ITV

Category: DTH

  • Videocon d2h taps into the Star-MSO feud

    Videocon d2h taps into the Star-MSO feud

    MUMBAI: Star India’s incentives on its various channels on RIO has not gone down well with several MSOs in the country, who feel that this will actually raise consumer bills rather than make it easier, despite being on a-la-carte. However, the DTH industry sees a prized opportunity in the whole matter.

     

    Videocon d2h has taken out ads in several markets, concentrating in the east of the country, asking consumers to shift from cable to DTH. The ad asks consumers if they are ‘missing their favourite Star channels on your cable connection’ and if so then they should switch to Videocon d2h. The ad also lists the channels that the viewers can watch uninterrupted – Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Star Plus, Life Ok, Star Sports, Star Gold, NGC, Star Movies, Star World etc.

     

    The ad also points out that viewers can avail 24 Bengali channels on the platform.

     

    Last week, Star India had come up with a new RIO agreement that it will be enforcing with MSOs across the country. According to Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), the last date for undertaking the RIO will be 10 November after which the broadcaster can disconnect signals to MSOs.

     

    The network claims that up to now, nearly 33 per cent of independent MSOs have come forward to sign the RIO.

     

  • Dish TV appoints new independent directors

    Dish TV appoints new independent directors

    MUMBAI: Dish TV, in the recently held 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) announced the appointment of four new independent directors in the company.

     

    Lakshmi Chand, Bhagwan Dass Narang, Arun Duggal and Eric Louis Zinterhofer have been appointed as independent directors of the company to hold office for a term of three years.

     

    According to the statement issued by the company, all the four independent directors were appointed as “Director whose office was liable to retire by rotation, be and is hereby appointed as independent director of the company, whose office is not subject to retirement by rotation, to hold office for a term of three consecutive years.”

     

    Lakshmi Chand was an independent non-executive additional director on the board of the company. He is a post graduate in MA (Eco) from Punjab University and is a Law graduate from Delhi University.

     

    101 equity shareholders representing 78,27,27,656 equity shares comprising 99.999 per cent of  total  votes casted, voted in favor of the resolution of appointing Chand as an independent director and seven equity shareholders representing  10,170 equity shares comprising 0.001 per cent of total votes casted, voted against the resolution.

     

    Narang was an independent non-executive member of the board and is a post graduate in agricultural economics and brings with him 32 years of banking experience.

     

    68 equity shareholders representing 75,02,72,688 equity shares comprising 95.852 per cent of total  votes casted, voted in favor of the resolution of appointing Narang as an independent director and 40 equity shareholders representing  3,24,65,138 equity shares comprising  4.148 per cent of total votes casted, voted against.

     

    Arun Duggal was an independent non-executive member of the board. Duggal is a Mechanical Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

     

    97 equity shareholders representing 76,72,71,725 equity shares comprising 98.024 per cent of total  votes casted, voted in favor of the resolution of appointing Duggal and 11 equity shareholders representing  1,54,66,101 equity shares comprising 1.976 per cent of total votes casted, voted against.

     

    Eric Louis Zinterhofer was an independent non-executive member of the board. Prior to co-founding Searchlight Capital Partners in 2010, Zinterhofer was a senior partner at Apollo Managemen which he joined in 1998.

     

    61 equity shareholders representing 74,52,43,442 equity shares comprising 95.210 per cent of total  votes casted, voted in favor of the resolution of appointing Zinterhofer and 47 equity shareholders representing  3,74,94,384 equity shares comprising  4.790 per cent of total votes casted, voted against.

     

    In the AGM, the re-appointment of Mintoo Bhandari as the non­executive nominee director was also announced.

     

    64 equity shareholders representing  74,87,25,208 equity shares comprising  95.655 per cent of total  votes casted, voted in favor of the resolution and 44 equity shareholders representing  3,40,12,618 equity shares comprising  4.345 per cent of total votes casted, voted against.

     

    The company recently announced its financial results for the current quarter and reported a decline in loss for the current quarter at Rs 15.1 crore as compared to the Rs 16.05 crore in the trailing quarter. The company also reported an addition of 332,000 subscribers in the quarter.

