ITV

Category: DTH

  • Videocon d2h plans to launch IPO by Feb 2015

    Videocon d2h plans to launch IPO by Feb 2015

    MUMBAI: A few days ago, Videocon d2h files paper with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise Rs 700 crore through an initial public offering (IPO).
    Rs 350 crore will be used to acquire STBs, outdoor units and accessories from TEL, a Videocon Group entity and Rs 175 crore to repay debt.

     

    In a recent interview to CNBC TV18, Videocon Industries CMD Venugopal Dhoot has said that it will launch the IPO in the first quarter of 2015.

     

    “We hope to launch it in January or February maximum, market is good and Videocon d2h has been number one since beginning in customer acquisition from where it started and now it has become number one in customer acquisition,” he said adding that it is looking at doubling its subscriber base within five years. Dhoot highlighted that it currently has 9 million subscribers but will soon become a ‘super profitable company’.

     

    Dhoot also said that the average revenue per user (ARPU) of Videocon d2h was the same as Dish TV, but a little less than Tata Sky. While speaking at a session at indiantelevision.com’s IDOS 2014, Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera had said that its ARPU in phase III and phase IV cities have touched Rs 220.

     

    This is Videocon’s second attempt at the IPO. It had got SEBI’s approval in 2012 but didn’t go ahead with it due to unfavourable market conditions. Seven banks including UBS, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets, Yes Bank, IDBI Capital are managing the share sale.

     

    The company is also considering a preferential issue of up to 5,000,000 equity shares, aggregating up to Rs 50 crore with certain investors.

  • Dish TV leverages sports channels to push HD packs

    Dish TV leverages sports channels to push HD packs

    MUMBAI: With festive fervor just around the corner, India’s oldest DTH operator Dish TV has decided to make the most of the season. New packs have been introduced for north India with special variants for south India.

     

    A recent study done by Dish TV showed that HD was a big necessity and an increasing number of people were keen to take sports channels. “Even if multi screen viewing is on the rise, HD is going to be big. So we tweaked and introduced flexible packs. Sports is picking not just due to cricket but also events such as Asian Games, Olympics, Kabaddi and Football,” says Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor speaking to indiantelevision.com. Consumers have the choice to opt for HD packs with channels that may not be in the base SD pack.

     

    The operator has laid stress on sports in every level for SD packs. It has a total of 36 HD channels with several additions coming in after it got its additional transponder space early this year. Dish TV claims that it provides more sports content at every price point. The HD boost is also being backed by the uptake of HD TV sets during Diwali. The new packs have been introduced a month ago and Kapoor says that the growth has been ‘multifold’.

     

    While regional channels that are available in HD will be on Dish TV, its second brand Zing does not have an HD side to it. Kapoor says it would like to keep its HD audience to stay with Dish TV. The HD focus will be primarily in the metros. However, a plus point is that it provides the feature of inbuilt recorder in every HD STB, without any additional cost.

     

    The packs available are:

     

    Game on HD at Rs 125 (sports and Hindi entertainment)

    Life on HD at Rs 175 (English entertainment with sports and Hindi entertainment)

    Full on HD at Rs 200 (entertainment)

    Sports packs include:

     

    Maxi pack at Rs 275 (six sports channels)

    All sports at Rs 320 (maximum 11 sports channels)

    Platinum Sports at Rs 440 (English, Hindi, Sports, Lifestyle and Infotainment

     

    The HD channels include Ten HD, Six HD, Star Sports HD 1, Star Sports HD 2, Baby TV HD, AXN, Movies Now HD, Star Movies HD, Star World HD, WB HD, Zee Studio HD, Fox Crime, FX, Zee Café, Sony Pix HD, Life OK HD, Star Gold HD, Star Plus HD, Zee Cinema HD, Zee TV HD, Sony HD, &Pictures HD, Dish Box Office, Animal Planet HD World, Discovery HD World, NGC Wild HD, Nat Geo HD, Discovery Science, Nat Geo People HD, TLC HD World, Fox Life HD, NGC Music, M Tunes HD, Travel XP HD and ET Now.

  • Tata Sky revives Indian poetry with Javed Akhtar

    Tata Sky revives Indian poetry with Javed Akhtar

    MUMBAI: In yet another first, Tata Sky, the leading DTH player today at a literature rendezvous announced the launch of Actve Javed Akhtar service in partnership with Javed Akhtar, one of the finest lyricists of India. This innovative service gives Tata Sky subscribers an opportunity to experience the rich and classic poetic culture with an unconventional and modern approach.

