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Tag: Airtel Digital

  • HD, premium channels, VAS help increase ARPUs for DTH: FICCI-KPMG

    HD, premium channels, VAS help increase ARPUs for DTH: FICCI-KPMG

    The growth of average revenue per user (ARPU) in the Direct To Home (DTH) sector continues, even as digital cable is still struggling to roll out channel packages. As per the FICCI- KPMG 2015 report, due to sustained increase in ARPU, the sector had a healthy revenue growth despite a muted subscriber addition in 2014.

     

    In 2014, DTH operators saw an increase of around 12 to 15 per cent in ARPUs. While some of the ARPU increase was driven by DTH operators’ ability to continue to push price hikes (there was a price increase in April 2014 of an approximate eight to nine per cent), the more promising trend is that DTH operators were able to increase collections from customers by providing additional services such as High Definition (HD) channels, premium channels and other value added services (VAS).

     

    As phase III and IV of digitisation draws near, the battle will be closely contested by MSOs and DTH operators. In phase I and II, DTH operators managed to gain 20 to 30 per cent of the subscriber base converting to digital. Two factors, namely an inherent technology advantage and stronger balance sheets, will give DTH players the bonus advantage to take on MSOs, especially the smaller players, in the year ahead. However, in order to gain a bigger piece of the pie, they will have to re-jig their channel packages, in sparsely populated areas so that it becomes affordable for subscribers in Phase III and IV.

     

    Dish TV’s sub-brand Zing is all set to tackle digital cable players at the regional level. The brand addresses various linguistic needs of subscribers and offers regional specific channels as part of all available packs, while the other channels can be added based on the customer’s choice. It has been launched West Bengal, Tripura, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

     

    When one compares Zing’s package prices, they are cheaper than those of digital cable. For example, the base package of Zing costs Rs 99 per month versus Rs 220 per month for digital cable. Its mid level package carries a price tag of Rs 249 versus Rs 270 per month for digital cable. Besides the content, even the advertising and other marketing activities are done in the regional languages, while customer support services will be at the local level through trade partners, similar to the cable TV model.

     

    While digital cable operators are still grappling with securing their business model right, DTH operators have focused on increasing monetisation by providing additional value to their subscribers either through innovative services or STBs, such as those with unlimited recording and technology revolution like 4K.

     

    According to the report, there are four million HD subscribers, accounting for 10 per cent of all DTH subscribers, while 15 to 20 per cent of incremental subscribers in 2014 were HD subscribers. HD adoption continues to drive ARPU growth for DTH players with the average ARPU of a HD subscriber at an approximate 1.5 to 2x the ARPU of a non-HD subscriber.

     

    Compared to 6.5 million units of panel television sets (LCD, LED and plasma TVs) sold in 2013 in India, eight million units were expected to be sold in 2014, of which 55 per cent was expected to have been HD panel TV sales. The share of HD and 4K TV sales is expected to further increase over the next five years, reaching 80 per cent by 2019. While HD adoption will continue to be a key growth driver for DTH ARPUs over the next few years, adoption of 4K STBs is expected to pick up in India, though lack of 4K content can be a major problem.

     

    Currently only Videocon d2h and Tata Sky offer 4K services. Live sports action is expected to be one of the enablers of HD adoption, with the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, likely to be a key trigger in 2015.

     

    All major DTH operators namely Tata Sky, Dish TV, Videocon D2H and Airtel Digital have launched ‘TV Everywhere’ apps on mobiles and tablets through, which subscribers can watch live TV, catch up TV and video on demand (VoD) for an additional monthly fee. While there are several players along the media value chain who have launched online platforms for on-demand content to capture the surging viewer base, DTH operators have a key advantage in monetising these viewers through their ‘TV Everywhere’ apps, given their already existing payment relationships with subscribers.

  • Epic ties-up with Tata Sky, Airtel Digital and Videocon d2h

    Epic ties-up with Tata Sky, Airtel Digital and Videocon d2h

    MUMBAI: Starting 19 November 2014, Epic channel, distributed by Indiacast, will be available on some of India’s leading DTH service providers; Tata Sky on SD channel 133, Airtel Digital on SD at 125 and HD at 126 and Videocon d2h on SD at 117. The channel is likely to be on Reliance Big TV as well. The channel will also be available across leading digital cable platforms i.e. Hathway, Den Networks, GTPL, IMCL and all leading independent cable platforms. At launch, the channel is likely to be in close to 35 million households.
     
