telecom behemoth.

    Overall, Airtel’s total revenues declined 6.2 percent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 20,422 crore from Rs 21,777 crore, while EBITDA declined 20.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 6,343 crore from Rs 8,004 crore. Net income declined to almost a third (down 65.4 percent) y-o-y to Rs 119 crore from Rs 343 crore. The company had a negative operating cash flow of Rs 1,341 crore in Q2 2019 as compared to a positive Rs 520 crore in Q2 2018.

    Airtel Digital TV

    As mentioned above, for its Digital TV segment, Airtel reported 9 percent y-o-y increase in operating revenues for Q2 2019 at Rs 1,024.2 crore as compared to Rs 936.9 crore. Airtel Digital TV Services EBITDA grew 13 percent y-o-y in the period under review to Rs 396 crore from Rs 351.7 crore. The company’s subscriber base increased by 1.33 lakh (0.133 millon, 0.0133 crore) in Q2 2019 to 147.79 lakh (14.779 million, 1.4779 crore) from 146.46 lakh (14.646 million, 1.4646 crore) in the immediate trailing quarter. In Q2 2018, the company had reported 135.21 lakh (13.521 million, 1.3521 crore) Digital TV subscribers.

    ARPU in the quarter under review increased by Rs 3 to Rs 232 as compared to Rs 229 in the immediate trailing quarter (Q4 2018) but was Re 1 lower than the Rs 233 in the corresponding year ago quarter. The US dollar has been rising with respect to the Indian rupee, hence in US$ terms, ARPU declined to US$ 3.3 in Q2 2019 from US$ 3.4 in Q1 2019 and declined 8.8 percent form the US$ 3.6 in Q2 2018. Churn increased to 1.3 percent in Q2 2019 as compared to 0.7 percent in Q1 2019, but was lower than the 1.4 percent in Q2 2018.

    Company speak

    Airtel MD and CEO of India and South Asia operations Gopal Vittal said, “Led by our focus on quality customers through simplified pricing and content partnerships, ARPU decline has moderated in this quarter. We remain focused on driving quality base growth with value adding propositions for our customers. We also remain committed to investing in enhanced capacities and have  deployed 27K+ broadband sites during the quarter, enabling a 239 per cent YoY growth in mobile data volumes.”

    Airtel MD and CEO of Africa operations Raghunath Mandava said, “Airtel Africa’s Gross Revenue grew by 11 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis. Data traffic grew by 53 percent, Voice minutes increased by 36 percent and Airtel Money throughput grew by 31 percent on a Y-o-Y basis. Consequently, EBITDA margin has expanded by ~4 percent Y-o-Y and stood at 37.1 percent for the quarter. We have stepped up our capex spends during the quarter to build a formidable LTE network. This positions us well to expand our profitable growth journey by enhancing customer experience with best in class network and products. This quarter also marks the first time where we are disclosing our region and product wise performance as it provides a more holistic view of our operations across the continent.”

  • Dish TV encores profits in 2nd quarter post merger, proposes maiden dividend of 50%

    Dish TV encores profits in 2nd quarter post merger, proposes maiden dividend of 50%

    BENGALURU: Indian direct to home (DTH) behemoth Dish TV India Ltd (Dish TV) reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 19.7 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 (Q2 2019, quarter under review) as compared to PAT of Rs 22.5 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q1 2109. Dish TV and Videocon d2h were merged on 22 March 2018 and hence Q1 2019 was the first full reporting quarter for the merged entity. The board of directors of the company have proposed a dividend of Rs 0.50 per fully paid up subscriber and issued equity share of Re 1 each. This is the first ever dividend proposed by the DTH major.

    Since results of the year ago quarter are not comparable, a quarter on quarter (q-o-q) comparison of the numbers of the joint entity has been done here. Dish TV’s operating profit or EBITDA in Q2 2019 was Rs 540.6 crore, 2.9 percent lower than Rs 556.8 crore in Q1 2019. The company reported a 3.7 percent q-o-q decline in operating revenue for the quarter under review at Rs 1,594.3 crore as compared to Rs1,655.6 crore in Q1 2019.