     

    This interactive platform will have Javed Akhtar describing the true essence of some of the most beautifully penned shayaris and dohas of yesteryears, reminding us of its relevance and definition in context to our lives today.This conversational format with Javed Akhtar is followed by shayaris and dohas sung by contemporary artists such as Tochi Raina, Roop Kumar Rathod, Shweta Pandit, Aakriti Kakkar, Abhijit Pohankar and many more.

     

    Apart from the video format, the interactive service will also allow viewers to learn meaning of various Urdu & Sanskrit words used in the Dohas and Shayari with the help of the built-in On-demand option. Thus aiding subscribers in comprehension & enhancing vocabulary.

     

    At the launch, Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Sky said:“Actve Javed Akhtar will enable our audience to relive and learn from the eons of classic Indian poetry with a contemporary touch. We hence associated with Javed Akhtar, who will walk us through centuries of soulful shayaris and dohas.” 

     

    Tata Sky prides in being the preferred DTH player with a list of popular interactive services as part of their offerings. Actve Javed Akhtar will be another innovative feather in the cap of Tata Sky. This interactive service is available on a monthly subscription and can be availed by a simple SMS (‘Javed’ to 56633) or missed call (076791 76791).

     

    Commenting on his association, Mr. Javed Akhtar said, “I am pleased to collaborate with Tata Sky in their endeavor to bring back the essence of our literature. This is a project which is very close to my heart as it resonates my love for the subject. The service revolves around the golden shayaris and dohas of Galib, Mir, Kabeer, Rahim and many more, which will continue to appeal to the people regardless of the constant changes that take place in today’ world.”

     

    Tata Sky has partnered with Insync (India’s first 24×7 Classical Based Music Television Channel) to collaborate with composers and 50 singers (fresh talent as well as renowned artists) to create original songs for the service, Actve Javed.

     

    A glimpse of the interactive service:

     

    Doha  – http://youtu.be/AuhUiL0TpDE

     

    Shayari – http://youtu.be/422WwmoeLAQ

  • Videocon d2h files for IPO to raise Rs 700 crore

    Videocon d2h files for IPO to raise Rs 700 crore

    MUMBAI: For the past couple of years, the stockmarkets have been going through rough weather dampening an entrepreneur’s desire to raise funds through the initial public offering (IPO) route. With a new government in place, and optimism returning, the queue has once again started being formed outside the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) of those going in for IPOs. Shemaroo Entertainment earlier this month approached the public and now it is the turn of the  direct to home (DTH) service provider Videocon d2h which has finally made its filing with Sebi to raise Rs 700 crore.

     

    This is the second time the firm has proposed to go public. It had previously filed documents in December 2012 and had received a go ahead from SEBI but did not go ahead with the public float.

     

    Seven banks – including UBS, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets, Yes Bank, IDBI Capital will manage the share sale.

     

    As per the statement issued by the company, “The price band and the minimum bid lot will be decided by our company in consultation with the joint global coordinators and book running lead managers.”

     

    The company is also considering a preferential issue of up to 5,000,000 Equity Shares, aggregating up to Rs 50 crore with certain investors.

     

    “Our Company will complete the issuance and allotment of Equity Shares pursuant to the Pre-IPO Placement, if any, prior to the filing of the Red Herring Prospectus with the RoC. If the Pre-IPO Placement is completed, the Issue size will be reduced to the extent of such Pre-IPO Placement, subject to the issue size constituting at least 10 per cent of the post-Issue paid-up Equity Share capital of our Company,” the notice also stated.

     

    The company plans to spend a portion of the Net Proceeds of the issue towards acquisition of set-top boxes, outdoor units and accessories thereof from TEL, a Videocon Group entity.

     

    “We propose to utilise Rs 350.83 crore of the Net Proceeds towards acquisition of set-top boxes and outdoor units from TEL,” the statement added.

     

    The company is also looking to spend Rs 175 crore of the net proceeds to repay loans. “We may utilise a part of the Net Proceeds to repay/prepay certain term loan facilities availed from IDBI Bank Limited and ICICI Bank Limited, which are associates of the JGCBRLMs, IDBI Capital and I-Sec, respectively, and YES Bank, one of our JGCBRLMs.”  The amount left will be used for other general corporate purposes.

     

    The company commenced DTH operations in July 2009 and has grown its subscriber base from 0.44 million gross subscribers as of 31 March 2010, to 11.21 million gross subscribers, as of 30 June 2014, which represents approximately 16.2 per cent of the total DTH subscriber base in India.

     

    For the first quarter of 2015 the company has approximately 27 per cent incremental market share of the DTH subscriber base in India.