  • Q2-2015: Airtel Digital TV y-o-y revenue grows 23 per cent, subscriber base up 11.3 per cent

    Q2-2015: Airtel Digital TV y-o-y revenue grows 23 per cent, subscriber base up 11.3 per cent

    BENGALURU: India headquartered communications giant Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel)’s digital TV (DTH) segment reported a y-o-y growth in Q2-2015 (current quarter) in revenue of 23 per cent to Rs 626.3 crore as compared to the year ago revenue of Rs 507.2 crore. Q-o-q, the company reported a growth of 5.4 per cent from Rs 591.5 crore. For HY-2015, revenue at Rs 1217.8 crore was 22 per cent more than the Rs 997.2 crore in HY-2014.

     

    Note:  100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 crore = 1 crore.

     

    EBITDA for the quarter increased to Rs 152.9 crore as compared to Rs 64.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA margin improved significantly to 24.4 per cent in the current quarter, as compared to a margin of 12.7 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.

     

    During the current quarter, the Company incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 225.5 crore. Cash burn during the quarter at Rs 72.6 crore has increased, compared to Rs 39.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, primarily on account of seasonal build-up of boxes says the company.

     

    Subscription numbers:

     

    The company reported a 1.6 per cent increase in subscriber base to 9.54 million in Q2-2015 from 9.388 million in Q1-2015 and 11.3 per cent more than the 8.572 million in Q2-2014.

     

    Net subscriber additions for the quarter dipped 60 per cent to 151,000 from 376000 in Q1-2015, but was 11 per cent more than the 120,000 subscribers added in the corresponding year ago quarter Average revenue per quarter (arpu) in Q2-2015 was 3 per cent more at Rs 220 from Rs 214 in Q1-2015 and 11 per cent more than Rs 198 in Q2-2014. Monthly churn in Q2-2015 was higher than the 0.6 per cent in Q1-2015 and 1 per cent in Q2-2014.

     

    Bharti Airtel’s consolidated highlights for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014

     

    Customer base crossed mark of 30 crore and stands at 30.37 crore across 20 countries, up 8.4 per cent y-o-y.

     

    Consolidated total revenues at Rs 22,845 crore, up by 7.1 per cent y-o-y.

     

    India revenues up 12.3 per cent; Africa revenues (in local currency) up 6.4 per cent y-o-y.

     

    Consolidated Mobile Data revenue at Rs 2,540 crore, up by 66.7 per cent y-o-y; growth across geographies.

     

    Consolidated EBITDA at Rs 7,705 crore, up by 12.1 per cent Y-o-y, EBITDA margin up 1.5 per cent y-o-y.

     

    India EBITDA margin at 38.3 per cent, up by 3.2 per cent y-o-y.

     

    Net Income at Rs 1,383 crore, up by 170.2 per cent y-o-y.

  • Dish TV exploring possibility of setting up domestic STB manufacturing business

    Dish TV exploring possibility of setting up domestic STB manufacturing business

    MUMBAI: The positive thrust that the cable and DTH industry has been receiving from the current Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar is getting encouraging response from the industry.

     

    While the government has classified set top boxes (STBs) as telecom equipment to encourage indigenous manufacturing of STBs, Dish TV has decided to tap into the emerging domestic market.

     

    Reporting improved results, Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel said that the company is ‘re-evaluating possibilities for domestic manufacturing of STBs’.

     

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish said, “We are exploring the idea of domestic STB manufacturing given the incentive and fillip that the government is keen to provide to domestic manufacturers.” He added that there seems to be an overall trust of the government which is the underlying assumption that indigenous manufacturing will save costs as compared to importing boxes.

     

    Venkateish said that the company is currently evaluating the cost structure for setting up an STB manufacturing unit that will not just provide boxes to Dish TV but to others in the industry as well. Though the company would have to invest in capex and opex for the manufacturing unit, whether this will help them save up the additional cost of custom duties that imported boxes incur, is still a question mark.

     

    Dish TV has reported an addition of 332,000 subscribers in Q2 2015 with lower losses at Rs 15 crore as compared to the previous quarter.

  • Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2015

    Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2015

    MUMBAI: Reporting earnings for the current quarter (Q2-2015), Dish TV India Limited (Dish TV) announced addition of 3,78,000 subscribers in the quarter taking net subscriber base to 1.21 crore at the end of the quarter. The company added 3,32,000 subscribers last quarter and 164,000 subscribers in the corresponding quarter last year.

     

    The subscription revenue for the quarter rose 12.2 per cent to Rs 616.8 crore y-o-y while the total operating income (Total Income from Operations – TIO) at Rs 672.3 crore was 11.9 per cent more than Rs 600.8 crore in Q2-2014 and 4.9 per cent more than Rs 640.6 crore in Q1-2015.

     

    Also reporting the half yearly result, the HY1-2015 TIO for the company at Rs 1290.8 crore was 7.2 per cent more than Rs 1203.9 crore in HY1-2014.

     

    The company announced a decline in loss for the current quarter at Rs 15.1 crore as compared to the Rs 16.05 crore in the trailing quarter but higher than the Rs 8.53 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

     

    The total expenditure of the company for the current quarter also rose to Rs 661.9 crore, 11.1 per cent up from Rs 595.5 crore in Q2-2014 and 5.2 per cent more than Rs 628.8 in the trailing quarter.

     

    The company reported the total expenditure for HY1-2015 at Rs 1290.8 crore which was 7.2 per cent more than Rs 1203.9 crore in HY1-2014.

     

    The increase in total expenditure can be attributed to rise in Employee benefit expense (EBE), advertising expense (AE) and selling and distribution expenses (S&DE).

     

    The EBE for Q2-2015 was reported at Rs 25.16 crore, up 12.6 per cent from Rs 22.34 crore in the corresponding quarter last year and 1.6 per cent lower than the trailing quarter.

     

    AE in Q2-2015 at Rs 17.7 crore, was 39.4 per cent more than Rs 12.7 crore in Q1-2015 while the selling and distribution expenditure rose 22.1 per cent Q-o-Q.

     

    The S&DE comprises of commission and other selling and distribution expenses.

     

    The commissions for the company in Q2-2015 was reported at Rs 60.74, 12.2 per cent more than Rs 54.12 crore announced in the immediate trailing quarter and  41.3 per cent more than Rs 42.96 crore in Q2-2014.

     

    While the other selling and distribution expenses at Rs 53.8 crore jumped 42.1 per cent from Rs 37.86 in Q1-2015 and 74.9 per cent from Rs 30.76 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

     

    ARPU for the second quarter increased to Rs 172 from Rs 170 in the previous quarter. Despite significantly higher activations, churn continued to be at a healthy 0.7 per cent per month. Festival driven, higher selling and distribution expenses resulted in the EBITDA margin being marginally lower at 24.1 per cent compared to 24.5 per cent in the previous quarter, said the press release.

     

    EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 162.3 crore, up 4.4 per cent as compared to Rs 155.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

    Talking about the overall industry growth, Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra said, “The industry, led by Dish TV, recorded a healthy 38 per cent Y-o-Y growth in gross additions during the second quarter of fiscal 2015.”

     

    “Our performance during the second quarter is a reflection of our belief that a financially stable business is best placed to capitalize on any growth opportunity. While we have been growing in the right direction, growth without healthy returns to our shareholders falls below our aspirations. However, we are committed to generate them and by focusing on revenues, expenses and balance sheet quality we are building near term benefits for all our stakeholders,” he added commenting on the company’s earnings report.

     

    Adding to the same, Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel said, “Dish TV maintained its leadership position during the second quarter. Buoyed by a healthy growth in HD sales and good traction coming in from sale of the ‘Zing’ brand.”

     

    He further added, “In view of the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ campaign Dish TV is re-evaluating possibilities for domestic manufacturing of set top boxes.” High Definition (HD) box sales gained Traction. It comprises of 15 per cent of the incremental additions.

     

    Despite the push back of digitization, ‘Zing’ helped propel the sales of the flagship ‘Dishtv’ brand through a wider reach and top of the mind recall. The newly introduced Sports driven packaging also found instant favor with subscribers, thus enabling Dish TV outgrow the industry growth rate, the press release added.