    Dish TV’s subscriber additions picked up speed during the first quarter. The net number of 301 thousand additions took Dish TV’s subscriber base to 2.33 crore in Q1 2019. The company picked up another net 200,000 subscribers in Q2 2019 to ramp up its subs base to 2.35 crore.

    Subscription revenue declined 2.4 percent q-o-q increase in Q2 2018 to Rs 1,453.6 crore from Rs 1,489.3. ARPU for the quarter declined to Rs 207 from Rs. 214 the previous quarter. Advertisement revenue for the quarter under review declined 34.8 percent q-o-q to Rs 22.6 crore Rs 34.6 crore. Bandwidth charges (revenue) reduced 3.4 percent q-o-q to Rs 37.4 crore in Q2 2019 from Rs 38.7 crore. Other income declined 26.4 percent q-o-q in Q2 2019 to Rs 80.7 crore from Rs 93.1 crore.

    Company speak

    Dish TV CMD Jawahar Goel said, “We remain extremely confident about our business and our strong financials give us the courage to compete against anyone in this space. That said, we continue to focus on growth with profitability keeping in mind our objective of maximising shareholder returns while aggressively investing in the business.”

    Talking about future competitive scenario in the TV distribution space, Goel, said, “With limited takers for fibre or fixed line broadband, watching television through IPTV is going to be even scarce. In fact, post running an internal analysis, we see less than 1 percent of our subscriber base to be vulnerable to any kind of IPTV threat in the forseeable future. Our competitive strength in the rural market ring fences our subscriber base almost completely.”

    Talking about the current technological buzz, Dish TV group CEO Anil Dua, said, “There is change but a lot of exaggeration as well. We acknowledge the new choices that the television consumer is getting exposed to but you can’t undermine the unique dynamics of India as a consuming nation. The television consumer likes flexibility but not at the cost of affordability. We still are a nation with 98 percent of the households having a single TV at home and with more than 79 percent CRTVs. Our soon to be launched ‘SMRT Stick’ will be the ideal value for money offering for TV households to convert their CRTVs into smart TVs and experience OTT content.”

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Dish TV

    The merged Dish TV’s consolidated total expenditure reduced 4.1 percent q-o-q in Q2 2019 to Rs 1,053.7 crore from Rs 1,098.9 crore. Cost of gods and services in Q2 2019 reduced 1.9 percent q-o-q to Rs 867.2 crore from Rs 884.1 crore. Personnel cost during the quarter under review increased 8.6 percent q-o-q to Rs 62.6 crore from Rs 57.7 crore in Q1 2019. Other expenses in Q1 2019 reduced 21.2 percent q-o-q to Rs 123.8 crore from Rs 157 crore from Rs 195.97 crore.

  • Tata Sky to launch Telugu and Tamil cinema

    Tata Sky to launch Telugu and Tamil cinema

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky recently launched value-added services – Tata Sky Telugu Cinema and Tata Sky Tamil Cinema, priced at Rs 45 per month. The ad-free services are affordable by people of all age groups, geographical and socio-economic boundaries.

    With this, Tata Sky not only increases the plethora of offerings in Southern markets but also caters to movie buffs across the country. With its customer-centric approach and aim to provide the best of content to its subscribers, the two new services will provide Telugu and Tamil Cinema at the comfort of people’s home.

    Tata Sky CCO Arun Unni said, “Telugu and Tamil film industries today have a fan following that transcends the state boundaries and captures the interest of viewers across the country. To cater to the ever-increasing demand for regional cinema, Tata Sky has partnered with Star Maa for Telugu films and Star Vijay for Tamil films to offer the best of content in an ad-free format to all movie lovers.”

    South market, with the highest TV viewership across the country along with a large appetite for movies in regional language provides Tata Sky an opportunity to offer high quality regional movies on medium of choice. The content library ranges from the latest blockbuster movie premieres, before their screening on television, to classic movies – with movie options for all age groups.

    Tata Sky's bouquet of regional cinema services now includes Tata Sky Telugu, Tata Sky Tamil, Tata Sky Bangla, Tata Sky Punjab De Rang, Tata Sky Marathi and Tata Sky Kids Cinema.