     

    The total income of the organisation for the three months ended 30 June 2014 was Rs 537.7 crore, during which time it generated net loss of Rs 78.15 crore. The firm has clocked a net loss of Rs 2,126 crore over the last five years.

  • Tata Sky targets south India during festive season

    Tata Sky targets south India during festive season

    MUMBAI: Last year, DTH operator Tata Sky ventured into the Malayalam market by getting Mohanlal on board as its brand ambassador. Now, it has targeted all the remaining three states in one go in its bid to expand in the south of India.

     

    The DTH operator has signed on Tollywood star Mahesh Babu to represent the brand in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Sudeep for Karnataka. It has refrained from signing one for Tamil Nadu but has refreshed its push with a new TVC campaign.

     

    ‘Better kante best’ is the tagline being used in Telugu to proclaim its 23 Telugu channels along with knowledge, English and Hindi news channels in the base pack. Babu will propagate this tag line through his TVCs.

     

    The ad campaign featuring Sudeep is built on the premise that people have gotten used to adjusting to things in life but with Tata Sky’s offerings, there is no need to compromise while choosing its STB. Sudeep will enhance this ‘no compromise’ theme in his TVCs.

     

    Kannada viewers will have 14 local channels along with knowledge and English news channels in the base pack.

     

    For Tamil Nadu customers, an advertising campaign will be activated across TV, print, outdoor and online media by conveying the message to Tamil customers who make purchases after careful evaluation that Tata Sky will be their preferred choice due to its quality. With packs starting at Rs 180, new connections will get the Tamil language pack free along with the base pack.

     

    The TVC campaign states ‘Ovvoru vishaiyathaiyum alasi aranju mudivu panravunga, set top box-inu varumbodhu kandippa Tata Sky-dhan choose pannuvanga!” (Those who decide everything after careful evaluation, choose a Tata Sky set top box).

     

    Customers of the southern states can avail an offer of an additional regional pack free for one whole year.

     

    The customer case service has been strengthened with additional call centre support, on-ground manpower and trained personnel to deal with increasing enquiries during the upcoming festive season.

     

  • Videocon d2h adds two new Odia channels

    Videocon d2h adds two new Odia channels

    MUMBAI: Videocon d2h, one of Asia’s promising brand and fastest growing Direct to Home (DTH) service has now added two Odia channels, Kanak TV and Zee Kalinga on its platform.

     

    The two channels are available in the basic pack ‘Super Gold’ onwards.  With addition of these two Odia channels, Videocon d2h will now offer 13 Odia channels and services.  The DTH operator offers 500 channels and services, 29 Asli “HD” channels and 240 regional channels and services.

     

    Videocon d2h’s product portfolio includes direct to mobile TV, your personal-TV app. This app can convert your mobile into a TV, and the app can be downloaded from Android Google play store. It is also the first to test and preview the 4K Ultra HD DTH capability in India and will be launching the services soon.

     

    The DTH operator also provides 24×7 round-the-clock prompt and efficient customer support in eight languages using dedicated customer care teams present in six locations.

     

                   

     

  • Dish TV gets shareholder assent to borrow up to Rs 3000 crore

    Dish TV gets shareholder assent to borrow up to Rs 3000 crore

    MUMBAI: Dish TV India, on 8 August, had called on its shareholders to participate in a postal ballot to decide a few key decisions which will help it rev up its business going forward. The company announced that majority of its stakeholders have approved the resolutions.

     

    They have authorised the board of directors (BOD) to borrow up to Rs 3000 crore over and above the company’s paid up share capital and free reserves. This was passed as a special resolution under Section 180{1) (c) of the Companies Act, 2013 and 98 per cent of the total voters were in favour.

     

    It also authorises the BOD to create a charge/mortgage on its assets that will aid the borrowings. This was passed as a special resolution under Section 180{1) (c) of the Companies Act, 2013 and 98 per cent of the total voters were in favour. Out of 87 crore, only 1.6 crore voters weren’t in agreement with this resolution.

     

    Additionally, the postal ballot result also allows the BOD to offer or invite for subscription of non-convertible debentures (NCD) on private placement basis up to Rs 500 crore. This move will allow the company to make offers within one year seeking subscription for secured and/or unsecured, redeemable NCDs in one or more series/tranches/currencies to persons such as FIIs, mutual funds, banks, body corporate, persons etc. For this resolution, 98 per cent of 87 crore voters were in conformity.

     

    Finally, the last resolution authorises the BOD for making investment/giving any loan or guarantee/providing security up to Rs 500 crore. The investments, guarantees and securities will bring about optimum utilisation of the company’s funds and achieve long term strategic and business objective. Of 87 crore voters, only 2 crore weren’t in agreement.

