ITV

Tag: Zing

  • “We are aiming to get digital users to switch to our OTT platform”: RC Venkateish

    “We are aiming to get digital users to switch to our OTT platform”: RC Venkateish

    At a time when digitization of cable television is throwing up a major challenge to direct-to-home (DTH) operators, Dish TV has reported a 55.2 per cent higher profit after at Rs 54.21 crore in the quarter ended 30 June. It is the first DTH company to report a profit after tax, also adding 390,000 subscribers, which was only slightly lower than the figure of 404,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014-15. Dish TV now has 13.3 million subscribers. The ARPU is more or less the same, but subscriber acquisition costs are running at Rs 1750 per subscriber.

                         

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish spoke of the work that had gone into achieving this success.

     

    Excerpts:

     

    To what do you attribute your success in reaching out to more subscribers and coming up with an impressive revenue figure?

     

    I feel that the credit goes to better marketing strategies and the youth-based Zing, which has been lapped up by the people because of the local content. In fact, Zing has also succeeded because there is greater emphasis on the language of the region where it is beamed with local content and programming.

     

    Can you throw some light on the plans to launch Zing in the Kerala market?

     

    Zing has been present in the Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. And we are now expanding and moving to Kerala with Malayalam content.

     

    Dish TV’s subscription figures are somewhat lower than those in the last quarter of 2014-15. Comment.

     

    Well, the effort is to consolidate and grow. Dish expects to add 1.5 to 1.7 million subscribers this year. Do not overlook the fact that last year we had got 332,000 subscribers in the same period (first quarter of 2014-15). The gradual shift to digitization will also help, and therefore the concentration at present is on Phase III and Phase IV.

     

    But the ARPU shows an increase of only one rupee over the previous quarter, ending up at Rs 173 a month.

     

    The ARPU is always typically low in the first quarter but picks up later.

     

    The Government is emphasizing on indigenous set top boxes. Are you installing local STBs for your subscribers?

     

    Dish is currently getting these mostly from Korea though every effort is being made to get good quality indigenous STBs.

     

    Dish TV also has a tie-up with Kolkata Knight Riders. How much of the budget goes into marketing and advertising?

     

    The players wear Dish TV armbands, and the tie-up gives us the opportunity to have in-stadia advertising through boards etc.

     

    I would not say budget, but around 3.5 per cent of the topline sales go into advertising and marketing. The advertising is not done merely through Zee’s own channels but also through other channels, digital platforms, hoardings, newspapers and FM channels.  

     

    Can you tell us something about your future plans?

     

    We are working on our over-the-top (OTT) platform – DishOnline and aiming to get digital subscribers on to this platform.

     

    There has been some tirade against local channels run by DTH operators. Comment.

     

    We do not have a local channel. But the channel that opens as one switches on Dish is aimed only at advertising various schemes of the platform and modes of payment.

     

  • Zing launches new shows; dubs Bollywood movies in English

    Zing launches new shows; dubs Bollywood movies in English

    MUMBAI: UK’s entertainment and lifestyle channel Zing has launched a slew of new shows as part of its programming line-up. 

     

    Zing will also be launching a new initiative wherein it will dub popular Bollywood movies like Kai Po Che and Namaste London amongst others in English. These will be aired every Saturday night at 8:30 pm.

     

    The first show to launch is titled Spirits of India – The Festivals and will celebrate the distinct flavours of different regions in India. Just as the map of our country is marked with ever changing topography, the various cultures that are born from these changes help decorate the calendar with festivals and celebrations. 

     

    India perhaps has more festivals than any other part of the world. Moreover, India’s vast storehouse of myths gives endless reasons to celebrate.  Because in India, there is a festival for everything beautiful in life – lights, colours, music, dancing and sheer spirit. And this is exactly what Zing plans to showcase through the new show Spirit of India – The Festivals.

     

    Apart from Spirit of India, Zing will also give a sneak peek into the lives of Bollywood stars and see how they carry themselves off-screen and onscreen with its new show Style Decode every Saturday at 8 pm.

