ITV

Category: DTH

  • Sun Direct brings joy this Onam

    Sun Direct brings joy this Onam

    MUMBAI: Sun Direct, the No.1 DTH player in Kerala brings more joy this Onam with the most delightful offers for new and existing customers. Apart from offering the most economic digital connection, Sun Direct has the best of features for customers in Kerala.

     

    Sun Direct offers this Onam:

    • Most economical connection at Rs.1690 with one month subscription free

    • Monthly recharge starting at Rs.143 for Long Duration Recharge

    • 25 Malayalam channels along with popular sports and movie channels

    • Save up to Rs.100 per month compared to the competitions

    • Customers can also avail video recording facility at no additional cost.

    Commenting on this festive offer, Mr. Mahesh Kumar, MD, Sun Direct, said, “Sun Direct has always been in the forefront when it comes to customer satisfaction. Adding value to our subscriber’s entertainment, Sun Direct has put together the best of services for existing and new customers this Onam. By doing away with hidden charges on delayed recharge and recording facility, we hope to keep our customer’s spirit high this festive season.”

    Sun Direct is the only DTH player that has 65 Sunshine service centres in Kerala. Recently, Sun Direct has also introduced the one number solution – 076010 12345 which is a 24 x 7 helpline to have queries addressed in less than 48 hours.

  • Tata Sky Scholarship winners with Chetan Bhagat

    Tata Sky Scholarship winners with Chetan Bhagat

    MUMBAI: The first ever Tata Sky Scholarship Quiz winners were declared and felicitated by Tata Sky today. Winners were presented with scholarship worth Two Lakhs rupees each, by author & motivational speaker Chetan Bhagat and Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Sky.

     

    Tata Sky Scholarship Quiz, was an innovative format that encouraged children to learn from edutainment channels & interactive platforms on Tata Sky, participate through television from the comfort of their homes and get rewarded. Conducted on Independence Day (15th August), the interactive quiz was well received by subscribers from across the country. Prize money worth Twenty Lakh rupees was hand to top 10 winners between the age group of 8 to 18 years. Winners were selected on the criteria of maximum right answers in minimum time taken to answer the 50 questions.

  • 820 UHD channels in world by 2025: Report

    820 UHD channels in world by 2025: Report

    MUMBAI: A new report by research firm Northern Sky Research (NSR) says that by 2025, there will be over 820 ultra HD (UHD) definition satellite channels across the world. This, according to the research, will lead to greater customer retention and higher average revenue per user (ARPUs).

     

    Although every region will be able to have at least a few UHD channels through DTH, IPTV and cable TV, much of it will be provided by DTH operators. It will account for nearly 560 4K and 8K channels while cable TV and IPTV will account for 260+ channels.

     

    NSR analyst Alan Crisp says that while HD TVs remained expensive for several years, the price of 4K TV is eroding very quickly.  This should lead to faster adoption and creation of UHD content. Revenue growth is forecast to reach $370 million from capacity leasing for 4K content. This will be not just in developed but also in developing countries where a few UHD channels could be the difference in attracting subscribers to the tune of tens or even hundreds of thousands even with relatively lower ARPUs.

     

    “In years past, and with previous technological advancements relating to TV content, we have seen a number of hurdles, not least of which has been the prohibitively high cost for end-users to attain TVs suitable for new content. With HD about 15 years ago, this was a major sticking point. Conversely, with UltraHD, this hurdle is eroding quickly, with UHD compatible TV sets reducing in price to as low as $1,000 today”, notes Crisp. “Further, NSR notes that as compared to HDTV, a number of satellite operators and DTH platforms, from regions as diverse as North America to South Asia, are investing heavily in UHD content and UHD compatible set-top boxes”, adds Crisp.

     

    Currently, Videocon d2h and Tata Sky are the only operators in India who have announced their involvement in UHD services that will roll out soon.

     

    In the medium term, it will be a niche market but will soon be mainstream in developed regions. The intense competition in developing countries would mean utilizing UHD as a differentiator.

