Brands

Keep your brand ‘Top of Mind’ with DTH advertising

Published

4 years ago

February 25, 2022

Mumbai: As the home to nearly 68.89 million active direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers, India has witnessed significant growth in DTH advertising. With this top DTH service providers like Tata Play are also ramping up their game as an effective ad medium for brands.

According to an expert from the marketing and communications industry, presently 30-35 brands out of 50 prefer DTH to advertise their products and services.

Interestingly, the medium has attracted brands across categories, from banking giants like SBI and Axis Bank to the leading automobile brands like BMW and Honda.

Realme, who partnered with Tata Play, formerly Tata Sky, for advertising, sees DTH as a traditional advertising medium with high potential to connect the brand to communicate with audiences in tier 2 and 3 areas.

From providing direct entry to homes and enabling them to deliver messages to their target audiences, DTH has emerged as an effective communication channel for brands to enjoy top-of-mind recall.

“It’s the opportunities and advantages of DTH that has attracted the retailers to advertise on this powerful medium,” said AliveNow founder & CEO Advith Dhuddhu. “At the same time, DTH is highly clutter-free and provides exclusive space to the advertisers to engage their target audience.”

While ads on digital platforms lose exclusivity due to distraction, DTH helps deliver targeted messages. It allows brands to connect with their audience when in a happy environment, mostly when they’re calmly sitting and watching TV at their homes.

At the same time, the attention span on DTH ad mediums is higher. Patanjali Ayurved COO-media & communications Anita Nayyar feels that DTH as an option that helps unmissable attention from the audience will always be sought after by brands.

DTH’s growth as an advertising medium

However, DTH has not suddenly become a popular platform for advertising but has been relevant ever since its inception. If we look back to 2010, when DTH subscribers were barely half of the present number, the platform was still seen as a strong advertising medium among retail brands. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that DTH has always been among the top choices of media planners, according to experts.

Over the years, DTH has developed its own set of audiences which makes DTH advertising an interesting option, noted Nayyar.

She credited the present growth of DTH advertising mediums to the halt on other major advertising platforms due to the pandemic. For instance, the consumption of newspapers fell during the first lockdown, so did print advertising. But television still registered 9-10 per cent growth, which is evident for the growth of DTH too.

How did DTH platforms level up the game?

DTH companies are also doing their bit to harness the medium’s potential. For instance, Tata Play, with over 23 million connections has had associations with more than 100+ brands, including Swiggy, RealMe, Lotus Herbal, over the past 15-18 months. Buoyed by the advertisers’ response, Tata Play has rolled out various mediums for advertising over the last few years.

This is not it, Tata Play advertising medium has a whopping reach to over 80 million individuals, which makes it a favorite of brands. The platform offers multiple ad mediums to brands to connect directly with the viewers.

S&S banner is a notable ad medium by Tata Play. The S&S banner appears on the screen every time the channel is swapped. It provides the advertisers an exclusive presence for a minimum of one hour – appearing on every channel swap. It also ensures an average of 35 million impressions delivered on any time band! Over time, many brands have come forward to reap benefits from its S&S banner ad medium. From Paytm to Realme and from Honda to Swiggy, brands across the spectrum have been leveraging this feature with great interest.

The ad medium also turned out to be very effective for the financial sector. For instance, The State Bank of India, which is known for its strategic marketing, collaborated with Tata Play in the festive season.

According to The State Bank Of India VP- media strategy & operations Shweta Sinha enhancing visibility and evoking recognition with a niche audience is an advantage that the bank eyes on while advertising on DTH. “For instance, Tata Play’s S&S banner is a great platform to inform consumers about a new product/service launch, with its clutter-free delivery of the brand message,” said Sinha.

The State Bank of India leveraged this feature for the Yono Shopping Festival which is targeted to a particular segment with superlative offers and discounts. “Advertising on Tata Play helped us to get a very high reach build up with effective results, making our campaign a success. At the same time, the S & S banner helped us to mark our presence in every DTH household. As our campaign was about a festive sale, we had a very crisp message to deliver- the date of sales and the discount offers, thereby S&S banner turned out as a best-suited platform for our campaign,” added Sinha.

