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Tag: Dish TV

  • Dish TV aims to boost ARPU with differential pricing strategy

    Dish TV aims to boost ARPU with differential pricing strategy

    MUMBAI: Taking the path that cable operators often do, Direct To Home (DTH) operator Dish TV has decided to offer differential pricing across different cities.

     

    Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor tells Indiantelevision.com that with the DTH operator having over 40 High Definition (HD) channels and superior quality, the consumers would not mind the “marginal jump.”

     

    According to Kapoor, Indian consumers can no longer be treated as “one size fits all,” especially in metro segments. Kapoor believes that the consumer today has the capacity to pay slightly more for a quality product. “This differential pricing is our strategy to give a boost to our Average Revenue Per User (ARPU),” Kapoor informs.

     

    As part of the first phase, metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune will be targeted. Each pack in these four cities will now cost an additional Rs 10. The revised prices came into effect from 26 February, 2015.  

     

    Dish TV has already introduced differential pricing for its regional brand, Zing. While in Maharashtra, the pack price is pegged at Rs 189, in the state of Odisha it has been priced at Rs 175. Since the strategy worked successfully for its sub brand Zing, Kapoor is of the opinion that it would also work for Dish TV. 

     

    While the packages have currently been introduced for the metros, no decision on other cities has been taken as yet.

  • Dish TV fortifies sports packaging for ICC Cricket World Cup

    Dish TV fortifies sports packaging for ICC Cricket World Cup

    MUMBAI: Cricket fans are currently glued to their television sets as the ICC Cricket World Cup kicked off this past weekend. Service providers such as Airtel Digital TV, Videocon d2h, Tata Sky, Sun Direct and Dish TV too are celebrating the onset of the event.

     

    While Tata Sky and Videocon d2h are pushing their 4K set top boxes, DTH operator Dish TV has decided to fortify its sports packaging to offer a maximum of 12 sports channels during the gala event.

     

    When asked how the DTH platform planned ahead of the World Cup, Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor says, “We conducted a pan India consumer survey, which revealed that the millennial generation has tremendous interest in sports and that HD is the preferred choice for watching sports. The research also showed an interesting angle that usually in a family its only one person who is interested in sports, the rest are still focused on GEC, movies, music etc.”

     

    Kapoor further says that keeping these insights in mind, the platform re-looked at its packaging. “First we decided to up the HD quotient and added maximum number of HD channels. We now have 39 HD channels. We even fortified our sports packaging, offering maximum sports channels (12) in India,” he informs.

     

    When quizzed about his views on a few DTH platforms focussing on the launch of 4K, which has limited content, Kapoor opines that while 4K is definitively a superior technology, the content for this technology is minimal in India. According to him the sale of DTH HD boxes is directly proportional with the sale of LCD TVs, which constitutes around 65-70 per cent in India, whereas 4K TVs are far too expensive and marginal compared to LCDs.

     

    “It will take some time for this technology to pick up in India and broadcasters to start producing content in 4K. Till then HD will dominate the content market. Understanding this, we introduced 39 HD channels, which are the highest in the country,” he says.

     

    Talking about how the repackaging will help the platform, Kapoor says that they call it a “cricket plus approach,” which highlights something for everyone to enjoy in High Definition.

     

    “The consumer has already taken notice of our enhanced services and the numbers have started ringing in. We will expand our new consumer base significantly. The marketing activities are planned to promote the HD edge that we have as a brand,” he concludes.

  • Disney India launches official video game for ICC Cricket World Cup

    Disney India launches official video game for ICC Cricket World Cup

    MUMBAI: Disney India’s Interactive business has launched the official game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 titled ‘ICC Pro Cricket 2015’ for PCs, with cut down versions for smartphones and DTH platforms, which will give users around the world a taste of the real world of Cricket. The highly immersive game was launched at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) with renowned names from the world of cricket – Brett Lee and Harsha Bhogle.

     

    Disney India managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur commented, “Globally, Disney is defined by innovation. We have always believed in leveraging technology to enhance the entertainment experience for consumers and we reflect this sentiment in all the products we develop in Disney India. The Interactive business of Disney India has produced an incredible game which sets the benchmark for cricket-based games globally. Cricket is amongst one of the most popular sports not just in India but across the world, and the ICC Cricket World Cup is the biggest possible celebration of the sport. We appreciate the support we have received from the ICC to be able to present this world-class game to Cricket fans on the occasion of the World Cup 2015!”