  • Star, Zee and Viacom 18 among successful bidders for FTA channels on DD Freedish

    Star, Zee and Viacom 18 among successful bidders for FTA channels on DD Freedish

    NEW DELHI: Rishtey owned by Viacom18, Zee Anmol and Star Utsav are among the six slots filled through the 14th online e-auction for the direct-to-home (DTH) service of Doordarshan Freedish conducted on 11 and 12 August.

                                                         

    Doordarshan sources told indiantelevision.com that the slots were auctioned in the range of Rs 4.5 crore to Rs 4.7 crore, while the reserve price had been Rs 3 crore. The other slots went to Big Magic, B4U Music, and Shree News.

     
    The e-Auction was conducted by Synise Technologies, Pune, on behalf of Prasar Bharati.

     
    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar had said earlier this month that the aim was to reach the target of 97 channels by October-end and 125 by March-end.

     

    The participation amount given by the channels had been Rs 1.5 crore which was deposited in advance along with processing fee of Rs 10,000 (non-refundable).

     
    Applicants also deposited a demand draft of Rs 5,500 as registration amount (mandatory) favouring Synise Technologies, payable at Pune at the time of submission of the application.
     

    Prasar Bharati sources said that the demand drafts of unsuccessful bidders were to be returned within a week after the e-auction process was completed. 

  • Tata Sky completes half of its MPEG-4 STB rollout

    Tata Sky completes half of its MPEG-4 STB rollout

    MUMBAI: It was a year ago that Tata Sky decided it would stop depending on the government for giving its additional transponder space and switched to the alternative method of compression that others in the industry had already begun.

     

    A huge order for six million MPEG-4 boxes were given to Broadcom that would mean Tata Sky spending close to Rs 1,000 crore to replace all the initial MPEG-2 boxes that it had seeded at peoples’ home with MPEG-4. A year later, the DTH operator has converted nearly half of its MPEG-2 subscriber base to MPEG-4.

     

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal says, “We have replaced close to three million boxes. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Odia, English, Gujarati and Marathi language channels have already been compressed and boxes have been deployed in the respective areas.” Now, the large Hindi base of north India is left which it says it will soon complete.

     

    With this compression technique, the DTH operator has managed to fit three channels in the space of two in its existing transponder space. Nagpal adds that in the last one year, Tata Sky has added nearly 50 channels.

     

    The cost of this entire exercise is being borne by the operator. Tata Sky’s signals are being beamed off Insat 4A; but it had signed a contract to lease 12 transponders on ISRO’s GSAT-10 satellite around six years ago which have not been delivered to Tata Sky yet, even after the satellite launched in to space in September 2012.

     

    Emergency teams were also brought to seed the large amount of boxes. Tata Sky is continuing to add more channels to its regional packs, despite the fact that it hasn’t got any additional transponder capacity. However, a source from the company says that it has given up hope of having more space. 

     

     

  • Vikram Mehra to quit Tata Sky and join Saregama as MD

    Vikram Mehra to quit Tata Sky and join Saregama as MD

    MUMBAI: He has spent 10 long years at one of the leading DTH companies in India. Now, Tata Sky chief commercial officer (CCO) Vikram Mehra has decided to move on to Saregama.

     

    He will join the company in October as its managing director. The announcement was made by Saregama at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

     

    Mehra had started his career with Tata Consultancy Services and then moved on to Tata Administrative Services, Tata Motors and Star TV. At Tata Sky, he was responsible for subscription revenue management, churn management, brand marketing, new product development, consumer analytics, interactive service operations, consumer research and PR.

     

    According to media reports, his mandate will be to handle the digital platform for Saregama and grow the company in that direction. He has prior experience in the digital medium at Star TV where he worked for four years and led the company to venture into the DTH medium with its JV business Tata Sky.

     

  • E-auction for six DTH slots for DD Free Dish next week

    E-auction for six DTH slots for DD Free Dish next week

    NEW DELHI: The 14th online e-auction for filling up six slots for the direct-to-home (DTH) service of Doordarshan Freedish will be conducted on 11 and 12 August beginning with a reserve price of Rs 3 crore.