  • Dish TV appoints Ranveer Singh ahead of festive season

    Dish TV appoints Ranveer Singh ahead of festive season

    MUMBAI: DTH operator Dish TV has launched its new campaign with Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh as its ambassador. The campaign has been designed to showcase the brand in a completely new, bold avatar signalling a new phase in the brand’s life cycle.

    Ranveer Singh is an accomplished and leading film actor who will lend weight with his edgy and youthful attitude to DishTV’s new brand campaign ‘Dish Nahi Dishkiyaon’.

    The brand TVC featuring Ranveer Singh, shows him in different situations with DishTV playing on his mind. To break from the monotony, he presses an imaginary remote and breaks into a dance frenzy. The film concludes with him celebrating amongst people, dancing to the entertaining tunes of the all-new ‘Dishkiyaon’ DishTV. The product window talks of its upcoming SMRT Stick for streaming online videos, 5X HD Clarity and unlimited entertainment packs, suggesting how DishTV is adding fun and entertaining moments to the lives of its customers through innovative new products and services.

    Dish TV India group CEO Anil Dua says, “This festive season, the brand will enter a new phase. With growth momentum on our side arising out of our existing initiatives and upcoming offerings, our new campaign will firmly position DishTV as the preferred entertainment brand in the country. In the same spirit, we are delighted to have Ranveer Singh as the face of the brand DishTV. Ranveer’s vivacious and energetic personality resonates well with our new brand positioning. We are glad to have him onboard and are confident that, his infectious energy will energise our audiences and invigorate our brand.”

    Actor Ranveer Singh adds, “I’m extremely happy to be a part of DishTV, a pioneer brand that’s as passionate about entertainment as I am. My experience shooting for this campaign is pretty much summarised by their tagline – Dish Nahi Dishkiyaon Hai Ye – fun, cool and entertaining. I’m excited and looking forward to everyone watching the TVC.”

    Dish TV corporate head marketing Sukhpreet Singh mentions, “Our new ad campaign is here to woo the younger generation with the choice of our new brand ambassador and quirky campaign tagline – ‘Dish Nahi Dishkiyaon’. As the tagline implies, DishTV is everything fun, cool and entertaining. With a slew of new products on the anvil coupled with irresistible packs and offers, our customers are sure to look at DishTV in a new light.”

    This latest campaign which has been conceptualised by Enormous Brands, is soon going live and will be running on air across GEC, Movies and popular regional TV channels. It will be a 360-degree campaign that will also go live on all the key platforms – digital, print, radio, OOH and city activations this festive season. The campaign will also showcase a few of the innovative products & packages lined up for launch during the upcoming festive season and beyond.

  • DTH subscriber growth slow in first half of 2018

    DTH subscriber growth slow in first half of 2018

    BENGALURU: Growth of direct to home (DTH) subscriber base of private players in India was the slowest in five half-years for the half year ended 30 June 2018 (HY 2018, half year under review) as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The good news is that the quarter ended 30 June 2108 saw a reversal of fortunes. From a loss of about 30,000 (0.003 crore, 0.3 million, 0.3 lakh) subscribers in the quarter ended 31 March 2018 (Mar-18), DTH subscriber growth was positive 18.4 lakh (0.184 crore, 1.84 million) for the quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Jun-18, quarter under review).

    The figure below shows a q-o-q growth of DTH subscribers between the period Mar-16 and Jun-18.It may be noted that Mar-16 growth of 25.5 lakh (0.255 crore, 2.55 million) is with respect to Dec-15.

    According to TRAI data, the overall private DTH active subscriber base grew by 0.419 crore or 4.19 million (7.8 percent) in calendar year (CY 2017) to 4.19 million or 67.56 million from 6.256 crore or 62.65 million in CY 2016. Comparatively, in 2016, the overall private DTH active subscriber base grew by 6.67 million or 0.667 crore (11.9 percent) from 55.98 million or 5.598 crore in CY- 2015.

