ITV

Tag: Siticable

  • Pay DTH subscriber base perks up a bit

    Pay DTH subscriber base perks up a bit

    BENGALURU: The latest DTH subscriber numbers released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) must bring cheer to the private television direct to home (DTH) industry. TRAI recently published quarterly subscriber data as on 30 June 2020. According to the data, the number of pay DTH subscribers using services provided by private DTH operators had declined from a peak of 72.44 million as on 31 March 2019 to a low of 68.92 million during the very next quarter end date – 30 June 2019 because of a change in the way of reckoning active DTH subscribers. Till March 2019, the subscription figure of the total active subscribers included inactive and temporarily suspended subscribers for not more than the last 120 days. However, as per new regulatory framework of Broadcasting and Cable TV Services, the total active subscribers are now counted to include only those subscribers who are inactive/ temporarily suspended for not more than the last 90 days. 

    Since 30 June 2019, the number of pay DTH subscribers using services provided by private DTH service providers has been increasing slowly until 30 June 2020. As on 30 June 2020, the number of pay DTH subscriber using services provided by private DTH service providers stood at 70.58 million. This is in addition to the subscribers of DD Free Dish (free DTH services of Doordarshan). 

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Further, as on March 2019, the number of private DTH subscribers had fallen to four from five previously. Also, TRAI commenced publication of break up of market share to an accuracy of two decimal percentage places from the quarter ended 30 September 2019 onward. Extrapolating the overall number of pay DTH subscribers using services provided by private DTH operators with the total number of pay DTH subscribers (provided in millions, to two decimal places) and the share percentage of the service providers reveals that except for Dish TV, the other three providers had seen subscriber numbers grow. Besides Dish TV’s slow but steady decline in subscriber numbers during all the four quarters for which data is available, the largest service provider in terms of number of subscribers – Tata Sky witnessed a decline in subscriber numbers in the quarter ended 30 June 2020. Please refer to the figure below:

    Cable TV operators

    TRAI reports state that the country has achieved 100 percent digitization of cable TV network. This is a stupendous achievement making India the only large country where 100 percent digital cable has been achieved through mandatory regulations.

    As on 30 June 2020, there were 1,666 MSOs registered with the ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) as compared to 1,613 MSO registered as on 31 December 2019. Further, as per the data reported by MSOs/HITS operators, there were 12 MSOs and one HITS operator who had a subscriber base of more than one million. Details of the total active subscribers of these 12 MSOs and one HITS operator are given in the following table. Please refer to chart below:

    In the case of cable TV, the largest player Siti Networks seems to be witnessing a slow but steady loss of subscribers since the quarter ended 31 December 2019. Two other players have also witnessed a subscriber declines – Fastway Transmissions Pvt Ltd and Asianet Digital Network, while most others have gained subscribers during the four quarters in this report.

    Satellite TV Channels

    A total of 909 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the MIB for uplinking only/ downlinking only/both uplinking and downlinking, as on 30 June 2020. The quarter-wise figures of the total number of TV channels is depicted in the chart given below.

  • Tata Sky had the largest pay DTH subscriber base in CY 2019

    Tata Sky had the largest pay DTH subscriber base in CY 2019

    BENGALURU: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report October – December, 2019 says that there were 6.998 crore (69.98 million, 699.8 lakh) direct to home (DTH) subscribers in India as on 31 December 2019 that paid for their subscription. This is in addition to the subscribers of the DD Free Dish (free DTH services of Doordarshan). It is important to note that till March 2019, the subscription figure of the total active subscribers included inactive and temporarily suspended subscribers for not more than the last 120 days. However, as per new regulatory framework of Broadcasting and Cable TV Services, the total active subscribers are now counted to includeonly those subscribers who are inactive/temporarily suspended for not more than the last 90 days.

    This 6.998 crore pay DTH subscriber base was split amongst four players. The TRAI report gave the breakup of pay DTH subscribers as Tata Sky with 31.80 percent, Dish TV with 30.55 percent, Airtel Digital TV Services with 23.31 percent and Sun Direct with 14.35 percent. The numerical break up assuming that the number of subscribers was rounded off to seven crore (70 million, 700 lakh) is Tata Sky 2.23 crore (22.3 million, 223 lakh), Dish TV 2.14 crore (21.4 million, 214 lakh), Airtel Digital TV 1.63 crore (16.3 million, 163 lakh) and Sun Direct one crore (10 million 100 lakh).