    Epic will have action, drama, comedy, supernatural and narrative non-fiction content, set against Indian history and mythology. The stories will be innovative with high production quality and a distinct look and feel that will appeal to both men and women. Most of the content is shot at real locations with HD cameras. The programming line-up has a mix of fiction shows, narrative non-fiction shows, short form content as well as films at launch. The channel is all set to go on-air by 19 November 2014.

     

  • DTH licensing recommendations: TRAI restricts vertically integrated broadcasters from owning more than one DPO

    DTH licensing recommendations: TRAI restricts vertically integrated broadcasters from owning more than one DPO

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out with some rules and regulations regarding a host of issues including crucial ones such as DTH licences and cross holding. In a recommendation paper that it gave out, it has said that certain restrictions be placed on vertically and horizontally integrated broadcasters and distribution platform operators (DPOs).

     

    A vertically integrated broadcaster will be permitted to control only one DPO while a vertically integrated DPO will be restricted from controlling any other DPO of other category in the relevant market. For this it has defined the meaning of cross holding and control to be as: ‘a broadcaster includes the broadcaster itself, its subsidiary companies /associate companies/ companies of its relatives, its holding company and subsidiary companies /associate companies/ companies of its relatives of its holding company and any other broadcaster in its control. Similarly, a DPO includes the DPO itself, its subsidiary companies /associate companies/ companies of its relatives, its holding company and subsidiary companies /associate companies/ companies of its relatives of its holding company and any other DPO in its control.’

     

    In its paper, TRAI states that ‘In order to ensure orderly growth of the broadcasting and distribution sectors and to avoid compromises or limitations on competition, certain cross-holding restrictions may be required to be put in place. Accordingly, the Authority recommends uniformity in the policy of cross holding /control between broadcasters and DPOs and amongst DPOs in the broadcasting and distribution sector.’

     

    Depending on the shareholding patterns as prescribed by TRAI, companies will have to restructure their operations within one year. Industry sources say that the only two probable companies that are likely to be affected are the Zee group with Siti Cable and Dish TV and the Sun group with Sumangli Cable and Sun Direct.

     

    However TRAI also states that there can’t be cross holding amongst DPOs of different categories. The paper states, ‘there cannot be any cross holding/control between an MSO (A), MSO cum HITS operator (B) or a HITS operator (C) and a DTH operator (D), while there could be controlling stakes amongst A, B and C subject to market share restrictions, as specified from time to time.’

     

    DPOs have been given set parameters for market share/dominance. For DTH operators, the relevant market would be the entire country while for an MSO it is the state. The market share of a DPO would be the number of active subscribers of that DPO as a percentage of the total number of active subscribers of that category of DPOs.

     

    On the DTH side, most operators are glad with the outcome of the paper that will now go through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). Says DTH Operators Association of India president and Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal, “We are glad with the outcome. There were two main issues that needed to be addressed: continuity of DTH licences and licence fee. The paper has made both amply clear, the migration process included. When the licence fee of 10 per cent was introduced there wasn’t any additional service and entertainment tax on it. We had been asking for relief on the licence fee to be calculated on adjusted gross revenue rather than gross revenue.”

     

    The period of DTH licence has been extended from the current 10 years to 20 years while the one time entry fee has been retained at Rs 10 crore. The big relief is the reduction of licence fee from 10 per cent of gross revenue (GR) to 8 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). An industry source said that the DTH industry earns anywhere between Rs 8000 crore to Rs 9000 crore annually, pegging the savings that will come due to the 2 per cent relief at nearly Rs 200 crore. “The reprieve on overall taxation is the highlight point. Although industry would have liked it to be 6 per cent of AGR, this isn’t bad at all,” said the source.

     

    Speaking on the new guidelines, Videocon director Saurabh Dhoot says, “This is a step in the direction towards encouraging industry riddled with high taxation and double taxation. However, content cost not included in deduction remains a concern area.”

     

    Supporting the extension of DTH licence, TRAI states that though the guidelines are silent on the provision of extension, it could not be its intent to disallow them from continuing their business post 10 years of existence. ‘Starting a DTH business entails a huge investment of resources. It would, therefore, be a reasonable expectation on the part of DTH licensees that, on the expiry of the initial 10 year licence, they would be eligible to apply for issue of a new licence, so that they could continue their business,’ it states.