    Please refer to the figure below for the DTH subscriber numbers as per Trai data:

    The merger between Dish TV and Videocon d2h that was effective since October 2018 has created the largest DTH services company in India and the second largest globally in terms of number of active subscribers. Please refer to the three figures below for approximate market share of the private DTH players in India in CY 2017, CY 2017 and CY 2018:

    It must also be mentioned that the government’s FreeDish DTH service is the largest DTH player by far in terms of subscribers with an estimated 22 million or 2.2 crore subscribers in 2016 as per the KPMG-FICCI Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2017 (KPMG-FICCI M&E Report 2017) titled Media for the Masse: The Future Unfolds. It must however be noted that an exact number for registered or active subscribers is not available since this is a free DTH service. Also, the merger of Videocon d2h with Dish TV will create the largest private television carriage player in India and quite likely the second largest in the world, be it cable, internet television or DTH or any other.
     

  • DishTV launches ‘Thriller Active’ service on both platforms

    DishTV launches ‘Thriller Active’ service on both platforms

    India, 4th October 2018: Dish TV India Limited, world’s largest single-country DTH Company, is delighted to introduce a never heard before value added service-‘Thriller Active’ offering best thriller and horror TV shows and movies to Indian audiences on its both brands; DishTV and D2H. The first of its kind service is being offered in partnership with Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd, one of India’s leading filmed entertainment content house. Customers can now enjoy best of thrilling content at channel number 134 on DishTV and D2H platform.

    ‘Thriller Active’, DishTV’s exciting new offering is available to the subscriber on free preview of 15 days. Post free preview, the viewers can continue to enjoy spine chilling thrillers, television shows and movies at a nominal subscription price of Rs.40+Taxes.

    Announcing the new service, Mr. Anil Dua, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dish TV India Limited, said, “Our focus at DishTV and D2H, has always been on innovative content, best value proposition and unique entertainment initiatives. Horror and thriller is a genre that young audiences have a huge appetite for, and we are here to fill the gap for a singular destination for the best of content available in this segment.”

    Apart from classic horror shows such as Aahat, Zee Horror Show, Fear Files, a bouquet of unique features await every thriller enthusiast on DishTV and D2H. Further, to make weekends exciting for binge watching, the service brings special thriller, crime and horror series every Saturday and Sunday along with a popular movie.

    Hiren Gada, Director – Shemaroo Entertainment Limited said, “We are delighted to tie-up with Dish TV India Ltd to provide this exciting content on its DishTV and D2H platforms. Being a leading content aggregator and owner, our efforts are to serve audiences with exciting content in innovative ways. Bearing the same in mind, the programming of the service has been carefully chosen and hand-picked from Shemaroo’s best thrilling library content.”

  • Dish TV ropes in Mukund Cairae as biz head sports and exclusive content

    Dish TV ropes in Mukund Cairae as biz head sports and exclusive content

    MUMBAI: Dish TV, the largest DTH operator in India, has appointed Mukund Cairae as business head sports and exclusive content. The business leader with almost two decades of experience was associated with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) in various roles for over 14 years.

    Prior to his new position at Dish TV(http://www.indiantelevision.com/dth/dth-operator/dish-tv-partners-with-shemaroo-to-bring-bhojpuri-regional-active-service-on-its-two-platforms-180726), he was ZEEL(http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/gecs/zee-launches-zee-world-in-south-africa-150128) CEO Middle East North Africa and Asia Pacific. During this tenure, he led 45 per cent revenue growth across ad sales, program sales and affiliate revenue. He also took an active part in launching ZEEL’s digital venture ZEE5 in Asia Pacific.

    He was also associated with Videocon and Kotak Life, Lara Agro, Amadeus India. He helped to build strong retail and distribution network from inception for Videocon Group.

    The media veteran has been consistently recognised by Forbes Middle East as one of the top fifty Indian leaders in the region from 2013 to 2018.

  • D2H brand increases focus on South, launches new customer awareness TVC campaign

    D2H brand increases focus on South, launches new customer awareness TVC campaign

    MUMBAI: D2H, brand of Dish TV India Limited, the world’s largest single-country DTH Company, has launched a 360-degree TVC campaign for its southern market, highlighting the maximum number of entertainment offerings by the brand. Titled “Go for Highera”, the campaign is urging customers to not settle for less, but ask for more. Conceptualized by Lowe Lintas, the TVC campaign is now live and is being rolled out in the three southern languages across the three southern states. 