    Please refer to the figure below:

    According to the TRAI report, Pay DTH subscriber base in India grew by 0.068 crore (0.6 million or 6 lakh) as on 31 December 2019 to 6.998 crore (69.88 million, 699.8 lakh) when compared to 6.930 crore (69.30 million, 693 lakh) on 30 September 2019. Please refer to the figure below for the quarter-on-quarter change in pay DTH subscriber base.

    Cable TV operators

    The TRAI report says that the country has achieved 100 percent digitisation of Cable TV network. This is a stupendous achievement making India as the only large country where 100 percent digital cable has been achieved through mandatory regulations.

    As on 31st December 2019, there were 1613 MSOs registered with the ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB). Further, as per the data reported by MSOs / HITS operators, there were13 MSOs and one HITS operator who had a subscriber base of more than one million. Details of the total active subscribers of these 13 MSOs and one HITS operator are given in the following table.

    Satellite TV Channels

    A total of 918 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the MIB for uplinking only/ downlinking only/both uplinking and downlinking, as on 31 January, 2019. The quarter-wise figures of the total number of TV channels is depicted in the chart given below.


    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • Siti Networks reports improved numbers for FY 2020

    Siti Networks reports improved numbers for FY 2020

    BENGALURU: The Essel group’s MSO major Siti Networks Limited reported 5.3 percent higher consolidated simple EBIDTA for the year ended 31 March 2020 (FY 2020, year or period under review) as compared to the previous year FY 2019. The company reported a 12.2 percent increase in operating revenue for the period under review as compared to the previous year. All numbers mentioned in this report are consolidated unless stated otherwise.

    The company has managed to reduce its major expenses, but for Pay Channel, Carriage Sharing & Related Costs (pay channel costs) in FY 2020 which increased 29 percent as compared to the previous year. Overall expenses increased 7.7 percent on account of these pay channel costs. In a note to the financial statements, Siti has explained that its operating revenue includes broadcaster share of subscription revenue, hence it has shown the broadcasters share in its pay channel costs as an expense.

    In its earnings release, Siti says that Subscription Revenue for Q4 2020 grew 25.3 percent y-o-y to Rs. 2,842 million. For FY 2020, Subscription Revenue surged 21.3 percent to Rs.11,567 million.

    The consolidated operating revenue figures reported by Siti are Rs 1,618.59 crore and Rs 1,442.13 crore for FY 2020 and FY 2019 respectively, hence a growth of 12.2 percent as mentioned above. Simple EBIDTA as calculated by the author for FY 2020 was Rs 340.64 crore (21 percent of operating revenue) and for FY 2019 it was Rs 323.61 crore (22.4 percent of operating revenue). Loss for the year under review reduced to Rs 188 crore from Rs 264 crore in the previous year.

    For Q4 2020, Siti’s consolidated operating revenue was Rs 27.8 percent higher y-o-y at Rs 408.29 crore as compared to Rs 415.06 crore in Q4 2019. Simple EBIDTA for Q4 2020 as calculated by the author increased 22.1 percent to Rs 81.58 crore (20 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 66.78 crore (20.9 percent of operating revenue). Loss for the quarter was lower at Rs 70.30 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 123.93 for Q4 2019.

    CEO of Siti CEO Anil Malhotra mentioned: “SITI Networks continued its consistent growth focus while maintaining a strict control on operational efficiencies during FY 2020. Our subscription revenue for Q4 2020 grew by 25.3 percent y-o-y, while our total revenue grew by approximately 23 percent y-o-y. Even for FY 2020, our total revenue jumped by 15.3 percent to Rs. 16,354 million. Our constant mantra of improving operational efficiencies while improving monetization helped us to deliver strong operating EBITDA at INR 3,538 million, in FY 2020, a surge of 1.2 times. Our response to COVID-19 pandemic has been widely appreciated. Our teams and partners have left no stone unturned to ensure that our customers get the best services."

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Siti

    Total expense in FY 2020 increased 7.7 percent to Rs 1,781,33 crore from Rs 1,654,21 crore in the previous year. Amongst the major expense heads, Pay Channel, Carriage Share & Related Costs increased 29 percent in FY 2020 to Rs 843.96 crore from Rs 654.14 crore in FY 2019. Finance costs in FY 2020 declined 7.6 percent to Rs 157.68 crore from Rs 170.72 crore in FY 2019. Employee benefits expense in FY 2020 declined 8 percent to Rs 74.78 crore from Rs 81.32 crore in the previous year. Other expenses in FY 2020 declined 5.6 percent to Rs 357.70 crore from Rs 378.79 crore in FY 2019.

