ITV

Tag: DTH

  • Broadband continues upward spiral as narrowband declines in June-Sept 2014

    Broadband continues upward spiral as narrowband declines in June-Sept 2014

    NEW DELHI: The number of narrowband Internet subscribers declined from 190.31 million at the end of June 2014 to 178.67 million at the end of September 2014, showing a quarterly decline of 6.12 per cent.

     

    However, the quarterly report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) ending September 2014 shows the number of Broadband Internet subscribers increased from 68.83 million at the end of June to 75.73 million at the end of September with a quarterly growth of 10.03 per cent.

     

    The report says as at the end of September 2014, there were a total of 187 pay channels as reported by broadcasters for which the wholesale channels rates have been taken on record. During the quarter ending September 2014, the rate of Raj Music Kannada channel was taken on records.

     

    In non CAS areas, the maximum number of television channels being carried by any reporting multi-system operator was 400, whereas the maximum number of channels being carried by any reporting MSO was 100 in conventional analogue form.

     

    Apart from All India Radio, there were 243 private FM radio stations in operation at the quarter ending September 2014, according to information supplied to TRAI by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

     

    Apart from the free DTH service of Doordarshan, Freedish, there are six private DTH operators. All the six private DTH operators are offering pay DTH services.

     

    The total numbers of registered and active subscribers being served by these six private DTH operators as reported to TRAI were 70.33 million and 39.13 million respectively as on 30 September 2014.

  • 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.

  • Tata Sky strengthens its top brass

    Tata Sky strengthens its top brass

    MUMBAI: Direct to Home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has strengthened its top level management team. The company has brought on board Pallavi Puri as chief commercial officer (CCO) for commercial function and Malay Dikshit for communication function. After the exit of Tata Sky CCO Vikram Mehra, the post was vacant, since August 2014.

     

    Confirming about the development to Indiantelevision.com Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal says, “We have appointed people in his place. We have Pallavi Puri who has come on board for commercial functions and Malay Dikshit who has joined us for communication function.”

     

    Mehra had quit the company in August last year. He then moved on to Saregama as its managing director. Puri is an alumnus of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. She began her career with Blow Plast in the area of product marketing. She then joined Hutchinson Max Telecom. Her previous stint was with Vodafone India where she was the VP-VAS. Puri and Dikshit took charge last month.

     

    The appointments come at a time when Tata Sky recently launched its 4K set top box ahead of this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. This is to ensure that cricket and sports enthusiasts are well in time to own Tata Sky 4K STBs to witness the cricketing extravaganza for the first time in 4K picture quality. The launch plans were unveiled in July last year when Tata Sky showcased the first ever live FIFA World Cup quarter final match in 4K.

     

  • 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.

     

  • Use of educational broadcasting channels should be via Prasar Bharati: TRAI

    Use of educational broadcasting channels should be via Prasar Bharati: TRAI

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has reiterated its earlier recommendations regarding further strengthening the maintenance of an arm’s length relationship between Prasar Bharati and the government and ensuring functional independence and autonomy of Prasar Bharati.

     

    TRAI said that the non-commercial use of direct-to-home by the central and state governments for educational purposes should be done through the Prasar Bharati route through suitable agreements between Prasar Bharati and the concerned central/ state governments.

     

    Responding to a letter from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in this regard on 31 October last year, TRAI said Prasar Bharati should ensure that content dissemination through such non-commercial educational channels comply with the code and conduct of broadcasting established in India such as Programme code, AIR code etc. and the content disseminated through such channels should be such that it can form part of any regular Prasar Bharati channel.

     

    As the transponder capacity is a scarce resource, the allocation of transponder capacity to central/state governments for running DTH educational channels on a non-commercial basis should be done in a very careful and judicious manner, said TRAI.

     

    It should not lead to a situation where transponder capacity is kept idling on one hand when on the other hand service providers are kept waiting for the same, thereby adversely impacting the expansion and improvement of quality of their services.