     

    The postal ballot took place between 8 August and 6 September. On 22 July 2014, BOD had approved the postal ballot notice and postal ballot form for seeking consent on important matters.

  • Going FTA suits most broadcasters and advertisers

    Going FTA suits most broadcasters and advertisers

    MUMBAI: With increasing number of channels in the country, much of the interior towns have found solace in having free-to-air (FTA) channels. Doordarshan’s own Direct to Home (DTH) service Freedish has found 12 million active subscribers in the interior parts of the country with its list of FTA channels.

     

    Discussing the FTA market were MCCS India CEO Ashok Venkatramani, TAM Media Research LV Krishnan, Zee Entertainment Enterprises chief content and creative officer Bharat Ranga, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) CEO Tarun Katial and RK Swamy Media group senior VP K Satyanarayana. The session was moderated by Chrome Data Analytics and Media Pankaj Krishna.

     

    Krishna started off by asking Satyanarayana if advertisers are monetising the platform to which he said that Freedish has very few satellite channels and it is not necessary to look at FTA channels particularly for media planning. However, he stated that research shows that Freedish is able to add 10 per cent incremental reach so it has more monetisation scope.

     

    Venkatramani heads three channels under the ABP brand name which hasn’t yet gone pay and in fact isn’t available on Freedish either. He said, “We haven’t gone pay because the ecosystem doesn’t allow us to do so. The price at which we sell channels to MSOs is not in our hands. Freedish is too expensive and cost per household is Rs 30.” FTA channels depend heavily on advertising revenue and according to Venkatramani, this is not sustainable and he doesn’t see any incremental reach happening in the news genre.

     

    Krishna questioned LV Krishnan on how TAM ensured fair representation from houses which were either metre dark or power dark. To which Krishnan said that the important metric is to see who the consumer is. “Is this consumer accepting FTA channels because he is economically unable to graduate to pay? What is the value of this customer for targeting advertising? And is it financially viable to create content especially for this industry?” he questioned. The positive points of this market, according to him, is that this audience doesn’t have any distraction and so time available for entertainment is higher than urban audiences. But the issue they face is frequent power cuts.

     

    Katial said that in its studies, RBNL has found that the northern market is less penetrated as compared to south or east but it needs a unique distribution for which Freedish fits perfectly. “Many advertisers will pay the delta for it whether it is FMCG or Telecom. Metros are fragmented while these markets have low penetration,” he said.

     

    Zee Anmol is Zee’s FTA channel that shows handpicked content from its channels. Ranga pointed out that a lot of marketwise and platform-wise research is done before deciding which content from its flagship channel Zee TV will work for this audience rather than just replicating the entire set of shows. He also feels that in future there will be three modes- FTA, pay and premium and soon Freedish will also offer pay channels. “Distribution will be far more competitive in the next 10 years. Currently, there isn’t much difference between FTA and Rs 200 for all channels. In future the gap will be large,” he said adding that he expects average revenue per user (ARPU) to rise up to Rs 1500 to Rs 2000.

     

    While geotargetted advertising is on the rise, Katial feels that is it more suitable for large MSOs and Freedish can’t do it. But the real winning situation will be when the ad cap regulation is resolved. “Today a radio station in Mumbai takes more ad rate than a national news channel,” he informed.

     

    Ranga said that when a new channel enters the market it can start off as FTA and then convert to pay, which is what Zee does. Krishnan highlighted that the audience doesn’t care about platform but about content. This was emphasised by Satyanarayana as well that the advertisers look at the audience and not the platform. FTA is not actually FTA, because the customer is paying money for the carrier’s bandwidth. In the future, advertising will be aligned either to content, such as in-branding or to the carrier.

     

    Katial shared the data that across Europe, there is the phenomenon of cord cutting at the rate of 5-10 per cent every month and every year and then going FTA.

     

    Krishnan shared data that according to their research, while five years ago 4.5 to 5 members of a home were watching at the same time, this has dropped to 3.8 today. However, the repeat gets about 1.5 members. “Broadcasters have started segmenting by ensuring repeats to cater to various age groups,” he informed.

     

    So while the FTA market has begun in India, it remains to be seen where it will finally head.

  • Dish TV’s Zing now targets Telugu viewers

    Dish TV’s Zing now targets Telugu viewers

    MUMBAI: After making inroads into West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura and Maharashtra, Dish TV’s regional targeted brand Zing Digital has now made its presence in the Telugu market of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

     

    38 Telugu channels and services and over 100 channels will be available for selection with packs starting at Rs 99 per month. This is the maximum number of channel for any state till now.