    Total expense in Q4 2020 increased 16.7 percent to Rs 451.03 crore from Rs 386.39 crore in Q4 2019. Amongst the major expense heads, Pay Channel, Carriage Share & Related Costs increased 47.9 percent in Q4 2020 to Rs 212.82 crore from Rs 143.94 crore. Finance costs in Q4 2020 declined 20.5 percent to Rs 35.52 crore from Rs 44,66 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. Employee benefits expense in Q4 2020 declined 9.4 percent to Rs 16.95 crore from Rs 18.71 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Other expenses in Q4 2020 increased 9.1 percent to Rs 96.53 crore from Rs 88.44 crore in Q4 2019.

  • Ditto TV sees more demand for regional content

    Ditto TV sees more demand for regional content

    MUMBAI: With an aim to be the default app on every internet enabled smartphone in India for content delivery, Zee’s dittoTV seems to have got its marketing pitch correct with #BeeskaTV and #DeshkaTV campaign.

    Poised to clock an annual revenue of Rs 150 crore (according to a media analyst) from a base of approximately six million installs (downloads), mostly in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM), the OTT service is attracting audience from a segment that is still growing in India.

    “We have received a phenomenal response across all our platforms— six million installs and counting! The viewers loved our television commercial and we trended at no. 3 worldwide on Youtube when the campaign went live,” gushed dittoTV business head Archana Anand.

    #BeeskaTV and #DeshkaTV were among the top 10 Twitter trends worldwide, according to Anand who added that the the dittoTV app trended at #1 in the entertainment category in both the Android and iOS app stores.

    With an aim to build on this trending success and further enhance penetration, the digital platform has tied up with sister company Siticable, which is one of the oldest and largest MSOs in the country. Both come from the Subhash Chandra and family-promoted Essel group.

    As part of this collaboration, Siticable will be pushing the authentication and subscription to dittoTV from its portal to the subscribers of its cable TV service for free. The cable TV service will share 20 per cent as revenue for every ditto TV subscription that the operator sells.

    dittoTV subscription charges for three months, six months and one year are Rs 50, Rs 90 and Rs 170, respectively.

    “They say well begun is half done. By that theory, we are in an extremely good position. With the new alliance rolling out and the masses sharing the phenomena of #BeeskaTV, we see the start of a fun and exciting journey,” Anand explained, adding a strong uptake is also reflected on the service’s usage and good content consumption.

    Anand and her team are working on getting new business partnership for the platform and some alliances are said to be in the pipeline, which were not disclosed.

    The platform credits its success to a combination of factors: width and depth of content and its incredible pricing. dittoTV offers access to over 100+ Hindi, English and regional-language channels encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle at just Rs 20 a month.

    What worked best on Indian television (general entertainment) seems to have mirrored on the OTT service too as GECs were key drivers of dittoTV, followed by regional and news channels.

    “Regional language content performs superbly across all our platforms and is rising steadily,” opined Anand claiming that regional viewer is also a `returning viewer’ and spends higher time compared to the platform average.

    “On certain days, we’ve actually seen higher consumption for certain regional GECs as compared to key Hindi GECs. Sports and News are very event based and do extremely well for us in bursts when there is a sporting event or breaking news,” Anand said.

    The average view time on the platform has been up to 24 minutes per user. What the reason? Events like cricket (the West Indies vs. India series) and the bundling of dittoTV with data packs with telcos like Idea Cellular have contributed to this substantially.

    dittoTV has deliberately positioned itself differently from other similar players in the markets like HotStar, Sony Liv and Voot as they follow a simple and clear strategy of providing live content similar to what is available on television.

    An aggressive pricing strategy notwithstanding, dittoTV is still far away from replacing cable TV or DTH from consumer homes as a primary source of video consumption, but Anand is upbeat.

    “TV is synonymous with entertainment for the Indian masses and dittoTV being a linear TV offering remains synonymous with TV. I strongly believe that our platform will be a game changer and will help us drive volumes as well as change the way people consume content on-the-go,” she concluded.

  • Ditto TV sees more demand for regional content

    Ditto TV sees more demand for regional content

    MUMBAI: With an aim to be the default app on every internet enabled smartphone in India for content delivery, Zee’s dittoTV seems to have got its marketing pitch correct with #BeeskaTV and #DeshkaTV campaign.

    Poised to clock an annual revenue of Rs 150 crore (according to a media analyst) from a base of approximately six million installs (downloads), mostly in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM), the OTT service is attracting audience from a segment that is still growing in India.