     

    Additionally, a show titled Harry Met Sally will be aired every Sunday at 8 pm. The show will feature gossips, events and movie reviews from Bollywood.

     

    Zing will also add new content with its cookery shows, Kifayati Kitchen, The Urban Cook, All About Cooking and FilmiRasoi in the daily 6:30 pm slot.

  • Zing set to launch season four of ‘Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya’

    Zing set to launch season four of ‘Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya’

    MUMBAI: Zing is all set to launch the fourth season of its popular show Pyar Tune Kya Kiya (PTKK).

     

    The new season will go on air from 17 April at 7 pm and will see PTKK in a fresh outlook, be it the content or the talent. Parth Samthaan and Smriti Kalra will be seen in this season of 13 episodes, which is set in a college.

     

    Zing channel head Vishnu Shankar said, “The journey of PTKK has been exciting for us. We are glad that we have a dedicated audience for the show that connects directly with the youth and their perception. PTKK has maintained a strong top ranking consistently with the viewership multiplying manifolds resulting into the show being the leader in the 7 pm slot. In our endeavour to keep the show real and engaging, all the stories in Season 4 will have certain realism, which will enable our audiences to easily relate to them. With the new season, the quality of the content and performances promises to be more refreshing than ever before.”

     

    The channel aims to inform and enable viewers to make the right decision instilling strong moral grounds via this show.

     

  • 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.

  • Dish TV aims to boost ARPU with differential pricing strategy

    Dish TV aims to boost ARPU with differential pricing strategy

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

  • 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.”

  • RC Venkateish’s top 5 predictions for 2015

    RC Venkateish’s top 5 predictions for 2015

    MUMBAI: The direct to home (DTH) industry is looking forward to an exciting year ahead. The sector, which saw some improved subscriber numbers and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), is hoping to improve it further this year, while continuing to add more innovative services to its kitty.

    According to The DTH Operators Association president and Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish, the overall additions in subscribers, for all the DTH players in the year 2014, were higher in magnitude of 25-30 per cent than 2013.

    While the industry faced some challenges in the previous year, with regards to high taxation and DTH licence fee issue, it hopes to have some clarity on it in 2015.

    The year 2014 saw some positive growth in Dish TV, as it regained its share leadership for about last three to four quarters. The DTH operator also launched a significant and tactical product in Zing which has helped it to capitalise in the phase III and IV areas.

    Indiantelevision.com asks Venkateish to list down his top five predictions for the year 2015:

    •    2015 will be an interesting year. It starts off with the ICC Cricket World Cup, which is a very high profile event. This will give a lot of momentum and boost to all the DTH operators, who could also gain traction in the phase III and IV markets. This is also being supported by developments like the new channel launches and talks of rational regulations coming in to keep the supply prices of high definition (HD) under control, so that’s one reliever.

     

    •    The year will also see a few operators showcasing some new technologies like 4K, though it’s still very far away.

     

    •    One might also see the launch of online consumption media. This trend has started picking up, but currently is at a nascent stage.

     

    •    For Dish TV, we will continue to strengthen the share leadership in all the segments. We will expand Zing to other geographies during the course of the year. We will push new technologies and there will be a couple of new products which will be launched around these new technologies.

     

    •    Overall, we go in to the New Year on a very positive note, and with the kind of plans we have, we hope we can sustain the kind of growth we gained in 2014.

     

  • Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2015

    Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2015

    MUMBAI: Reporting earnings for the current quarter (Q2-2015), Dish TV India Limited (Dish TV) announced addition of 3,78,000 subscribers in the quarter taking net subscriber base to 1.21 crore at the end of the quarter. The company added 3,32,000 subscribers last quarter and 164,000 subscribers in the corresponding quarter last year.

     

    The subscription revenue for the quarter rose 12.2 per cent to Rs 616.8 crore y-o-y while the total operating income (Total Income from Operations – TIO) at Rs 672.3 crore was 11.9 per cent more than Rs 600.8 crore in Q2-2014 and 4.9 per cent more than Rs 640.6 crore in Q1-2015.