     

    Speaking on the development, Dish TV India COO Salil Kapoor said, “Zing is our unique initiative where a complete new brand is being launched to address this need for regional content. Now not only will packages cater to specific audiences across states, but even communication will be in the customer’s language of choice. Zing will address this need and provide maximum available regional content to viewers through exciting packs as compared to other DTH brands.” Therefore, customers will have a dedicated Telugu call centre and local dealers to help solve their issues.

     

    A consumer demographic study conducted by them has indicated that a large segment of TV viewers from medium and small town prefer content from their own region. Which is why Dish TV has ventured into creating this sub brand.

     

    Four packs have been offered:

     

    -Namaskaram Pack that 16 Telugu channels for Rs 99.

     

    -Shubharam pack that has maximum Telugu channels and Hindi entertainment for Rs 165.

     

    -Kridangam pack which will cater to sports lovers for Rs 199.

     

    -Utsawam pack with sports, English entertainment and 38 Telugu channels and services for Rs 349.

     

    Dish TV is looking at acquiring a decent amount of subscribers from the large analogue market in the state into first time digital subscribers. As per a TRAI report, Andhra Pradesh has the highest cable TV homes in India at 15 per cent of the total cable TV homes.

  • Tata Sky’s celebrity association: Key to increasing sales

    Tata Sky’s celebrity association: Key to increasing sales

    MUMBAI: ‘Isko laga dala toh life jingalala’ was one line that caught the attention of the entire country. To add to it, DTH operator Tata Sky got on board Bollywood celebrity Aamir Khan to endorse the product in his inimitable style. Last year, it took a u-turn to the south and roped in Kerala film star Mohanlal to do the trick in the Malayalam market and recently it tapped into the north east section of the country with popular singer Papon.

    While Khan endorsed the product years ago, Mohanlal was taken up only last year and Papon was roped in during the 2014 FIFA World Cup to send the message of Tata Sky into areas where it hasn’t gained traction. Mohanlal was used extensively across the state through TVCs, van activations and outdoor hoardings. “We wanted to tell that Tata Sky is as much a Malayalam brand as it is in other parts of the country. So we wanted a name that would connect not just with the audience but with the brand offering as well.  We had Mohanlal speak to the family audience after he tested our product and approved its quality,” says Tata Sky CCO Vikram Mehra.

    Simultaneously it launched 19 Malayalam channels and set up sales and services structure in the state including 3000 dealers across 10 districts along with service partners and call centre executives trained in the local language. The perception of the brand was that it had less Malayalam channels and poor infrastructure. The TVC with Mohanlal sought to communicate a new message- ‘there can be arguments on many things but no arguments on our set top boxes’. A year on, Mehra says that its sales in the area have multiplied by 800 per cent.

    Taking advantage of the FIFA fever in June 2014, Tata Sky went ahead and introduced HD and personal video recorder (PVR) along with its latest innovation of streaming Tata Sky channels on the laptop. “With these products, we wanted to associate with someone who could talk to the youth segment,” says Mehra. Hence, popular singer Papon’s photo was spread across print, outdoor and digital with a lot of stress on the former.

    The result was a 110 per cent increase in sales in the seven sister states with a lot of it coming from its laptop viewing service. Phone and iPad service did not pick up well.

    Soon, the operator is looking to unite itself with two more personalities. “We will be making an announcement soon regarding two other south Indian markets,” says Mehra.

    This apart, Tata Sky also undertakes several associations for its ‘home’ channel, targeting markets at a time. The personalities roped in for promotion of the home channel include former cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu and actors Nina Gupta and Richa Chadda. According to Mehra, personalities are used depending on the market, the product and whether there is a need for a famous face to be associated with the product.

    Several researches are conducted for particular markets as well as on a regular basis. Regular research is done with GFK Mode and Nielsen as and when required. “I personally visit 300 customer homes every year for feedback,” says Mehra. The core team of 14 people ensures that every month 3 million Tata Sky homes are reached out to, to know their feedback on its services.

    Surveys are conducted for all states individually every month and the market is analysed over two or three years. Simultaneously its product offerings are also studied in terms of consumer reception.

    This involves third party agencies reaching out to random sample size of people who are ready to buy a DTH set top box and ask them which brand will they buy and why? This is termed as ‘intention to buy score’. The measurement is done comparing ‘intention to buy score’ to the actual sale in that area.

    Similarly, Tata Sky also introduced six new Odiya channels to promote that it is not only great in customer service but also its channel offerings.

    A few years ago, this wouldn’t have been so easy, since it hadn’t been getting the additional transponder space from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). But now that has been overcome by using MPEG-4 technology compression.