    “We have received a phenomenal response across all our platforms— six million installs and counting! The viewers loved our television commercial and we trended at no. 3 worldwide on Youtube when the campaign went live,” gushed dittoTV business head Archana Anand.

    #BeeskaTV and #DeshkaTV were among the top 10 Twitter trends worldwide, according to Anand who added that the the dittoTV app trended at #1 in the entertainment category in both the Android and iOS app stores.

    With an aim to build on this trending success and further enhance penetration, the digital platform has tied up with sister company Siticable, which is one of the oldest and largest MSOs in the country. Both come from the Subhash Chandra and family-promoted Essel group.

    As part of this collaboration, Siticable will be pushing the authentication and subscription to dittoTV from its portal to the subscribers of its cable TV service for free. The cable TV service will share 20 per cent as revenue for every ditto TV subscription that the operator sells.

    dittoTV subscription charges for three months, six months and one year are Rs 50, Rs 90 and Rs 170, respectively.

    “They say well begun is half done. By that theory, we are in an extremely good position. With the new alliance rolling out and the masses sharing the phenomena of #BeeskaTV, we see the start of a fun and exciting journey,” Anand explained, adding a strong uptake is also reflected on the service’s usage and good content consumption.

    Anand and her team are working on getting new business partnership for the platform and some alliances are said to be in the pipeline, which were not disclosed.

    The platform credits its success to a combination of factors: width and depth of content and its incredible pricing. dittoTV offers access to over 100+ Hindi, English and regional-language channels encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle at just Rs 20 a month.

    What worked best on Indian television (general entertainment) seems to have mirrored on the OTT service too as GECs were key drivers of dittoTV, followed by regional and news channels.

    “Regional language content performs superbly across all our platforms and is rising steadily,” opined Anand claiming that regional viewer is also a `returning viewer’ and spends higher time compared to the platform average.

    “On certain days, we’ve actually seen higher consumption for certain regional GECs as compared to key Hindi GECs. Sports and News are very event based and do extremely well for us in bursts when there is a sporting event or breaking news,” Anand said.

    The average view time on the platform has been up to 24 minutes per user. What the reason? Events like cricket (the West Indies vs. India series) and the bundling of dittoTV with data packs with telcos like Idea Cellular have contributed to this substantially.

    dittoTV has deliberately positioned itself differently from other similar players in the markets like HotStar, Sony Liv and Voot as they follow a simple and clear strategy of providing live content similar to what is available on television.

    An aggressive pricing strategy notwithstanding, dittoTV is still far away from replacing cable TV or DTH from consumer homes as a primary source of video consumption, but Anand is upbeat.

    “TV is synonymous with entertainment for the Indian masses and dittoTV being a linear TV offering remains synonymous with TV. I strongly believe that our platform will be a game changer and will help us drive volumes as well as change the way people consume content on-the-go,” she concluded.

  • Siticable partners dittoTV; to push OTT to cable TV and broadband subscribers

    Siticable partners dittoTV; to push OTT to cable TV and broadband subscribers

    MUMBAI: It was over the weekend that Zee Digital Convergence’s unleashed a TVC blitzkrieg, promoting its low priced over the top (OTT) service dittoTV. And now it has announced that it is partnering with Essel group cable TV MSO and sister company Siticable.

    As part of this, Siticable will be pushing the authentication and subscription to dittoTV from its portal to the subscribers of its cable TV service. Its broadband customers will be able to subscribe to OTT service at no extra cost to them. Siticable and dittoTV will do joint promotions on the ground even as last mile operators will also work on further distributing the OTT platform and servicing those who subscribe to it.

    Says dittoTV business head Archana Anand: “We are excited to be partnering with Siticable to give a push to our OTT service. We are looking at maximizing our distribution through the partnership. We launched our TVCs over the weekend and the response has been way beyond our expectations.”

    Adds SitiCable CEO V.D. Wadhwa: “The partnership is an exclusive one for Siticable as an MSO. And it is going to be a win win for both of us.”

    SitiCable has 12 million subscribers nationally to its cable TV service – an attractive potential captive audience for dittoTV.. Last mile operators who push the OTT service will benefit as a revenue share is being given to them.