     

    The authority had given its recommendations to the government on the issues relating to entry of certain entities into broadcasting and distribution activities on 12 November 2008 and subsequently on 28 December 2012 in response to the references received from the Ministry. The original recommendations and the clarifications provided later clearly opposed the entry of central and state governments in the broadcasting and distribution activities. These recommendations of the authority were arrived at taking into consideration the relevant constitutional provisions, constituent assembly debates, judicial pronouncement of the Supreme Court, report of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre State Relations, international practices and the views of stakeholders.

     

    The Ministry’s reference was about the use of a specific technology for a specific application by the central / state governments and ‘in essence boils down to enabling broadcasting/ distribution by the central and state governments.

  • 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.

     

  • DD operational costs more than double its revenue till Oct in 2014-15

    DD operational costs more than double its revenue till Oct in 2014-15

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan earned revenue of Rs 525.09 crore up to October 2014, but its operational costs during 2014-15 up to the same month was Rs 1169.58 crore.

    According to Prasar Bharati sources there has been some increase in the operational cost of Doordarshan due to various factors such as hike in salary, widening the eligibility for air travel entitlement, payment of tuition fee, leave encashment with LTC, Modified Assured Career Progression, etc. in the wake of implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission.

    The operational cost of DD was Rs 1945.84 crore as against revenue of Rs 1145.44 crore for 2013-14, while the operational cost was Rs 1883.19 crore as against revenue of Rs 1138.23 crore in 2012-13.

    Sources informed Indiantelevision.com that Prasar Bharati strictly follows austerity measures and other economy instructions issued by the Finance Ministry from time to time for reducing operating expenses.

    The source added that the pubcaster had been striving hard to maximise revenue generation by adopting measures like aggressive marketing strategy, appropriate utilisation of spare infrastructure available with DD, content improvement, introduction of Direct To Home (DTH) services, sharing of towers etc.

    In accordance with a Cabinet approval on 14 September 2012, the Government agreed to provide 100 per cent expenses towards salary and salary related expenses during the years from 2012-13 to 2016-17.

     

  • Videocon d2h selects MStar HEVC SoC solution for HD zapper STB

    Videocon d2h selects MStar HEVC SoC solution for HD zapper STB

    MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Videocon d2h has joined hands with MStar Semiconductor, wherein the latter will provide its high efficiency video codec (HEVC) H.265 system-on-chip (SoC) to the former’s HD set top boxes (STBs).

     

    MStar Semiconductor, which is a semiconductor company for TV, STB, display and digital home solutions, has successfully implemented HEVC technology in the HD solution, which fits properly to save the bandwidth requirement with high definition picture quality. The operators and STB OEMs can reduce their development costs and time to market to meet the Indian market demands with the MStar HEVC-capable set-top box SoC solution.

     

    Videocon d2h director Saurabh Dhoot said, “The HEVC technology ensures that our consumers get the most advanced and evolved TV viewing experience. Videocon d2h has taken the lead in bringing this latest technology to India and we are committed to using high end technology. Innovation has been the driving force for Videocon d2h, and the HEVC technology is perfectly positioned to further improve our bandwidth usage and enable us to add more HD channels.”

     

    “HEVC technology will greatly benefit the DTH operators in India due to the saving of bandwidth. With the coming of HEVC technology, our subscribers will experience high-efficiency Asli HD picture quality for the first time in India. This is possible through the unique video compression technology present in the HEVC capable set top boxes that is the latest in the field, and is a major improvement over the existing ones. We are committed to delivering a world class viewing experience,” added Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera.

     

    “It is our honour and pleasure to be a partner with Videocon d2h. As high-quality programme deployment becomes more widely demanded, we anticipate increased market demand for HEVC-capable set-top-boxes which allows more effective usage of the limited bandwidth. Leveraging our HEVC-capable set-top box platform, we will continue to provide the timely HEVC solution to Videocon d2h in order to fulfill their business goal,” said MStar Semiconductor chairman Wayne Liang.