Axis bank too collaborated with Tata Play to leverage the benefits of S&S banner medium. With this, it is quite evident that DTH advertising is significantly booming in the BFSI sector too.

Another brand, which rolled out its campaign on S&S banner said DTH was a perfect choice for the campaign, which was targeted to the Indian middle-class household who spends a significant amount of time watching television. “We rolled out the campaign at a time when the entire nation was under lockdown, and other advertising mediums like OOH became immaterial. We also realised that our targeted households spend two to three hours on television every day so we decided to not opt for any other medium and go with DTH,” said the brand’s spokesperson.

DTH also provides ample advantages over other advertising mediums in terms of cost. The ad rates for advertising on other mediums are skyrocketing when compared to the advertising expenditures on a DTH service. Nayyar also feels that DTH will remain in the race, co-existing alongside other options.

As far as cable TV is concerned, which happens to be a direct competition to the DTH, operators like Tata Play offer audience measurement and monitoring, giving brands the confidence to invest ad money than cable.

Sharing her thoughts on the future of DTH Ad mediums, Nayyar said, studying and working from home is a new normal, as long as these phenomena are prevalent, the relevance of DTH will continue to rise at a high pace.

The time is now for the brands that have not yet taken the DTH route. As experts believe it to grow even bigger in the coming years, reap the benefits for your business.

Up Next

Oppo launches new film with Ranbir Kapoor for Reno7 Pro

Don't Miss

Airtel acquires strategic stake in blockchain company Aqilliz

Click to comment

Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

Brands

BCCL profit jumps 53 per cent in FY25 as tax bill shrinks

Revenue rises 4.3 per cent to Rs 10,209.33 crore while deferred tax gain lifts bottom line sharply

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: Bennett, Coleman and Company (BCCL) has posted a sparkling set of financial results for the year ended 31 March 2025, proving that there is still plenty of ink and gold left in the ledger.

Revenue from operations climbed a steady 4.3 per cent, reaching Rs 10,209.33 crore compared to Rs 9,786.44 crore the previous year. When you sprinkle in other income, which rose 8.9 per cent to Rs 949.36 crore, the total income for the media behemoth hit a healthy Rs 11,158.69 crore.

While the income grew at a modest pace, the bottom line tells a far more dramatic story. The real headline is the 53 per cent surge in annual profit. How did they pull off such a feat? While Profit Before Tax (PBT) saw a gentle nudge upward of 2.7 per cent to Rs 1,610.00 crore, it was a vanishing act by the taxman that really did the trick.

Total tax expenses plummeted by 32.4 per cent, dropping from Rs 468.76 crore down to Rs 316.97 crore. This was largely thanks to a swing in deferred tax, moving from an expense of Rs 156.02 crore in FY24 to a benefit of Rs 39.44 crore this year.

Total income rose from Rs 10,658.55 crore in FY24 to Rs 11,158.69 crore in FY25, marking a 4.7 per cent increase. Total expenses grew at a slower pace, up 3.0 per cent from Rs 9,306.06 crore to Rs 9,581.45 crore. Profit before tax inched up 2.7 per cent, moving from Rs 1,567.02 crore to Rs 1,610.00 crore. However, the standout figure was net profit, which jumped sharply by 53.0 per cent, climbing from Rs 1,042.03 crore in FY24 to Rs 1,594.73 crore in FY25.

Despite the rising costs of doing business across the globe, BCCL kept a tight grip on the purse strings. Total expenses rose by just 3.0 per cent to Rs 9,581.45 crore. By keeping costs lower than the rate of income growth, the company ensured that the final figure, a net profit of Rs 1,594.73 crore, was nothing short of a front-page sensation.

In a world of shifting digital tides, it seems the BCCL ship is not just steady, but sailing into significantly wealthier waters.