    The 132,000 Siti Broadband users in Kolkata and Delhi are another lucrative bunch of potential subscribers for dittoTV, especially since it is being bundled with it and being given away free to them. In Delhi, SitiCable delivers broadband using Docsis 3,0 modems to its 30,000 odd subscribers while in Kolkata the number is in excess of 100,000 but the delivery mode is Ethernet on cable. Average revenue per user (ARPU), according to Wadhwa, in Delhi is at Rs 600 while in Kolkata it is Rs 500. While the average bandwidth consumption is 30 GB in Delhi, the figure is half that in the eastern city.

    “Broadband users will be able to watch dittoTV’s 100 channels on their laptops, tablets, and smart TVs in the comfort of their homes using our broadband,” says Wadhwa.

    That probably should lead to a lift in bandwidth consumption, say observers, and an increase in broadband ARPU for Siticable once customers start using the dittoTV app and streaming the linear 100-odd channels that it is providing.

    This apart, SitiCable’s cable TV subscribers, who are using other broadband services – dongles or Chromecast or what have you – will also be able to sign up and stream dittoTV on different devices.

    Anand says the two of them will observe how the partnership is panning out in its Delhi pilot before rolling it out into other towns. Overall she has already said ZDCL was looking at 6 million subscribers in FY-2017. Of these, she says about a million should come courtesy its SitiCable partnership.

    In all probability, dittoTV is going to serve as Siticable’s offering of an anywhere TV app – a la Tata Sky – as the operator says it is not interested in launching one of its own in the foreseeable future.

    As a recap, dittoTV was relaunched last month with an offer of 100 + Hindi, English and regional language channels (excepting Sun TV and Star India) encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle following its relaunch last month. It has come in as a low price warrior with its price tag being Rs 20 for a month, Rs 50 for three months, Rs 90 for six months and Rs 170 for a year.

    “We are definitely serious about OTT, hence we have priced it so low and are targeting large subscriber volumes,” says Anand. “We are investing in it for the future.”

  • Siticable partners dittoTV; to push OTT to cable TV and broadband subscribers

    Siticable partners dittoTV; to push OTT to cable TV and broadband subscribers

    MUMBAI: It was over the weekend that Zee Digital Convergence’s unleashed a TVC blitzkrieg, promoting its low priced over the top (OTT) service dittoTV. And now it has announced that it is partnering with Essel group cable TV MSO and sister company Siticable.

    As part of this, Siticable will be pushing the authentication and subscription to dittoTV from its portal to the subscribers of its cable TV service. Its broadband customers will be able to subscribe to OTT service at no extra cost to them. Siticable and dittoTV will do joint promotions on the ground even as last mile operators will also work on further distributing the OTT platform and servicing those who subscribe to it.

    Says dittoTV business head Archana Anand: “We are excited to be partnering with Siticable to give a push to our OTT service. We are looking at maximizing our distribution through the partnership. We launched our TVCs over the weekend and the response has been way beyond our expectations.”

    Adds SitiCable CEO V.D. Wadhwa: “The partnership is an exclusive one for Siticable as an MSO. And it is going to be a win win for both of us.”

    SitiCable has 12 million subscribers nationally to its cable TV service – an attractive potential captive audience for dittoTV.. Last mile operators who push the OTT service will benefit as a revenue share is being given to them.

    The 132,000 Siti Broadband users in Kolkata and Delhi are another lucrative bunch of potential subscribers for dittoTV, especially since it is being bundled with it and being given away free to them. In Delhi, SitiCable delivers broadband using Docsis 3,0 modems to its 30,000 odd subscribers while in Kolkata the number is in excess of 100,000 but the delivery mode is Ethernet on cable. Average revenue per user (ARPU), according to Wadhwa, in Delhi is at Rs 600 while in Kolkata it is Rs 500. While the average bandwidth consumption is 30 GB in Delhi, the figure is half that in the eastern city.

    “Broadband users will be able to watch dittoTV’s 100 channels on their laptops, tablets, and smart TVs in the comfort of their homes using our broadband,” says Wadhwa.

    That probably should lead to a lift in bandwidth consumption, say observers, and an increase in broadband ARPU for Siticable once customers start using the dittoTV app and streaming the linear 100-odd channels that it is providing.

    This apart, SitiCable’s cable TV subscribers, who are using other broadband services – dongles or Chromecast or what have you – will also be able to sign up and stream dittoTV on different devices.

    Anand says the two of them will observe how the partnership is panning out in its Delhi pilot before rolling it out into other towns. Overall she has already said ZDCL was looking at 6 million subscribers in FY-2017. Of these, she says about a million should come courtesy its SitiCable partnership.