     

    Also reporting the half yearly result, the HY1-2015 TIO for the company at Rs 1290.8 crore was 7.2 per cent more than Rs 1203.9 crore in HY1-2014.

     

    The company announced a decline in loss for the current quarter at Rs 15.1 crore as compared to the Rs 16.05 crore in the trailing quarter but higher than the Rs 8.53 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

     

    The total expenditure of the company for the current quarter also rose to Rs 661.9 crore, 11.1 per cent up from Rs 595.5 crore in Q2-2014 and 5.2 per cent more than Rs 628.8 in the trailing quarter.

     

    The company reported the total expenditure for HY1-2015 at Rs 1290.8 crore which was 7.2 per cent more than Rs 1203.9 crore in HY1-2014.

     

    The increase in total expenditure can be attributed to rise in Employee benefit expense (EBE), advertising expense (AE) and selling and distribution expenses (S&DE).

     

    The EBE for Q2-2015 was reported at Rs 25.16 crore, up 12.6 per cent from Rs 22.34 crore in the corresponding quarter last year and 1.6 per cent lower than the trailing quarter.

     

    AE in Q2-2015 at Rs 17.7 crore, was 39.4 per cent more than Rs 12.7 crore in Q1-2015 while the selling and distribution expenditure rose 22.1 per cent Q-o-Q.

     

    The S&DE comprises of commission and other selling and distribution expenses.

     

    The commissions for the company in Q2-2015 was reported at Rs 60.74, 12.2 per cent more than Rs 54.12 crore announced in the immediate trailing quarter and  41.3 per cent more than Rs 42.96 crore in Q2-2014.

     

    While the other selling and distribution expenses at Rs 53.8 crore jumped 42.1 per cent from Rs 37.86 in Q1-2015 and 74.9 per cent from Rs 30.76 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

     

    ARPU for the second quarter increased to Rs 172 from Rs 170 in the previous quarter. Despite significantly higher activations, churn continued to be at a healthy 0.7 per cent per month. Festival driven, higher selling and distribution expenses resulted in the EBITDA margin being marginally lower at 24.1 per cent compared to 24.5 per cent in the previous quarter, said the press release.

     

    EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 162.3 crore, up 4.4 per cent as compared to Rs 155.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

    Talking about the overall industry growth, Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra said, “The industry, led by Dish TV, recorded a healthy 38 per cent Y-o-Y growth in gross additions during the second quarter of fiscal 2015.”

     

    “Our performance during the second quarter is a reflection of our belief that a financially stable business is best placed to capitalize on any growth opportunity. While we have been growing in the right direction, growth without healthy returns to our shareholders falls below our aspirations. However, we are committed to generate them and by focusing on revenues, expenses and balance sheet quality we are building near term benefits for all our stakeholders,” he added commenting on the company’s earnings report.

     

    Adding to the same, Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel said, “Dish TV maintained its leadership position during the second quarter. Buoyed by a healthy growth in HD sales and good traction coming in from sale of the ‘Zing’ brand.”

     

    He further added, “In view of the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ campaign Dish TV is re-evaluating possibilities for domestic manufacturing of set top boxes.” High Definition (HD) box sales gained Traction. It comprises of 15 per cent of the incremental additions.

     

    Despite the push back of digitization, ‘Zing’ helped propel the sales of the flagship ‘Dishtv’ brand through a wider reach and top of the mind recall. The newly introduced Sports driven packaging also found instant favor with subscribers, thus enabling Dish TV outgrow the industry growth rate, the press release added.

     

    Click here to read the unaudited financial result

     

    Click here to read the press release

  • Dish TV’s Zing now targets Telugu viewers

    Dish TV’s Zing now targets Telugu viewers

    MUMBAI: After making inroads into West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura and Maharashtra, Dish TV’s regional targeted brand Zing Digital has now made its presence in the Telugu market of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

     

    38 Telugu channels and services and over 100 channels will be available for selection with packs starting at Rs 99 per month. This is the maximum number of channel for any state till now.