     

    “We are set out to build cricket as a franchise in the world of gaming. Our latest offering — ICC Pro Cricket 2015, a real cricket simulation game with high quality gameplay and superior visual experience to our global audiences is just the beginning of our journey. This will be the best in cricket games, bringing our consumers as close to a real on-ground cricket experience as possible, thus elevating the overall gameplay. We hope cricket lovers enjoy playing this game as much as they enjoy the ICC Cricket World Cup,” said Disney India vice president   Sameer Ganapathy.

     

    Cricketer Brett Lee opined, “It’s a great honour to launch this video game in conjunction with the ICC and Disney India. The graphics are incredible and I love the fact that this game can be played on not just your PC, but on your phone as well. I’m sure lots of people will be hitting their own sixes and taking the prized wicket of David Warner with this game.”

     

    Now with its latest offering – ICC Pro Cricket 2015, Indiagames has developed an “as close to real” simulation gaming experiences of its kind. It is a cricket fan’s delight – equipped with two gameplay cameras and over 25 in-game camera angles, the action never stops! The game is packed with a super immersive gameplay, stunning graphics and multiple play modes making the gameplay experience as close to the real game on-ground as possible, for PC, mobile and DTH users. In the game, users can earn, trade and collect players to create their own fantasy team and can put their best foot forward against the world’s best players. The gamers also have the opportunity to play with 14 official ICC World Cup 2015 teams from the tournament with real players like MS Dhoni, Michael Clarke, James Anderson and others.

     

    ICC Pro Cricket 2015 will be available on PCs and mobile phones (on iOS and Android) across India and other select international markets closer to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. PC users can download the game from www.procricket2015.com for a flat cost of $ 9.99, while DTH players can access this game through Dish TV and Airtel. For smartphones, it is a freemium game which will allow users to download the game for free.

  • DTH players gear up ahead of the World Cup

    DTH players gear up ahead of the World Cup

    MUMBAI: The upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup is this year’s biggest sporting event that promises to not just entertain fans of the sport but also provide windfall gain to advertisers and sponsors. Not be left out are direct to home (DTH) players, who are planning to rake in some moolah through various initiatives. 

     

    DTH operator Tata Sky recently launched India’s first 4K set top box (STB) for its existing customers as well as to entice a new bunch of subscribers.

     

    When asked if the move will help increase its subscriber base, Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal says, “Those who have invested in 4K television will need a 4K set top box to watch the matches. So it will help the customers who already have 4K TV, to watch the 4K transmission with the help of the STB.”

     

    For Rs 6,400 subscribers can purchase the Tata Sky 4K STB while existing subscribers can buy it for Rs 5,900. Apart from relaying 4K content, the box can also showcase Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) channels. The STB has the capability of delivering Ultra High Definition picture quality and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound. 4K at 8.3 megapixels (3840×2160) has approximately four times the pixels as that of 2K (1920×1080) – the current HD standard.

     

    Sun Direct managing director Mahesh Kumar too agrees that the World Cup will help increase its existing subscriber base. He reasons, “One, cricket is a religion in India and given that the first few days of the tournament starts off with an India Pakistan match – the fervour is going to be high from the start of the tournament. Two, even though the months of February and March are traditionally dull for DTH due to exam fever, we expect the cricket fever to take prominence and more new connections to come in during this period.  Post IPL the love of cricket has transcended countries with the foreign player participation in local leagues, hence viewer interest will be high not only in India playing matches but also in matches with other countries.”

     

    The DTH operator is offering the Star Sports bouquet on its bestselling Cinema + Sports packs. “This is indeed a big plus for our subscribers who can watch the world cup and best of sports during the World Cup and beyond with Sun Direct,” added Kumar.

     

    Sun Direct is offering its Cinema + Sports package at Rs 195 per month. It will be focusing mainly on this pack for the World Cup as it feels this covers most of the requirements of its customers. It will be coming out with high decibel campaigns on TV and print supported with BTL initiatives and digital media to give a 360 degree communication ahead of the World Cup, informs Kumar.

     

    Airtel Digital TV too has jumped on the World Cup bandwagon. For all customers buying Samsung Curve and UHD TV, it will offer HD DVR connection at the same cost as that of an HD connection. Customers will receive   discount coupons worth Rs 2650. Customers can enjoy watching the matches on an HD DVR by just paying Rs 2350. This box, which has an inbuilt hard disk of 500 GB can record content up to 750 hours enabling a customer  to record and watch the world cup matches at a convenient time. Also customers will get free subscription for up to 12 months through a scratch card offer. On other Samsung models, it is offering a discount coupon of Rs 660 on its HD+ variant. This comes along with an eight GB pen drive worth Rs 399, which is offered free. Additionally customers will get free subscription for up to 12 months through a scratch card offer.