     

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

     

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar said earlier this week that the aim was to reach the target of 97 channels by October-end and 125 by March-end.

     

    The eligibility terms and conditions including other relevant details for this e-auction are displayed on DD website: www.ddindia.gov.in.

     

    The participation amount (EMD) is Rs 1.5 crore which will be deposited in advance on or before 11 August by 12:00 noon along with processing fee of Rs 10,000 (Non-refundable) in favour of PB (BCI) Doordarshan Commercial Service, New Delhi.

     

    Applicants have to deposit a Demand Draft of Rs 5,500 as registration amount (mandatory) favouring Synise Technologies, payable at Pune at the time of submission of the application.

     

    The applicants must provide their e-mail address, contact numbers and uplink/downlink permission documents received from the concerned ministries, failing which their application will not be entertained in any case.

     

    The demand drafts of unsuccessful bidders will be returned immediately or within a week after the e-auction process is completed.

  • Dish TV seeks shareholder nod to borrow up to Rs 3000 crore

    Dish TV seeks shareholder nod to borrow up to Rs 3000 crore

    MUMBAI: Dish TV India has 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 ballot that will take place between 8 August and 6 September firstly seeks permission from its shareholders to authorise 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.

     

    Secondly, it seeks to authorise the BOD to create a charge/mortgage on its assets that will aid the borrowings. However, it says it will take care to keep the loan amounts well within the maximum borrowing limits, including all taxes. In an earlier meeting, the BOD had approved of the plan and it is now seeking Dish TV shareholders’ nod for the same.

     

    Additionally, it has sought their go-ahead to allow it to invite companies and individuals to subscribe to its non-convertible debentures (NCDs) through the private placement route. If the resolution is passed – which is quite likely –  it will allow Dish TV India  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. These can be either Indian or foreign and the condition is that no single tranche will be more than Rs 500 crore and will be well within the boundary of the borrowing limit.

     

    Dish TV has informed shareholders that the BOD could take recourse to various instruments such as equity, project loans, corporate loans, bank and financial institutional loans or debentures to raise funds going forward. A right mix of all of these would help it get funding at an optimum cost.  Subject to member approval, the board says it is evaluating  the process of raising money through non convertible debentures on private placement basis.

     

    The last resolution – if pased – will authorise the BOD to make investments/give any loan or guarantee /provide security to any of Dish TV India’s subsidiary/associate companies to the tune of Rs 500 crore. This could be done from time to time and in tranches.  The investments, guarantees and securities are aimed to bring about optimum utilisation of the company’s  funds and achieve long term strategic and business objectives, the Dish TV postal ballot notice to the Bombay stock exchange says. 

     

    The aggregate of the investments that it will make along with the securities that it may provide to a loan taken by a subsidiary/associate company, guarantees and the proposed investments can be more than 60 per cent of the paid up share capital and free reserves and securities premium account or 100 per cent of its free reserves and securities premium account, whichever may be higher.

     

    “Your company has embarked upon a growth path and is constantly reviewing opportunities for expansion of its business operations,” says a note to Dish TV shareholders.

  • Dish Network and A+E sign multi-year contract renewal deal

    Dish Network and A+E sign multi-year contract renewal deal

    MUMBAI: TV viewers in the US will be happy for Dish Network and A+E Networks have decided to continue with their content sharing deal. The duo has agreed to terms for a multi-year contract renewal. With this, Dish customers will have access to A+E Networks’ high-quality content and award-winning programming from its entire portfolio.

     

    This innovative agreement includes OTT multi-stream rights for live and Video-on-Demand (VOD) content. It also expands Dish customers’ access to programming on the satellite service through increased distribution of H2 and FYI in the America’s Top 200 programming package, as well as authenticated live and VOD A+E Networks’ programming on Internet-connected devices.

     

    The renewal applies to the entire suite of A+E Networks’ channels, among the top brands in the media landscape, including: A&E, Lifetime, History, LMN, FYI, H2, History en Espa?ol, Crime + Investigation and Military History.