     

    Click here to read the unaudited financial result

     

    Click here to read the press release

  • Tata Sky selects Genesys to revolutionise home entertainment

    Tata Sky selects Genesys to revolutionise home entertainment

    MUMBAI:  Direct-to-Home (DTH) provider Tata Sky, has associated with Genesys, to deploy customer experience platform to enhance service delivery to its subscribers.

     

    The association is an endeavour to empower Tata Sky’s workforce to service customers seamlessly across multiple touch points. The platform provides greater efficiencies in the company’s contact center operations and also provides subscribers with new, personalised self-service applications to provide customers with a complete user friendly experience, said the press release.

     

    Excited with the collaboration, Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal said, “Tata Sky is pleased to partner with Genesys in our quest to bring superior quality television entertainment to its viewers. The system is clearly the best in class and offers cost savings, operational efficiencies and visibility into contact center operations.”

     

    “Tata Sky strives to bring not only superior quality television entertainment to its viewers, but also to offer the best customer service possible. We have built an extensive customer service network across the country with 24-hour call centers manned by multi-lingual highly competent customer service associates,” he added.

     

    The multi-channel capabilities of the Genesys solution integrates with Siebel, and provides Tata Sky customer service agents with a more productive and efficient work environment that takes advantage of ‘customer-priority’ based agent routing technology.

     

    “We are pleased that Tata Sky has implemented Genesys to enhance the subscriber experience,” said Genesys APAC managing director Bruce Eidsvik. “Our best in class, multi-channel software is an ideal complement to Tata Sky’s vision of revolutionizing home entertainment in India and empowering every television viewer,” he added.

     

    Additionally, the company also provides a personalised, voice self-service application that reduces the time that customers spend on unwanted menu options and helps transform the overall customer experience.

  • FTA DD Freedish to soon encrypt with MPEG-4

    FTA DD Freedish to soon encrypt with MPEG-4

    MUMBAI: Since inception, DD Freedish has been the only DTH service that hosts free to air (FTA) channels. Boasting 18 million subscribers on the platform, it soon plans to encrypt signals for its future channels.

     

    With nearly 60 channels in its roster, Freedish plans to encrypt future channels with MPEG-4 compression technology to take it up to 110. Speaking exclusively to indiantelevision.com, Doordarshan deputy director general CK Jain said that the auction for the encrypted channels will happen in November with the commercial roll out of set top boxes (STBs) soon after. “48 channels will be on MPEG-4 and 64 on MPEG-2. Viewers who opt for MPEG-4 STBs will be able to view a total of 112 channels, including the FTA ones,” he said.

     

    The extended version of Freedish will have two streams of MPEG-4 and four of MPEG-2 so that the existing subscribers can continue watching the FTA channels. Currently the DTH service has five transponders on Insat 4B and will be soon getting an additional one, taking its tally to six. “The two encrypted streams will allow us to know definite subscriber numbers,” he adds.

     

    Jain is confident that digitisation drive in phase III and phase IV markets will see households pick Freedish. He is also sure that the plus point would be in the new TV households. The MPEG-4 STBs will be sold at a price higher than the current Rs 1200 for MPEG-2. But Jain says that given an option to watch more channels, he expects people to pick MPEG-4 boxes.

     

    Both the boxes will be available for sale through its distributors. November will see the auction for the 48 encrypted slots. Broadcasters who wish to be on the MPEG-4 bands, will have to undergo the auction, including ones who are also available on FTA.

  • Videocon d2h wins ‘The Economic Times Best Brands’ award

    Videocon d2h wins ‘The Economic Times Best Brands’ award

    MUMBAI: Videocon d2h has bagged ‘The Economic Times Best Brands’ award in recognition of its vision to be a DTH category innovator. The DTH operator strives to provide the most advanced products and services as well as to have highest brand recall of Videocon d2h in the category. It also claims to have the strongest brand equity and the most satisfied customer base.

    Videocon d2h was chosen on the basis of its sales, retail presence, media visibility and other such parameters like best in the market, brand innovation and consistent delivery of good quality of services.