     

    Speaking on the development, Dish TV India COO Salil Kapoor said, “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. Zing will address this need and provide maximum available regional content to viewers through exciting packs as compared to other DTH brands.” Therefore, customers will have a dedicated Telugu call centre and local dealers to help solve their issues.

     

    A consumer demographic study conducted by them has indicated that a large segment of TV viewers from medium and small town prefer content from their own region. Which is why Dish TV has ventured into creating this sub brand.

     

    Four packs have been offered:

     

    -Namaskaram Pack that 16 Telugu channels for Rs 99.

     

    -Shubharam pack that has maximum Telugu channels and Hindi entertainment for Rs 165.

     

    -Kridangam pack which will cater to sports lovers for Rs 199.

     

    -Utsawam pack with sports, English entertainment and 38 Telugu channels and services for Rs 349.

     

    Dish TV is looking at acquiring a decent amount of subscribers from the large analogue market in the state into first time digital subscribers. As per a TRAI report, Andhra Pradesh has the highest cable TV homes in India at 15 per cent of the total cable TV homes.

  • Dish TV adds some Zing to Maharashtra

    Dish TV adds some Zing to Maharashtra

    MUMBAI: After targeting the east of the country, Dish TV has trained its sights on the diametrically opposite part of India – Maharashtra – with its regional sub brand Zing.  The western state has arguably the highest penetration of TV viewing homes nationally.

    Zing has been spreading out gradually over various towns and districts of Maharashtra right from Nashik to Ratnagiri to Aurangabad to Amravati over the past few days. It will however be focusing primarily in the heartlands and on areas where language consumption is very high; hence bigger cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur won’t be exposed to the brand.

     

    Earlier this year, Zing was launched in West Bengal, Odisha and Tripura. The aim is to provide a DTH offering that can compete with cable but with digital picture quality, stereophonic sound and at affordable rates. Says Dish TV marketing VP Anjali Malhotra, “When these analogue consumers think of going digital we come as the first proposition. As markets will open up in phase III and IV, we do see an opportunity between other private DTH players and DD’s Freedish.”

     

    There are three packs available – Utsav, Anando and Shubharambh that will have 16 Marathi channels such as Zee Talkies, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Marathi, Star Pravah, Mi Marathi, ABP Mazha, IBN Lokmat, Saam TV, Maayboli, 9X Jhakaas, Jai Maharashtra, TV9 Maharashtra,  DD Sahyadri and ETV Marathi.

     

    Estimates peg Maharashtra’s cable TV and DTH homes at around 4-5 crore with a considerable amount of that being covered under the first two phases of digitisation.

    A marketing campaign worth Rs 6 crore has already begun across various towns and cities. The first phase was ground activations through mobile vans and merchandising activities. The ATL campaign that just commenced includes Marathi newspapers, local radio spots and close to 100 outdoor billboards in city and market areas. The ATL marketing that has been executed by McCann with planning in the hands of Madison will go on for a month.

    “Consumers are warming up to the idea that they are getting an offering that his cablewallah will have,” says Malhotra while highlighting some of the learning from Zing in the east. West Bengal and Odisha were test areas and she says that at an aggregate level the two brands, Dish and Zing, have collectively taken 40 to 50 per cent share.

     

    The regionalisation of DTH also means that new channels need to be added as and when they come. Earlier this year the DTH operator secured additional transponder space on the newly launched SES 8 satellite, thus allowing it to add several more channels.

     

    While there is a worry that the sub brand may eat up into the parent brand, Malhotra says that research has shown that isn’t the case. “The customers for Dish and Zing are very different. Which is why we aren’t even bringing Zing to the cities. In some places we will only display Zing, in some Dish and in some both, depending upon the language consumption in each of the areas,” she says.

     

    While on the one hand, a couple of DTH operators are going high tech and targeting premium viewers with 4K Ultra HD announcements, Dish TV, the oldest of them all, is going desi and local.