     

    The new DTH licensing regime has been brought to bring fair degree of stability in the sector, to proper overall growth of the sector as it will create a conducive environment for investment from strategic investors. This will in turn spur innovation in terms of adoption of better technology and services.

     

    The DTH Operators Association had requested TRAI to consider initial licence of 20 years which it has agreed to give on the lines of Telecom licence while its second request of a 20 year extension has been kept to 10 years. ‘The Authority also recommends that the renewal shall be on the terms and conditions, including renewal fee, specified by the Licensor (MIB), in consultation with the TRAI.’

     

     AGR is calculated by excluding service tax, entertainment tax and sales tax/VAT paid to the government from the GR. The annual licence fee shall be subject to a minimum of 10 per cent of the entry fee while the licence should have a provision that prescribes that the licensor has the right to modify the licence fee as a percentage of AGR any time during the currency of the agreement.

     

    The earlier rule of providing a bank guarantee (BG) of Rs 40 crore has been changed. Licencees will have to furnish a BG for an amount that is equal to payable licence fee for two quarters and other dues not otherwise securitised.  The BG has to be valid for a year and renewed on a year on year basis in a way that it will be valid for the entire licence period. New entrants will have to give a fixed BG of Rs 5 crore for first two quarters and then continue in the manner prescribed above.

     

    Those DTH operators that are serving their time in the existing regime can migrate to the new regime any time during its current licence period. Before migrating, it has to however clear dues and fulfill obligations under the old regime as well as clear legal cases. The ones who want to migrate will have to pay the entry fee again for a new licence but a rebate, commensurate to the remaining licence period may be granted to them.

     

    The quantum of migration fee will be as follows:

     

    Migration fee = [Entry fee in the new DTH licensing regime – (Entry fee under existing License/existing license period i.e. 10 years) x (No. Of years remaining in the existing regime at the time of migration)]. In this formulation part of a year is not to be counted.

     

    Currently, STB interoperability isn’t possible because of the different technologies being adopted by the operators due to their entering the market at different times. Therefore, the bureau of Indian standards (BIS) has been asked to regularly keep updating the standing of STB technology, in consultation with TRAI. A tariff order for DTH was recommended by TRAI last year that allowed an easy exit option to subscribers, ensuring availability of consumer–premises-equipment (CPE – that primarily consists of STB and Dish antenna) at reasonable prices, easy to understand terms and conditions and at the same time, protecting the interests of the service providers. This order is sub-judice in TDSAT.

  • DTH licence fee case adjourned yet again

    DTH licence fee case adjourned yet again

    NEW DELHI: The petition by the private direct-to-home (DTH) operators challenging the notice of the government for clearing arrears of licence fees has been adjourned once again. Reason: the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) wants to first decide on a similar case relating to actual gross revenue with regard to telecom.

     

    Earlier, chairman Aftab Alam and Kuldeep Singh had adjourned the matter from 23 May to 8 July as the operators had not filed their rejoinders to the reply by the government.

     

    The adjournment was allowed on a mention by the counsel for the various DTH operators.

     
    TDSAT also noted that the earlier assurance by the government that it will not pressurise the operators in this regard till the case is taken up for hearing will continue.

     

    The petitioners have alleged that the demand by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is contempt of court as the matter in this regard is pending in the Supreme Court.

     

    However, Information and Broadcasting Ministry secretary Bimal Julka had earlier told indiantelevision.com that the apex court had not issued any stay order. However, the government had filed a caveat in this regard, conscious that the TDSAT or the Supreme Court may be moved in the matter.

     
    The Ministry had earlier this year sent a notice to the six private DTH operators with regard to licence fee dues amounting to Rs 2,066 crore. The private operators are Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Reliance Big TV, Sun Direct and Videocon d2h.

     

    According to the notice, the six private operators had been asked to pay the amount within 15 days.

     
    However, most of the operators contacted said they had cleared the dues of licence fee.

     
    The operators say the licence fee as demanded under the rules is on gross revenue (GR) whereas they have been asked to pay the fee on the basis of Actual Gross Revenue (AGR). The operators have said the fee should be only on subscription revenue and not on allied earnings such as dividend and interest income. 
     
    Even as the matter was pending, Tata Sky had in April made a payment of Rs 383 crore to the Ministry to cover its license fee and other dues. A demand draft of the amount was submitted to the Ministry, even as other operators had said that they would prefer to wait till the next hearing.
     