    With an aim to connect with potential customers in South India, D2H’s ‘Go for Highera’ a 360-degree TVC campaign is being promoted on social media & digital platforms, cinema and print media to reach out to larger audience. 

    The TVC opens with a simile of splashing water to wake up the viewer by the protagonist to bust the myth about the content provided to customers in the name of highest channels offerings. The TVC ends with urging the viewer to wake up and go for the “higher than the highest” number of channels in his language. 

    Commenting on the campaign launch, Mr. Anil Dua, Group CEO – Dish TV India Limited said, “In the south, our D2H brand is a strong player. We have ramped up our distribution, strengthened our service network and enhanced our product, both in terms of content and attractive entry-level offerings. With our new campaign “Go for Highera”, we are aiming to take D2H brand to a leadership position. The campaign aims at highlighting our value proposition of providing best of regional content and establishing our content leadership in the market. The campaign brings out assertively that when it comes to content offerings in regional languages, D2H platform is clearly the best.”

    Speaking on the new advertising campaign, Mr. Sugato Banerji, Corporate Head- Marketing, D2H brand, said, “According to our in-house research and consumer insights, consumers are choosing DTH service basis the content offerings before any other factors come into play. This insight led us to strengthen our channels in each of the four south languages and bring ‘Go for Highera’ campaign for the south market to create an awareness among customers on content offerings. The campaign’s objective is to bust the myth about content leadership and translate that to favourable gains of market share.”

    Mr. Sajid Khan, Unit Creative Director, Lowe Lintas said, “The core idea of ‘Go for Highera’ campaign was to awaken the customers to not settle for anything that they’re being offered in the name of entertainment. With our collaboration with D2H, a brand of DishTV India Ltd, we’re creating awareness for the brand’s maximum entertainment offerings in the regional languages for its South subscribers. With this campaign, we’re hoping to make the brand more appealing to the target audience.”

  • Irdeto Partners with Airtel to Secure Content on Airtel’s Digital TV Platform

    Irdeto Partners with Airtel to Secure Content on Airtel’s Digital TV Platform

    AMSTERDAM: Irdeto has partnered with Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest telecommunications service provider, to secure all content offered on Airtel’s Digital TV services. As part of the strategic partnership, Irdeto will deploy its security solutions to secure the linear channels offered on the set-top-box and the content offered on Airtel’s hybrid Android TV platform.

    Irdeto will implement its state-of-the-art security solutions – Irdeto Armor for Android TV, Irdeto Cloaked CA and Middleware – on Airtel’s set-top-boxes to deliver the utmost safety for all its valuable content and also provide an improved customer experience.

    “To succeed in today’s ever-evolving pay TV landscape, operators need to offer innovative and secure platforms,” said Doug Lowther, CEO, Irdeto. “Operators must also balance the needs of consumers while maintaining full control of security on their platform. As a security-savvy organization that recognizes the needs of its customers, Airtel is providing a future-proof offering that gives consumers the content they desire and the flexibility they require. This forward-looking approach gives Airtel a competitive edge by delivering secure, premium and innovative pay TV services.”

    Sunil Taldar, CEO – Airtel Digital TV, said, “Customers are at the heart of everything we do at Airtel and delivering a secure platform to them is our top priority. We are delighted to have Irdeto as our partner and bring their expertise to ensure complete security of all content on our platforms.”

    Open platforms like hybrid set-top-boxes offer customers a vast choice of content and a premium user experience. Customers can enjoy flexibility and convenience as they experience content on-demand. While these platforms offer service providers an immense opportunity to meet unique customer demand for content, securing the content is imperative to ensure data protection. Under the partnership, Irdeto will work with Airtel on a robust content protection strategy that also ensures a premium user experience for customers.

    Irdeto will provide advanced security services to Airtel to help the company manage a variety of threats while ensuring an optimal viewing experience. Designed to protect the device, data and services built on Android TV, Irdeto Armor provides Airtel with the ability to securely manage this open platform to better address consumer demand now and in the future.