    In all probability, dittoTV is going to serve as Siticable’s offering of an anywhere TV app – a la Tata Sky – as the operator says it is not interested in launching one of its own in the foreseeable future.

    As a recap, dittoTV was relaunched last month with an offer of 100 + Hindi, English and regional language channels (excepting Sun TV and Star India) encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle following its relaunch last month. It has come in as a low price warrior with its price tag being Rs 20 for a month, Rs 50 for three months, Rs 90 for six months and Rs 170 for a year.

    “We are definitely serious about OTT, hence we have priced it so low and are targeting large subscriber volumes,” says Anand. “We are investing in it for the future.”

  • FY-16: Siti Cable revenue up 29.4 percent, EBIDTA up 92 percent

    FY-16: Siti Cable revenue up 29.4 percent, EBIDTA up 92 percent

    BENGALURU: Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable) reported 29.4 percent growth in total revenue (including other revenue) for the fiscal ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16, current fiscal). The company reported total revenue of Rs 1213 crore in FY-16 as compared to Rs 937 crore in the previous year. Operating profit (EBIDTA) in the current year increased to Rs 323 crore as compare to Rs 168.4 crore in FY-15.

    Siti Cable has reported a Profitable Turnaround for the first time in it’s history. Neglecting the impact of minority interest, Siti Cables profit after tax in the current year was Rs 6.84 crore as compared to a loss (without factoring in minority interest) of Rs 101.88 crore in FY-15.The company’s loss in the current year declined to Rs 1.71 crore from a loss of Rs 109.10 crore in FY-15. Siti Cable reported Profit before Tax (PBT) at Rs 22 crores in FY16 as compared to a negative PBT of Rs 85.2 crore..

    Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

    Expenditure in the current year increased 15.8 percent to Rs 890 crore from Rs 768.6 crore in FY-15. Finance cost was up 14 percent in FY-16 at Rs 137.8 crore (11.4 percent of total revenue) as compared to Rs 120.9 crore (12.9 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    FY-16 revenue breakup

    DAS Phase III has been a boon for the television carriage industry. Siti Cable’s Activation revenue for FY-16 more than tripled (3.4 times) to Rs 213.5 crore (~ 18 percent of total revenue) from Rs 62.4 crore (~ 7 percent of total revenue).

    Subscription revenue in FY-16 increased 5.6 percent to Rs 561.2 crore (~46 percent of total revenue) from Rs 531.3 crore (56.7 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    Carriage revenue for FY-16 increased 3.3 percent to Rs 257.1 crore (21.2 percent of total revenue) as compared to Rs 249 crore (26.6 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    Broadband revenue in the current year increased 80.8 percent to Rs 48.1 crore (4 percent of total revenue) from Rs 26.6 crore (2.8 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    Subscription numbers

    Siti Cable’s cable subscribers in FY-16 grew to 1.22 crore from 1.05 crore reported at the end of FY-15. The growth happened in Q3-16.

    Digital subscribers in FY-16 increased to 79 lakh (64.8 percent of cable subscribers) as compared to 53.8 lakh in FY-15 (51.2 percent of cable subscribers). Digital subscribers in the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-16, current quarter) increased by 11 lakh to 79 lakh as compared to 68 lakh in Q3-16.

    Broadband subscribers in FY-16 grew 93.3 percent to1.355 lakh from 0.701 lakh in FY-15. Broadband subscribers in Q3-16 were 1.07 lakh.

    Let us look at the other numbers for Q4-16

    Total revenue in Q4-16 increased 30.9 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) to Rs 364.8 crore as compared to Rs 278.7 crore, but declined 2.7 percent from Rs 374.8 crore in Q3-15.

    Activation revenue in Q4-16 almost quadrupled (3.71 times) y-o-y at Rs 78.2 crore as compared to Rs 21.1 crore, but declined 25.5 percent (quarter-over-quarter) q-o-q from Rs 105 crore.

    Subscription revenue in Q4-16 increased 3.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 147.9 crore from Rs 142.4 crore and increased 1.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 145.8 crore.

    Carriage revenue in the current quarter declined 13.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 63.4 crore as compared to Rs 73.5 crore, but increased 4.8 percent q-o-q from Rs 60.5 crore.

    Broadband revenue in Q4-16 more than doubled (2.01 times) y-o-y to Rs 15.9 crore from Rs 7.9 crore and increased 14.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 13.9 crore.

