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Tag: Tata Sky

  • Vserv to offer solutions to telcos & DTH operators

    Vserv to offer solutions to telcos & DTH operators

    MUMBAI: Smart data platform for mobile marketing in India and Southeast Asia – Vserv has forayed into the burgeoning commerce space.

     

    In an industry-first move, Vserv will now provide an end-to-end solution for telcos and DTH operators, right from the discovery of customers to the transaction of services. This step will empower consumer-facing companies to utilize the combined power of Vserv Smart Data platform and commerce solution.

     

    With this added capability, Vserv will enable telcos to promote segmented offers across data and voice. By driving these transactions, Vserv enhances average revenue per user (ARPU) for telcos. For DTH operators, this translates into selling segmented channel packs leading to a major jump in subscriptions and higher revenue.

     

    Vserv co-founder and CEO Dippak Khurana said, “We saw the opportunity to redefine the relevance, simplicity and convenience of these services for the customer. Vserv’s massive reach of 120 million unique users in India combined with this commerce solution creates a disruptive development in the mobile Internet ecosystem. While our Smart Data platform is a revolutionary offering for mobile marketing, with our commerce solution, we now complete a user’s journey from intent to purchase. This unique proposition provides a powerful opportunity for consumer-facing companies, which are seeking to tap into the growing mobile Internet user base. We have always challenged the status quo and this offering is a gigantic leap towards bringing about a radical shift in the ecosystem.”

     

    The Vserv commerce solution delivering relevance, simplicity and convenience works on a four- pronged approach of: discovery (identifying the right user with Vserv Smart Data), promotion (engaging the user with segmented offers), payment (enabling seamless transaction for the user) and activation (quick and easy activation of the service).

     

    The total revenue of telco and DTH services in India stood at around $31 billion in 2014, and is currently growing at a rate of 10 per cent per annum. Within this, the share of digital commerce is close to 10 per cent and is expected to grow by 300 per cent in the next four years. This growth will be fuelled by the rapidly expanding Internet user base, which is expected to reach 500 million users by 2018, 80 per cent of which will be contributed by mobile users. With the largest mobile Internet user base in India and its unique proposition of enabling commerce for consumer-facing companies, Vserv is strategically positioned to capture a sizeable market share.

  • “Disorganisation of analogue cable in Phase III & IV will help DTH”: Harit Nagpal

    “Disorganisation of analogue cable in Phase III & IV will help DTH”: Harit Nagpal

    MUMBAI: While India has witnessed Phase I and Phase II of digitisation, the remaining two phases (i.e Phase III and IV) will go a long way in aiding more transparency. Direct to Home (DTH) platforms too are an enthused lot, hoping it will help them gain additional subscribers. 

     

    Speaking about the expected development Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal said, “As digitisation rolls out, we are hopeful that a large number of consumers will move to DTH because analogue cable is little less organised in Phase III and IV of digitisation.”

     

    Nagpal said that the first two phases impacted approximately 15 per cent of the TV population. According to him, when it came to the process of conversion from analogue cable to digital, about 40 per cent of the analogue subscribers picked up DTH.  Nagpal was speaking at the Asia Pacific Operators Summit (APOS) held in Balli recently.

     

    Speaking about net additions, he said that the pace had not slowed down. “Even when we were acquiring close to 10 million subscribers as gross, we were getting three to four net additions. Today, the industry picks six to seven million gross, it still makes three to four million net.” Nagpal further added that this would be facilitated by digitisation in places where the first two phases were complete.

     

    Nagpal believes that the top four DTH players will become cash positive very soon. “It’s on the horizon now. We have already been covering our operational costs. The investment that is really going into the business is going to fund the growth,” he said.

     

    According to Nagpal, an investor wouldn’t mind finding the growth because on a 10-12 per cent churn, the life of a customer is seven to eight years. As such if the pay back is three years, then an operator has about six to seven years cash life with the customer.