     

    This edition of the World Cup will see the first global broadcast of cricket in 4K. Official broadcaster Star will telecast select matches, including India’s opening match against arch-rivals Pakistan, in the 4K format. Online shopping websites like Snapdeal, Amazon and Flipkart have priced the 4K TV’s between the range of Rs 60,000 (lower end) while the higher end categories are priced at an upwards of Rs one lakh.

     

    Videocon d2h too has launched 4K Ultra HD services. It has priced its STB at Rs 6590 for new customers while existing customers can upgrade to 4K DTH for Rs 5990. In addition to 4K channels and content, subscribers can use the STB to view Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) channels. While the website of Videocon d2h states that delivery of the STB will be made within two weeks from the date of booking, a call made to a customer care executive revealed that it would take around 48 hours.

     

    Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor expects the cricket World Cup to help further increase its existing customer base and therefore has tweaked its packaging. “Our packaging is very sports centric. Every tier of our packaging has the maximum number of sports channels. We have also kept in mind that HD will play a big role in the World Cup and therefore have maximum number of HD sports channels,” he says.

  • DTH Operators’ Association sends wish list to the MIB ahead of Budget 2015

    DTH Operators’ Association sends wish list to the MIB ahead of Budget 2015

    MUMBAI: Ahead of this year’s Union budget, the Direct-To-Home (DTH) Operators’ Association of India has sent its wish list to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) asking for infrastructure status to be granted to the sector, amongst other demands.

     

    Speaking about the details mentioned in the letter, DTH Operators’ Association president and Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish spelled out the top demands. “One, we have asked for the service tax for DTH services to be put in the negative list of service tax. We have also asked for reduction of withholding tax on satellite from 25 per cent to 10 per cent. Thirdly the sector has demanded for infrastructure status for the DTH sector. Fourth, the letter mentions that license fee needs to be brought down from 10 per cent to eight percent adjusted GR. Finally, we also asked for content cost to be passed through by effectively asking to bring it down to six per cent on GR,” he said.

     

    The letter also seeks lowering of duties on digitals set top boxes (STB). The previous ministry under the UPA government had suggested scaling down the license fee from 10 per cent to six per cent. “While the previous government didn’t take any action, we hope the new government will definitely will,” Venkateish concluded.

     

  • Rajiv Khattar joins ABS as president- south Asia

    Rajiv Khattar joins ABS as president- south Asia

    NEW DELHI: Rajiv Khattar, until recently Dish TV president projects, has joined as president- south Asia in Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) in a newly created role that makes him responsible for business development and sales for the region.

     

    The announcement was made in Washington by ABS CEO Tom Choi, who said, “We are delighted to have Rajiv onboard as the new head for this region. Rajiv brings along a wealth of experience of the cable and satellite industry with extensive knowledge of the direct-to-home (DTH) and broadcast sector in the India market. His expertise and leadership skills will greatly contribute to our development of new business for the market.”

     

    Confirming the news and the fact that he had already taken over, Khattar told indiantelevision.com that he would be based out of Delhi. He said it was too early to comment on the future plans of ABS in south Asia.

     

    Khattar has over 20 years of experience in the cable and satellite industry. Before joining ABS, he spent 10 years at Dish TV as president projects. In this role, he gained a wide range of experiences covering business, operations, regulatory procedures and strategy development. Prior to this, he held various leading positions with other cable and telecommunication companies.

     

    He holds a Diploma in Production Engineering (Delhi Board of Technical Education), a Diploma in Business Management (Rajendera Prasad Institute of Communication and Management, Mumbai) and a Diploma in Materials Management (Faridabad Productivity Council).

     

    ABS is one of the fastest growing global satellite operators in the world, offering a complete range of tailored solutions including broadcasting, data and telecommunication services to broadcasters, service providers, enterprises and government organisations.

     

    ABS operates a fleet of six satellites; ABS-1A, ABS-2, ABS-3, ABS-4/Mobisat-1, ABS-6 and ABS-7. The satellite fleet covers 80 per cent of the world’s population across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, CIS and Russia.

     

    ABS has also procured two Boeing 702SP satellites (ABS-3A & ABS-2A) planned for early and late 2015 with the options to add more satellites over the next 2-3 years to its growing satellite fleet.

     

    Headquartered in Bermuda, ABS has offices in the United States, Dubai, South Africa, Germany, Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong. 