     

    “I am pleased to call A+E Networks an innovative partner in developing this wide-ranging, creative agreement that will help to define the future of TV,” said Dish president and CEO Joseph P. Clayton through a statement. “Together we are enhancing the customer experience with fresh, dynamic programming that Dish customers will be able to watch when and how they prefer,” he added.

     

    The new OTT rights allow access to A+E Networks’ content through a future multi-stream subscription service of linear and VOD content. With this capability, the content will be available to an untapped segment of customers that is seeking a flexible, content-driven and internet-accessible service.

     

    “We have had a great partnership with Dish for many years and we are delighted that this renewal will carry our partnership well into the future,” said A+E Networks president and CEO Nancy Dubuc. “We are thrilled that Dish’s valued customers will be able to enjoy A+E Networks’ award-winning portfolio of brands across their multiple platforms. We continue to grow and make significant investments in new brands, and as such, we’re particularly pleased with the expanded distribution of FYI and H2.”

     

    The renewal also expands the authenticated A+E Networks programming available to Dish customers at home or on-the-go via internet-connected devices – televisions, computers, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and other devices. Dish customers will be able to use the Dish Anywhere app, dishanywhere.com or A+E Networks’ web properties and apps to view live, VOD and full-season content.

  • APAC digital subscribers to reach 503 million by 2018: MPA

    APAC digital subscribers to reach 503 million by 2018: MPA

    MUMBAI: Media Partners Asia (MPA) has come out with its report on the Asia Pacific pay-TV and broadband market for the next five years. It predicts that DTH satellite pay-TV customers in Asia are expected to grow from 56.3 million in 2013 to more than 110 million by 2018, a CAGR of 14 per cent.

     

    The report titled ‘Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2014’ states that by 2023, DTH’s share of the total pay-TV market will nearly double to 24 per cent as the customer base reaches 150.4 million. Meanwhile, HD DTH subscribers will increase from 10.4 million in 2013 to 37.3 million by 2023, driven by high growth in India and China as well as steady growth in Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.

     

    DTH subscription revenue is expected to grow at a five year CAGR of 9 per cent to $ 12.3 billion by 2018 and $ 15.2 billion by 2023. It also predicts that the market for DTH pay-TV will further consolidate as growth converges across fewer operators in markets such as India and Indonesia. In markets such as Thailand, DTH pay-TV is struggling as free DTH services have started to breed, penetrating 60 per cent TV homes. One such is Free Dish that will prove to be important to digitisation in rural and smaller towns.

     

    The APAC pay-TV market will grow at a 10 per cent CAGR between 2013 and 2018. This will be enhanced by the subscriber jump from 312 million in 2013 to 503 million by 2018 while digital penetration of pay-TV homes expands from 62 per cent to 83 per cent.

     

    Commenting on the findings, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “We see operating leverage growing for market leaders in India, Indonesia and Malaysia in particular as well as long-term upside from strategic recalibration in Australia and New Zealand. Better monetisation in the Philippines should help the market leader properly scale its DTH business and take it to the next level. We also predict incremental growth and value in Vietnam.”

     

    The report states that among maturing markets, Malaysia is a leader with Astro as one of the most innovative operators in the world, good at increasing both subscriber growth and ARPUs as well as investing in product innovation. DTH ops in Australia and Japan continue to face headwinds. Hybrid DTH-IPTV distribution has helped sustain KT SkyLife’s proposition in Korea.

     

    In India, broadband is a long term consideration even though all the top four DTH operators are looking at mobile partnerships and wireless broadband strategies.

     

    IP-based distribution and broadband delivery is a challenge for DTH networks which are adapting to these realities to reduce long-term challenges. In Korea, the KT SkyLife combination retails triple play services. In Indonesia, MNC group that owns MNC Sky Vision (MNCSV) plans to rollout a bundle of IPTV and fiber-based broadband services and merge them with MNCSV.  In Malaysia, Astro has adapted to IPTV partnerships but with slow progress. In Philippines, Cignal has also embraced hybrid IP delivery.