     

    “Thus an investor is happy to invest and add the gross adds faster and does not mind paying for the investment,” he added.

     

    While on the one hand, Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera expressed his displeasure over premium content being distributed for free by Over The Top (OTT) platforms, Nagpal explained his point of view. “I treat myself, i.e. a content access provider, as a grocer. We buy soaps and cereals in bulk and sell them in small packets. If three generations in a single family want to consume bread, rice and pasta we have it stocked. Secondly, if these three generations ordered the food respectively via in shop, over the phone or placed an order online, I have to cater to that and make it convenient for customers.” 

     

    He further said that he would not go about cursing people as to why content is being given out for free. “I have to make it convenient for the customer to find everything at one place,” he stressed.

     

    On the added service of video on demand (VOD), Nagpal said that four years ago when Tata Sky launched VOD, it had seen an investment of close to $10 million. Currently the operator was just breaking even on operating costs. “But we know it’s a long term play. It’s not necessarily a play of premium content. In fact, on our first VOD we made available Hindi movies and not English. The reason being English movies’ rights holders were sceptical and insisted on minimum guarantees.”

     

    On the issue of broadband bandwidth, Nagpal stated that going by the current world wide web phenomenon it was obvious that  video cannot be carried by over the air as the last mile has to be connected by at least some form of wire. He hoped a new entity would cater to this business very soon. 

     

    “Currently there are a lot of entrepreneurs who provide broadband very well in some areas. They have just been constrained by expansion. We are hoping that in a year’s time the landscape will change. Some funding will come in and then they will expand,” he concluded.

  • IPL8: Internet services & B2C grab eyeballs; Vodafone tops brands chart

    IPL8: Internet services & B2C grab eyeballs; Vodafone tops brands chart

    MUMBAI: A total of 52 brands from 28 categories have garnished the commercial breaks between overs and fall of wickets so far in the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) season 8. 

    Amongst all the categories, Internet services and B2C categories topped the chart with 29 per cent share of ad volume. It must be noted that e-commerce ventures like Amazon, PayTm also fell under the same category. Amazon upgraded itself as a presenting sponsor of the flagship franchisee cricket tournament.

    On second spot stood cellular phone services with a share of 11 per cent of ad volume, whereas cellular phones – smart phones category with a 10 per cent share of ad volume was on the third spot. Two wheelers and aerated drinks were ranked fourth and fifth with shares of eight and six per cent respectively.

    The pole position in brands chart was acquired by Vodafone cellular phone service (8.4 per cent share) closely followed by Amazon.in (8.03 per cent share). DTH player Tata Sky, which recently launched a multi film series ad campaign called ‘Daily Dillagi’ exclusively for the IPL, ranked third in the list of brands with top ad share. Paytm and Snapedeal.com followed at fourth and fifth spot respectively.

    • Parameters

    1. Source : TAM Media Research

    2. Channel: SONY MAX || SONY SIX || SONY AATH || SONY KIX

    3. Period: 8 April – 18 April, 2015

    4. Match: Match 01 – Match 14

    Commercial Advertising: A period of time when commercial ads are shown during live telecast of the match at events like over change, fall of wicket etc.  

    • Highlights:

    • A total of 57 brands were present during Commercial Breaks of IPL 8 matches on Sony Max, Sony Six, Sony Aath and Sony Kix.
    • Twenty-nine per cent share of ad volumes during IPL 8 matches was from ‘Internet Service – B2C & Online Shopping’ category under which brands Amazon and paytm topped.

    · Notes:

    1. Only Live matches excluding Pre-Mid-Post Match analysis

    2. Report based on Pure Advertising duration i.e. it excludes Program Promotion ads, Franchisee ad, Cricket Board (BCCI) and Official Broadcaster (Max)

  • Tata Sky targets southern market with customised packs

    Tata Sky targets southern market with customised packs

    MUMBAI: After creating quite a stir in the industry by introducing its Rs 8 daily recharge voucher, Direct to home (DTH) service provider Tata Sky has rolled out customized packs specifically targeted towards the Southern markets in India.