    Speaking on the achievement, Videocon d2h director Saurabh Dhoot said, “It’s a matter of tremendous pride that Videocon d2h has been chosen as ET Best Brands this year. The award is a reflection of our commitment to our customers, and the values followed by Videocon d2h. The recognition further motivates us to constantly innovate and bring new products in the market.”

    Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera CEO added, “We take this opportunity to thank our customers for reaffirming their faith in us. Videocon d2h has been preferred by consumers for its wide range of channels and services offered.  The core values of our brand: innovation, customer centric approach has been recognised by everyone.”

     

  • Samsung launches TVs with inbuilt Airtel Digital TV smart card

    Samsung launches TVs with inbuilt Airtel Digital TV smart card

    MUMBAI: In a tie up with leading electronics giant Samsung, the direct to home (DTH) service from Bharti Airtel: Airtel Digital TV, has launched Integrated Digital TV (iDTV). Through this agreement, Samsung’s range of SmartDirect TVs will come designed with an in-built Airtel Digital TV smart card.

     

    By doing so, the TV will be enabled with DTH signal reception without the need for setting up an external set top box (STB). According to a statement by the company, this iDTV will deliver viewing experience with minimal signal loss and maximum audio and video clarity.

     

    “We at Airtel Digital TV are always looking for new ways to deliver an experience for our customers that is truly innovative and world class. In line with this commitment, we are today excited to announce our collaboration with Samsung to launch the Integrated Digital TV and introduce the Indian market to its next phase of TV viewing experience,” said Bharti Airtel CEO-DTH and media Shashi Arora.

     

    Samsung Electronics chief marketing officer Ranjivjit Singh said, “We are thrilled to partner with Airtel to launch India’s first smart direct TV with an in-built iDTV technology in India. The clutter free, convenient and ultimate viewing experience offered by iDTV showcases Samsung’s commitment to provide consumer-centric products.”

     

    The TV will be powered by a single remote and supports HD. The iDTV set includes the Samsung SmartDirect TV and Airtel Digital TV’s smart card and is available starting at Rs 44,900.

     

    It also has a four month introductory offer of free subscription of Airtel DTH services. Airtel will give two extra months of HD subscription, over and above the one month HD subscription on regular DTH. Samsung will give one month free subscription to all SmartDirect TVs purchased during the launch period (20 August to 31 October) and activated before 15 November as a Diwali promo. Airtel customers can save 10 per cent each month by using Airtel broadband on buying this TV and will get a WiFi router too. The TV however does not restrict users to Airtel DTH. Customers can opt for other services as well.

    The TV can also support ultra HD content, if available. The launch comes just in time with Diwali sale, wherein Samsung is doing the distribution from its end for the TV.

  • Doordarshan to hold e-auction for vacant slots on DD Freedish next week

    Doordarshan to hold e-auction for vacant slots on DD Freedish next week

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan has set a reserve price of Rs 3.7 crore per slot for the 16th online e-auction for filling up slots on Doordarshan’s direct-to-home Freedish platform to be conducted on 28 October.

     
    The e-auction will be conducted by Pune based Synise Technologies on behalf of Prasar Bharati.   

     

    The reserve price in the last e-auction was Rs 3 crore.

     

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar had told indiantelevision.com recently that the aim was to reach the target of 97 channels by October-end and 125 channels by March-end.

    When asked why the number of channels to be e-auctioned had not been disclosed, a Prasar Bharati official told indiantelevision.com that this had been done to prevent bidders forming consortia to bid or resort to other malpractices.
     
    The eligibility terms and conditions including other relevant details for this e-auction are displayed on DD website: www.ddindia.gov.in.
     
    However, the participation amount (EMD) in the e-auction is Rs 1.5 crore which needs to be deposited in advance on or before  27 October evening along with processing fee of Rs 10,000 (Non-refundable) in favour of PB (BCI) Doordarshan Commercial Service, New Delhi.
     
    Applicants have also been asked mandatorily to deposit a Demand Draft of Rs 5,500 registration amount favouring Synise Technologies, payable at Pune at the time of submission of the application.  
    The applicants must provide details of the Uplink/Downlink permission documents received from the concerned ministries with the applications to ensure they are not rejected.
     
    The demand drafts of unsuccessful bidders will be returned immediately or within a week after the e-auction process is completed.