    Tata Sky said the amount covered the license fee for the year 2013-14 according to the rate specified for license as well as past dues.

     

  • Discovery Kids to air new season of ‘Sally Bollywood’

    Discovery Kids to air new season of ‘Sally Bollywood’

    MUMBAI: In its endeavor tobring enduring characters and compelling stories, Discovery Kids presents a brand new season of its popularseries SALLY BOLLYWOOD.  The series revolves around Sally Bollywood, a 12 year old young Indian girl who lives in the city of Cosmopolis. Little Sally is the smartest girl in school and knows how to solve a mystery because she’s learnt from her investigator dad Harry Bollywood. Watch SALLY BOLLYWOOD on July 1st, Monday to Saturday at 2pm only on Discovery Kids.

     

    SALLY BOLLYWOOD advocates the power of imaginative minds through solvingchallenging cases. A unique India offering, the series has a distinct Bollywood flair that willappeal to kids across the country.Packed with exciting escapades, Sally and her team set out to investigate and solve mysteriesthat unfold right in the heart of her school or neighbourhood.

     

    Inspired by her father, Harry Bollywood, who is a private detective, Sally started her own investigation service that is run with the assistance of her best friend and technology whiz, DoweeMcAdam. When she’s not helping her community out – whether it’s investigating how her classmate’s hair turned green or finding the culprit behind a tampered exhibit at the local museum – Sally loves to sing and dance in Bollywood style.

     

    Rahul Johri, Executive Vice President and General Manager, South Asia and Head of Revenue, Pan-Regional Ad Sales and Southeast Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, “Discovery Kids offers differentiated content that strikes an instant chord with kids and parents alike. Sally Bollywood is one of kids’ favourite television characters that combineshumourand intelligence.”  

     

    Discovery Kids covers a variety of programming ranging from iconic global content to multiple India-themed series. Committed to offer a comprehensive viewing experience and cater to diverse demands of Indian kids, Discovery Kids programming formats include highest-quality animation and engaging live action series under multiple genres such as adventure, mythology, nature and science.

     

    Discovery Kids is available in Hindi, English and Tamil languages across India on both analogue and DTH platforms including Tata Sky, Dish TV, Reliance DTH, Airtel Digital and Videocon D2H.

  • Airtel Digital TV Q3 operating profit up amid strong subscriber growth

    Airtel Digital TV Q3 operating profit up amid strong subscriber growth

    MUMBAI: Airtel Digital TV, Bharti Airtel‘s direct-to-home (DTH) arm, continued to post operating profit for the second straight quarter amid healthy net subscription additions and a rise in ARPUs while churn rate has improved.

    The operating profit was at Rs 147 million in the fiscal third-quarter ended 31 December, up from Rs 33 million in the trailing three-month period.

    Airtel Digital TV added net 439,000 subscribers compared to a weak earlier quarter in which it grew just 55,000 new customers.

    “Digitisation and the festive season helped us grow our subscriber base in the third quarter. We expect this quarter (beginning January) to be good. Some of the gains from digitisation (38 cities by 31 March as mandated by government), though, will be captured in April,” Airtel Digital TV chief executive officer Shashi Arora told Indiantelevision.com.

    Airtel Digital TV‘s subscriber base grew 6 per cent to total 7.9 million.

    The company narrowed its fiscal third quarter loss before tax and interest to Rs 1.83 billion from Rs 2.23 billion in the earlier quarter. Revenue grew 29 per cent to Rs 4.28 billion from Rs 3.94 billion.

    A striking feature this quarter has been how Airtel Digital TV has lifted its average revenue per user (ARPU) while at the same time improving its churn rate. ARPU increased 5 per cent to Rs 186 from Rs 177 in the previous quarter. The monthly churn decreased to 1.3 per cent in the third quarter from 1.9 per cent.

    The improvement in ARPU has been achieved through product innovations, pricing corrections and upselling.

    “Our HD (high definition) contribution is relatively higher than the other DTH companies. This has led to a rise in ARPUs for us,” said Arora.

    Dish TV, India‘s largest DTH operator by subscribers, marginally increased its ARPU to Rs 160 from Rs 159 in the trailing quarter.

    During the quarter ended 31 December, Airtel Digital TV incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 1.35 billion in digital TV services.