     

    These modular packs called the My 99 pack, enables viewers to avail varied regional channels at a reasonable cost along with a base pack of Rs 99.

     

    According to Tata Sky chief communications officer Malay Dikshit, the move will help Tata Sky to tackle analog users in the region situated within urban and rural areas.

     

    “Being price and value sensitive, subscribers were keen to do away with the other language channels that they didn’t view as a part of their base pack and stick to a bouquet of only their favorite language channels. My 99 pack is the answer for all those subscribers,” Dikshit said.

     

    The My 99 pack comprises over 100 channels across genres such as general news, entertainment and movies to which subscribers can add as many language channel packs (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada) of their choice. Available to new as well as existing subscribers, this pack is specifically conceptualized keeping in mind the requirements of the subscribers residing in the south. The DTH operator is looking at adding new subscribers by launching this initiative.

     

    With the challenge of digitization across the state, such customized and mini packs is also likely to give the DTH sector the much-needed push. 

  • Love story to be flag bearer of Tata Sky’s disruptive initiative

    Love story to be flag bearer of Tata Sky’s disruptive initiative

    MUMBAI: Indian DTH player Tata Sky rattled competitors when it launched the world’s first ‘Daily Recharge’ plan for a meager Rs 8, which gave viewers the choice to enjoy TV on a daily basis.

     

    In order to promote this disruptive concept, Tata Sky introduced a first of its kind ad campaign in association with Ogilvy & Mather, comprising a series of 13 TVCs. The campaign weaved into a love story, showcases the Daily Recharge of Rs 8 as the catalyst, igniting a love interest between two youngsters.

     

    Set in a small town in Kashmir, 13 episodes will slowly unveil how the product works and cleverly amplify the benefits of Daily Recharge, through Mannu (Prit Kamani) and Neelu (Himani Sisodiya) the protagonists of the love story. Keeping the thrill to know ‘what happens next?’ alive, each TVC will smoothly highlight how the Daily Recharge enables convenience and value for money. The ad will also aptly shows how Daily Recharge empowers subscribers to be in control of their TV expenses, conveying – Jis din TV dekho sirf uss din ke paise do (You only pay for the day you watch TV).

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com on the campaign insight, Ogilvy & Mather executive creative director Sukesh Nayak says, “We had to make the small towns and rural India fall in love with Daily Recharge – a product that was designed to make DTH accessible and affordable to rural and small towns in India. We launched this product with a unique love story that promotes everyday usage in an interesting manner. The promise: “Daily milenge toh pyaar to hoga hi” is a simple expression of the product benefit and the brand promise. To further reinforce daily usage, the campaign evolved over multiple episodes.”

     

    When queried on the reason behind choosing Kashmir as the location for the ad shoot, Nayak says, “We wanted a quaint and beautiful small town setting for a romantic story, and Gulmarg is a place you would fall in love with at first sight.”

     

    Every successful one of a kind campaign tends to start a trend and is copied by others. When queried as to whether he sees this concept becoming a trend, Nayak says, “It is not necessary that the multi-film concept will start trending, as it is the idea that drives an execution like this.”

     
    The ads were launched during the Indian Premier League (IPL) with one episode being played each day. Of the ad’s 13 films, every episode is released simultaneously on TV and on the digital platform.

     

    All the videos garnered substantial number of views, but an unusual trend has emerged from the campaign. Of all the eight videos released so far on the social media platform, the first has the least views while the last has the most. Talking about the same, Nayak says, “In an episodic campaign, the response peaks as the story unfolds, hence the ascending views on YouTube. We are extremely happy with the response we have got. This campaign pitches a value offering in a very emotional and endearing manner. If we look at the category both the product and campaign have a very innovative approach.” 

     

    The ads were launched during the Indian Premier League (IPL) with one episode being played each day. Of the ad’s 13 films, every episode is released simultaneously on TV and on the digital platform.