  • Q3-2015: Dish TV reports improved performance, lower loss

    Q3-2015: Dish TV reports improved performance, lower loss

    BENGALURU: In its earnings release today, India’s largest DTH operator, Dish TV Limited (Dish TV) informed the bourses that its net subscriber base in Q3-2015 had gone up to 1.25 crore, the company says that it has added a net of 4.16 lakh subscribers in this quarter. In Q3-2014, the company has added net 2.2 lakh subscribers in Q3-2014 and 3.78 lakhs subscribers in Q2-2015. The company says further that its average revenue per user (arpu) is Rs.177, versus an arpu Rs 166 in Q3-2014 and Rs 172 in Q2-2015.

     

    Note:  100,00,000 = 100 Lakh  = 1 crore = 10 million

     

    Dish TV’s total income from operations (TIO) has gone up by 16.5 per cent in Q3-2015 to Rs 713.88 crore from Rs 612.82 crore in Q3-2014 and was 6.2 per cent more than Rs 672.35 crore in Q2-2015. During 9M-2015, Dish TV’s TIO at Rs 2026.93 crore was 13.6 per cent more than the Rs 1783.78 crore in 9M-2014.

     

     The company has reported a lower loss of Rs 2.87 crore in Q3-2015 as compared to a loss of Rs 38.25 crore in Q3-2014 and a loss of Rs 15.07 crore in Q2-2015. In 9M-2015, Dish TV’s loss at Rs 33.98 crore was less than half the loss of Rs 84.63 crore in 9M-2014.

     

    The company reported subscription revenue for the quarter was Rs 655.4 crore up 17.4 per cent y-o-y.

     

     

    Let us look at the other figures reported by Dish TV :-

     

    Dish TV’s Total expenditure (TE) in Q3-2015 at Rs 684.26 crore (95.9 per cent of TIO) was 8.5 per cent more than the Rs 630.68 crore (102.9 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and 3.4 per cent more than the Rs 661.92 crore (98.5 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015. In 9M-2015, TE at Rs 1975.07 crore (97.4 per cent of TIO) was 8.5 per cent more than the Rs 1819.87 crore (102 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

     

    The company’s programming content and other costs (programming cost) in Q3-2015 at Rs 198.86 crore (27.9 per cent of TIO) was almost the same as the Rs 198.87 crore (32.5 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and 3.1 per cent more than the Rs 192.87 crore (28.7 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015. 9M-2015 programming cost at Rs 593.13 crore (29.3 per cent of TIO) was 2.8 per cent more than the Rs 576.87 crore (32.3 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

     

    Dish TV paid 18.7 per cent higher license fees at Rs 75.35 crore (10.6 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015 as compared to the Rs 63.48 crore (10.4 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and 7.8 per cent more than the Rs 69.87 crore (10.4 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter. License Fees in 9M-2015 at Rs 210.66 crore (10.4 percent of TIO) was 13.5 percent more than the Rs 185.56 crore (10.4 percent of TIO) in the corresponding period of last year.

     

    The company’s commission expense at Rs 69.07 crore (9.7 per cent of TIO) was 37.1 per cent higher than the Rs 50.37 crore (8.2 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2013 and 13.7 per cent more than the Rs 60.74 crore (9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015. Commission expense in 9M-2015 rose 39.3 percent to Rs 185.33 crore (9.1 percent of TIO) from Rs 133.02 crore (7.5 percent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

     

     Dish TV’s other selling and distribution expense for Q3-2015 at Rs 43.99 crore (6.2 per cent of TIO) was 26.8 per cent more than the Rs 34.69 crore (5.7 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and 18.2 per cent lower than the Rs 53.8 crore (8 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015. In 9M-2015, other selling and distribution expense t Rs 135.65 crore (6.7 per cent of TIO) was 17.2 per cent more than the Rs 115.76 crore (6.5 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

     

    The company’s costs is Q3-2015 increased 59 per cent to Rs 47.86 crore (6.7 per cent of TIO) from Rs 30.10 crore (4.9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2014 and was 12.6 per cent more than the Rs 42.51 crore (6.3 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015. The company’s costs in 9M-2015 increased 29.8 per cent to Rs 129.84 crore (6.4 per cent of TIO) from Rs 100.04 crore (5.6 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

     

     “Dish TV recorded marked improvements in its key financials while maintaining market supremacy during the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Overall, the DTH industry led by Dish TV recorded a healthy 29 percent y-o-y growth in gross additions compared to the corresponding quarter last fiscal,” said Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra.

