New Delhi: Dish TV India has reported second-quarter fiscal 2021 unaudited consolidated subscription revenues of Rs.7,65.7 crore and operating revenues of Rs. 8,46.4 crore.
The subscription revenue has seen a dip of 3.3 per cent year-on-year. In 2019, the subscription revenue stood at Rs 792 crore for the same period.
Operating revenue is also down by 5.2 per cent Y-o-Y. The operating revenue for the same quarter in 2019 stood at Rs 893.2 crore.
EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs. 525.3 crore up 0.9 per cent Y-o-Y. EBITDA margin was at 62.1 per cent, up 380 bps Y-o-Y.
Profit after tax was Rs. 64.5 crore as against a loss of Rs. 96.4 crore last year.
Total expenses during the quarter were down 13.9 per cent Y-o-Y despite the loss from discard of consumer premises equipment (CPE), with trade partners, due to regional floods. The loss on account of write off of such CPE was to the tune of Rs. 99 million, as against Rs. 30 million in the previous year.
Dish TV reported strong second-quarter numbers despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic and a generally weak quarter. Working on all fronts, the company continued to build on its strengths while exploring and developing new technologies and processes to strengthen areas requiring improvement. As one of the steps towards retaining existing subscribers the company, in a bid to enhance subscriber engagement with the platform, upgraded its home-grown OTT platform ‘Watcho.
’ The upgrade introduced a popular feature that allows subscribers to create and upload videos. ‘Watcho,’ hosts a variety of indigenous web series and is believed to be an important connect between the DTH platform and its subscribers. The newly introduced feature provides a stage for creators to produce content in multiple formats – short to very short videos and short films, thus giving them exposure while helping ‘Watcho’ gain momentum in the user-generated content ecosystem. With social distancing norms keeping majority of the people indoors for most of the quarter, the company considered it critical to continue to work on further streamlining the touchless and digital recharge and buying experience.
While home delivery of set-top boxes picked up speed, the sales and service teams spent significant time upskilling themselves and the on-ground network to integrate the new normal into their regular business practices.
On the cost front, work on enhancing operational efficiencies and cost optimization carried on. In a significant departure from years of practice the company decided to procure set-top-boxes and other key accessories from India, going forward.
The first consignment of ‘Made in India’ set-top-boxes was deployed during the quarter and India made power adaptors and remote controls are next on the list. The company initially plans to procure almost 50 per cent of its requirement of STBs from India.
Dish TV India CMD Jawahar Goel said, “We are excited to be a part of the Government of India’s, ‘Make in India’ initiative and are geared up to localize the manufacturing of set-top-boxes and other key accessories. With the vision of ‘Make in India,’ we reiterate our commitment to quality products that would exceed the rapidly evolving needs of customers. We thank the Government for their support and favourable policies that would help grow the sector.”
In the absence of fresh television content from pay entertainment broadcasters, subscribers remained picky in channel selection.
Dish TV India group CEO Anil Dua said, “We continue to be cautious yet agile, listening to market and customer voices. As we tread through these never seen before times, we remain committed to leveraging our strengths and overcoming our shortcomings to keep Dish TV India strong, relevant and profitable. Our performance during the quarter was in line with our larger strategic decisions such as, disciplined acquisition and sensible capital investment. Lower overall revenues were more than offset by our expense management measures.”
Dish TV and d2h continued to strengthen their regional content portfolio during the quarter. Both platforms added six new HD channels for their respective subscribers down south, making them amongst the strongest content platforms in those markets. Other regional markets like Bengal and Orissa too witnessed fresh content being added to their list of channels.
In Bengal, Dish TV India partnered with ‘Hoichoi,’ a leading Bengali on-demand platform. The ‘Hoichoi’ app was also added in the App Zone of the Companies Android based connected devices, Dish SMRT Hub and d2h Stream. The company looks forward to enhance the content offering on its hybrid STB through more such partnerships aimed at catering to the entertainment appetite of its native language subscribers.
Dish TV India, in an industry-first initiative, announced the launch of ‘Korean Drama Active’ service. Observing a surge in consumption of content of Korean origin online, the company in its endeavour to meet subscriber viewing preferences launched the Korean Active service at a nominal subscription price of Rs. 47 plus taxes per month. The service enriches subscribers’ DTH experience by giving them access to more than 300 hours of premium Korean content dubbed in Hindi language.