  • DTH operators gear up to woo new customers during IPL

    DTH operators gear up to woo new customers during IPL

    MUMBAI: Will Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) continue its winning streak from last year or will there be another team that will be crowned as this year’s champions in the Indian Premier League (IPL). While a billion people mull over what the final outcome of the cricket tourney will be, Indian direct to home (DTH) operators are not far behind from milking the multibillion dollar sports property.

     

    When quizzed about how the IPL was aiding operators in getting subscriptions, Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal says, “Any activity or event like the IPL generates viewer interest. This viewer interest is important and critical in adding subscriptions. But our pricing and such events are independent of each other. People are likely to follow the event and therefore make a purchase.”

     

    Agreeing with him, Sun Direct CEO Mahesh Kumar reasons, “IPL is a fantastic form of cricket that is full of entertainment. Given that we are at the forefront in providing entertainment, the IPL fits in well.”

     

    Kumar is of the opinion that customers coming back from the exam season will definitely be keen to latch on to new connections from Sun Direct as they are providing IPL on Sony Six free to new customers as an incentive. The operator will also provide the IPL add-on free for customers, who recharge beyond six months.

     

    “We see the IPL as a good tool to win back customers and improve our recharges substantially. We also have an add-on for Rs 44, which allows customers to watch the T20 matches for the entire duration of the tournament, apart from the a la carte of Sony Six and Set Max,” he adds.

     

    Dish TV came on board as the official partner for Shah Rukh Khan’s KKR for a fourth time now. The association is a good brand fix as Khan is also the brand ambassador for the DTH operator. The logo of Dish TV will be prominently featured on the non-lead arm of KKR players’ jersey.

     

    “SRK believes in enthralling his audience with quality and consistent entertainment, which is the same philosophy that we at Dish TV believe in. Kolkata has always been a very important market for us and over the years we have been working with the eastern region for trade and consumer engagement activities,” opines Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor.

     

    Kapoor is hopeful that the IPL will bring in added subscriptions. According to him, with cricket fans across the globe, TV sales are likely to see a jump, which in turn will generate a demand for HD channels. “Shah Rukh’s connect and the fact that Dish TV has a strong bouquet of 41 HD channels will help in increasing brand equity, which in turn will result in good sales for us during this IPL,” Kapoor adds.

     

    When asked about the company’s plans during the IPL, Kapoor informs that the ethos behind their brand – i.e. fuelling the passion for entertainment – is to ensure that it goes beyond sports. “This special package is customized to suit the needs of every member of the family. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced the Cricket + package. Our HD channels’ offering is the highest in the industry at present,” he says.

     

    Videocon d2h too has continued its association as the principal sponsor for the Mumbai Indians franchise for the third continuous season of the IPL. The logo of Videocon d2h will feature on the front of the jersey of Mumbai Indians players. Speaking about the same, Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera says, “We are hopeful of garnering greater visibility for our brand and are looking forward to another eventful year through this partnership.”

     

    Airtel Digital TV has launched various schemes for its customers during this IPL. A company spokesperson informs that for all customers buying Samsung Curve and UHD TV, Airtel Digital TV will offer HD DVR connection at the same cost as that of an HD connection.

     

    “All customers will get discount coupons worth Rs 2650. Customer can enjoy watching the matches on an HD DVR by paying Rs 2350. This box has inbuilt hard disk of 500 GB and customer can enjoy record content up to 750 hours enabling customer to record and watch the matches at a time convenient. Additionally, customers will get free subscription for up to 12 months through a scratch card offer,” informs the spokesperson.

     

    Besides on all other Samsung models, Airtel Digital TV will offer a discount coupon of Rs 660 on its HD+ variant. Additionally customers will get a 8 GB pen drive worth Rs 399 free enabling them to record. Activation charges on Samsung smart direct TVs will be waved off completely.