    Company speak

    Siti Cable executive director & CEO, SITI Cable V D Wadhwa said, “Our strategy of tighter control on cost lines and improving monetization has started yielding results and the company’s profitable turn-around, first time in 20 years, is a testament to that. We continue on our journey of being the fastest growing company in Cable and Broadband by expanding the breadth & width of our distribution. As a part of our strategy, we are working on gaining Industry leadership through organic and inorganic growth.

    Our growth story was recognized not only by the promoters who increased their stake, but also by independent agencies like ICRA who upgraded the long term rating of SITI Cable to [ICRA]A- from [ICRA]BB+. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) will also be including SITI Cable as constituent of their India Domestic Small Cap Index with effect from 31st May 2016. Having expanded in DAS Phase 3, our biggest challenge in FY17 will be monetization. We are well positioned to scale up our Broadband operations aggressively in new geographies in FY17.”

  • FY-16: Siti Cable revenue up 29.4 percent, EBIDTA up 92 percent

    FY-16: Siti Cable revenue up 29.4 percent, EBIDTA up 92 percent

    BENGALURU: Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable) reported 29.4 percent growth in total revenue (including other revenue) for the fiscal ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16, current fiscal). The company reported total revenue of Rs 1213 crore in FY-16 as compared to Rs 937 crore in the previous year. Operating profit (EBIDTA) in the current year increased to Rs 323 crore as compare to Rs 168.4 crore in FY-15.

    Siti Cable has reported a Profitable Turnaround for the first time in it’s history. Neglecting the impact of minority interest, Siti Cables profit after tax in the current year was Rs 6.84 crore as compared to a loss (without factoring in minority interest) of Rs 101.88 crore in FY-15.The company’s loss in the current year declined to Rs 1.71 crore from a loss of Rs 109.10 crore in FY-15. Siti Cable reported Profit before Tax (PBT) at Rs 22 crores in FY16 as compared to a negative PBT of Rs 85.2 crore..

    Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

    Expenditure in the current year increased 15.8 percent to Rs 890 crore from Rs 768.6 crore in FY-15. Finance cost was up 14 percent in FY-16 at Rs 137.8 crore (11.4 percent of total revenue) as compared to Rs 120.9 crore (12.9 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    FY-16 revenue breakup

    DAS Phase III has been a boon for the television carriage industry. Siti Cable’s Activation revenue for FY-16 more than tripled (3.4 times) to Rs 213.5 crore (~ 18 percent of total revenue) from Rs 62.4 crore (~ 7 percent of total revenue).

    Subscription revenue in FY-16 increased 5.6 percent to Rs 561.2 crore (~46 percent of total revenue) from Rs 531.3 crore (56.7 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    Carriage revenue for FY-16 increased 3.3 percent to Rs 257.1 crore (21.2 percent of total revenue) as compared to Rs 249 crore (26.6 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    Broadband revenue in the current year increased 80.8 percent to Rs 48.1 crore (4 percent of total revenue) from Rs 26.6 crore (2.8 percent of total revenue) in FY-15.

    Subscription numbers

    Siti Cable’s cable subscribers in FY-16 grew to 1.22 crore from 1.05 crore reported at the end of FY-15. The growth happened in Q3-16.

    Digital subscribers in FY-16 increased to 79 lakh (64.8 percent of cable subscribers) as compared to 53.8 lakh in FY-15 (51.2 percent of cable subscribers). Digital subscribers in the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-16, current quarter) increased by 11 lakh to 79 lakh as compared to 68 lakh in Q3-16.

    Broadband subscribers in FY-16 grew 93.3 percent to1.355 lakh from 0.701 lakh in FY-15. Broadband subscribers in Q3-16 were 1.07 lakh.

    Let us look at the other numbers for Q4-16

    Total revenue in Q4-16 increased 30.9 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) to Rs 364.8 crore as compared to Rs 278.7 crore, but declined 2.7 percent from Rs 374.8 crore in Q3-15.

    Activation revenue in Q4-16 almost quadrupled (3.71 times) y-o-y at Rs 78.2 crore as compared to Rs 21.1 crore, but declined 25.5 percent (quarter-over-quarter) q-o-q from Rs 105 crore.

    Subscription revenue in Q4-16 increased 3.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 147.9 crore from Rs 142.4 crore and increased 1.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 145.8 crore.

    Carriage revenue in the current quarter declined 13.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 63.4 crore as compared to Rs 73.5 crore, but increased 4.8 percent q-o-q from Rs 60.5 crore.

    Broadband revenue in Q4-16 more than doubled (2.01 times) y-o-y to Rs 15.9 crore from Rs 7.9 crore and increased 14.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 13.9 crore.