     

    Highlighting Dish TV’s third quarter performance Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “We continued to strengthen our reach in phase 3 and 4 towns much ahead of the government mandated revised deadline for digitisation in those markets. Our bouquet of offerings including fully loaded sports packs and High Definition (HD) packages helped us fill in the expectation gap in phase 1 and 2 households as well. The recently launched ‘Zing’ has been a successful product and now caters to eight regional markets with the latest being Tamil Nadu.”

  • Dish TV’s Zing to enter Tamil market

    Dish TV’s Zing to enter Tamil market

    MUMBAI: India’s first DTH service from the Zee stable – Dish TV has now extended its regional offering – Zing TV – to the Tamil market.

     

    After launching Zing in seven states across India, it has now launched in Tamil Nadu and will offer 49 Tamil channels and services (depending on the pack). Overall 145+ channels are available at a price of Rs 99 per month in base pack, making it available at almost the same price as the cable.

     

    Zing TV was specially conceptualized and customized keeping in mind the preferences of its Tamil viewers that are moving over to the digital platform.

     

    The DTH service believes that the TV viewing needs of Tamil viewers are very different as compared to the rest of India. No other DTH player till now has been able to cater to these unique needs in a 360 degree manner, bringing the truly local, state specific and even language specific touch to make it a truly memorable viewing experience.

     

    Moreover, the offerings are not limited to providing regional channels only, the customer will also be provided with a dedicated Tamil speaking call center and local dealers will be empowered to solve all their issues, thus making it a seamless service.

     

    Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor reveals that a consumer demographic study had indicated that larger segment of TV viewers from tier 2 and tier 3 cities prefer regional content.

     

    “Zing will address this need very efficiently and provide maximum available regional content to viewers through its exciting packs as compared to other DTH brands. 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,” said Kapoor.

  • Dish TV, Hathway move to ‘overweight’: Morgan Stanley

    Dish TV, Hathway move to ‘overweight’: Morgan Stanley

    MUMBAI: Brokerage firm Morgan Stanley has some good news in store for direct to home (DTH) player Dish TV and multi system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable & Datacom. The firm has upgraded both Hathway and Dish TV to ‘overweight’, while also raising their target price, that represents an upside of 37 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, over the next 12 months.

     

    As per an Economic Times report, Morgan Stanley has downgraded Zee Entertainment to ‘equal weight’ with downside of 10 per cent. “Zee outperformed Hathway and Dish by 12 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, in 2014 as they believe that a large part of the potential improvement in subscriptions for Zee is in the price,” said the report. 

     

    While upgrading Dish TV from ‘underweight’ to ‘overweight’, the target price of the DTH platform has been raised from Rs 49 to Rs 82. Not only this, Hathway has been upgraded from ‘equalweight’ to ‘overweight’, with a current target price of Rs 91 from Rs 59.   

     

    According to the brokerage firm, there is a sense of urgency on monetisation by the MSOs, which can push up realisations for both Hathway and Dish TV.

     

    “MSOs were unable to effect any sizeable improvements in realisations in 2014. However, the push from broadcasters to improve their subscription share has forced MSOs’ hands,” added the media report.

     

    As per Morgan Stanley channel checks, MSOs are responding by introducing higher value packs, raising prices and moving to a prepaid model.

     

    The firm expects these efforts to boost realisations for MSOs and create headroom for Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) expansion for DTH. 

     

    While an improving macro-economic outlook can help lift TV ad spending, margins could remain muted in F2016 for Zee due to new launches. Hence, Morgan Stanley prefers Hathway Cable followed by Dish TV and then Zee Entertainment Ltd.

     

  • Govt. has no plans to place restrictions on number of DTH platforms

    Govt. has no plans to place restrictions on number of DTH platforms

    NEW DELHI: Even as it is in the process of revamping its free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) platform Freedish, the government has made it clear that it has no intentions to impose any restrictions on the total number of DTH licenses.

    The Ministry has till now granted license to six private companies: Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct TV, Reliance BIG TV, BhartiTelemedia and Videocon d2h.

    These platforms provide DTH services in India under the DTH Guidelines issued on 15 March, 2001, as amended from time to time.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told Indiantelevision.com that Freedish is in the process of making changes so that it can provide up to 100 FTA television channels in the first stage in addition to All India Radio channels. A total of 19 e-auctions have also been held in this regard.

    DTH licenses, under the DTH guidelines, are granted to those companies which fulfil the eligibility criteria, terms and conditions and subject to security clearance and technical clearances by the appropriate authorities of the Government.

    The details are available on the website of this Ministry at www.mib.gov.in.

    Under clause 3.1 of the DTH Guidelines, the licensee, in addition to an initial non-refundable entry fee of Rs 10 crore, is required to pay an annual license fee at 10 per cent of its gross revenue.