  • Tata Sky introduces first ever daily recharge voucher

    Tata Sky introduces first ever daily recharge voucher

    MUMBAI: In yet another first, DTH operator Tata Sky has introduced the first ever daily recharge voucher empowering subscribers to pay only for the days they watched TV. This pioneering concept allows a minimum recharge value starting at Rs 8, making it the smallest denomination of recharge voucher in the television viewing sector globally.

     

    This innovation by Tata Sky puts the subscriber in control of his/her TV viewing expenses. There are a substantial number of subscribers who pay a monthly charge, but for some reason or another are unable to view TV on a daily basis.

     

    Tata Sky’s daily recharge enables them to now choose when to pay for their TV viewing. For a large part of the population, they can economize and re-charge their set top box on days when electricity is available, or when they are back from vacation. Similarly, they can decide on days when not to recharge for example during exam days or when travelling away from home.

     

    Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal said, “We are confident that the introduction of Tata Sky’s ‘Daily Recharge’ will gain traction across the nation. The ‘Daily Recharge’ option available at Rs 8, 10, 20, 50 and 100 enables us to put power in the consumer’s hands to choose their level of convenience. It also elevates the DTH sector by redefining the pace of digitization and reach to markets nationwide.”

     

    With the understanding that there is a demand in smaller towns and villages for bite sized consumption (much like shampoo sachets and small sized mobile recharges), the ‘Daily Recharge’ card enables Tata Sky to make inroads into these untapped markets. Moreover, with digitization phase III still a year away, this plan should help accelerate acceptance of DTH sector in India.

  • Tata Sky doubles pace of team handling service disruption complaints

    Tata Sky doubles pace of team handling service disruption complaints

    MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has been having sleepless nights in order to ensure that services are restored soon to its customers, who have been impacted by disruption in signals.

     

    According to Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal, the services will be restored in a couple of days. “Around 25,000 of our one crore customers have been experiencing disruption. This is because of our technology upgrade, which we undertake every three months. It is an ongoing process,” Nagpal tells Indiantelevision.com.

     

    The process is being undertaken to ensure that the DTH operator’s customers receive enhanced services. Nagpal further informs that the company is working hard to reach out to the affected 25,000 customers. The upgrade is being undertaken for technology compression purposes to enhance the channel carrying capacity of the operator.

     

    “Our services continue. They have not been impacted. We have also doubled the pace of our team handling the complaints. During the entire weekend, nobody slept,” states Nagpal when queried about them reaching out to customers experiencing the disruption in services.

     

    While a similar disruption had impacted close to 17,000 customers of Tata Sky last month, Nagpal says that this time around, the company had informed its audiences well in advance by coming up with a campaign on television. 

     

    Customers facing signal issues have also been asked to give a missed call on 0 88998 88998 or SMS ‘NS’ to 56633 on the operator’s website.

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

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

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

  • AL Jazeera English inks distribution deal with Airtel Digital TV

    AL Jazeera English inks distribution deal with Airtel Digital TV

    MUMBAI: In a bid to expand its distribution network in India, Al Jazeera English has signed a distribution agreement with Airtel Digital TV.

     

    The channel will be available on the Airtel Digital TV’s channel no. 321. With this partnership, Al Jazeera English will now be accessible on all major Direct to Home (DTH) platforms such as Dish TV, Tata Sky, Reliance and Airtel Digital TV in India.

     

    Al Jazeera Media Network executive director, marketing and distribution Abdulla Al Najjar said, “We are very pleased with this agreement. We have a strategic commitment to employ new avenues and platforms for audiences across the world to access our content. We look forward to delivering Al Jazeera English’s ground-breaking content for audiences across India with such partnerships.”

     

    Al Jazeera English’s association with Airtel Digital TV will allow them to cater to its users on the network. Viewers will now be able to access Al Jazeera’s award winning news and programme content from around the world. Globally, Al Jazeera English is available in over 260 million households across 130 countries.

     

    Launched in November 2011 in India, Al Jazeera English is known for its belief in the shared humanity of the global community, and as a result keeps real people at the centre of the story.