    Company speak

    Siti Cable executive director & CEO, SITI Cable V D Wadhwa said, “Our strategy of tighter control on cost lines and improving monetization has started yielding results and the company’s profitable turn-around, first time in 20 years, is a testament to that. We continue on our journey of being the fastest growing company in Cable and Broadband by expanding the breadth & width of our distribution. As a part of our strategy, we are working on gaining Industry leadership through organic and inorganic growth.

    Our growth story was recognized not only by the promoters who increased their stake, but also by independent agencies like ICRA who upgraded the long term rating of SITI Cable to [ICRA]A- from [ICRA]BB+. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) will also be including SITI Cable as constituent of their India Domestic Small Cap Index with effect from 31st May 2016. Having expanded in DAS Phase 3, our biggest challenge in FY17 will be monetization. We are well positioned to scale up our Broadband operations aggressively in new geographies in FY17.”

  • DAS Phase III status report: East and West

    DAS Phase III status report: East and West

    MUMBAI: Though the deadline was announced well in advance, the action on-ground took quite some time to get rolling. And now it’s certainly too late to finish on time. “It’s chaos and carnage together. Digitisation, which was meant to be a panacea has turned out to be a poison for cable operators and it’s sad that there is no one to stand by their side,” said a retired official from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on condition of anonymity.

     

    As per the official’s assessment, on an average, 40 per cent seeding of set-top-boxes (STBs) has been done successfully and it will be impossible to meet the 31 December, 2015.

     

    Digitisation is an East – West – North – South affair and the progress report is quite similar everywhere. This report by Indiantelevision.com covers the proceedings of the eastern and western parts of the country.

     

    East

     

    The North Eastern part of the country has always been one of the most neglected areas when it comes to central government’s attention. The story is no different when it comes to DAS too. “People here are not aware of 10 per cent of the laws. There is nobody to go to and talk about grievances. Not everyone can go to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) as they cannot afford to. So they have two options, to either opt out entirely from the cable business or succumb to unfair means. While there are grievances involved, we cannot expect work to go on a brisk pace and it’s all delayed,” Task Force member from Assam Iquebal Ahmed tells this website.

     

    While Ahmed refrained from putting a number to the progress but as per the assessment of other cable operators, approximately 30 per cent of the seeding has been done so far.

     

    And this 30 per cent is still on higher side the story is even worse in West Bengal. “Only eight to 10 per cent of the seeding has been done so far,” estimates Siticable Kolkata director Suresh Sethia. But he also says the work has picked up recently and it is not impossible to meet the deadline provided there is a surge in consumer demand.

     

    “The government has to advertise more aggressively by putting more newspaper inserts to drive consumer requirement. The message needs to be very clear that people need to have set top boxes before 31 December or there will be no TV,” stresses Sethia.

     

    The crisis of STBs, which is very widely spoken about is not something Sethia is bothered about. “As far as we are concerned, we have enough hardware to meet the demand,” he says confidently.

     

    West

     

    The west side story is a lot better in comparison. “About 60 per cent of the seeding has been done in Gujarat and if we continue with the way we are forging forward, there is a good possibility of us reaching the target by March if not December, provided the deadline is not postponed. However, if the deadline is postponed, the momentum of work will break since the pressure will ease off and then we might not be able to achieve it by June,” says GTPL Hathway COO Shaji Mathews.

     

    Mathews is of the opinion that deals with broadcasters cannot be a reason behind the delay. “Even in Phase I and II, analogue deals continued in digitised areas for a brief period. The transition takes time and will gradually fall in place,” he adds.

     

    However, the progress report in Maharashtra is not as hunky dory as that of Gujarat. The Maharashtra government, like the Central government, is adamant on no extension of deadline. The respective collectors have also communicated the same across every nook and corner. But there is a huge lack of awareness among consumers, says a senior member of Nasik District Cable Operators Federation.

     

    He further adds, “Do we have the infrastructure ready? Why are we not talking about that? The MSOs will benefit the most from this chaotic scenario. They are not releasing the boxes now and the reason is that when the demand hikes up at the last moment, they can jack up the price and sell. DEN is charging Rs 1600 for a STB! Can a phase III consumer afford it? The government needs to look into the deeper issues and generate more awareness instead of showing its muscle power.”

     

    What the scenario at the ground level will be post 31 December, 2015, only time will tell.

     

    Indiantelevision.com’s next report will focus on the ground realities in the Northern and Southern parts of the country. Stay tuned.