DTH in India Commenced in 2005 With the Launch of Dish TV

DTH in India commenced in 2005 with the launch of Dish TV. Since then the Indian DTH subscriber base has expanded from 750,000 in 2005 to 30 million by the end of 2010, leading to an exemplary 108% compound growth rate. Currently there are 6 pay direct-to-home (DTH) operators, oldest Zee Dish TV DTH, Sun Direct DTH, Tata Sky DTH, Reliance Digital TV formerly known as Big TV DTH, Airtel Digital TV and last addition Videocon D2H DTH and 1 Free To Air (FTA), DD Direct+ which offers free the telecast of Doordarshan and private channels, together contributing to the Indian DTH market.

A research by Screen Digest predicts that,

Increased foreign participation and consolidation in India’s DTH satellite TV market is likely in the next two to five years.

The proposed easing of foreign involvement limits in Indian broadcasting ventures from 49% to 74% will see more international players enter India’s DTH market.

By 2014 DTH will cross the 50 million mark, making it bigger than both North America and Western Europe.

Though India’s DTH subscriber revenues accounted for just 1% of global pay-TV subscriptions revenue in 2010, it will increase to 2.7% by 2014.

High DTH content and hardware subsidies and low ARPUs lead to excessive losses, and so consolidation is inevitable in the long run.

Though it is impossible to predict which of the DTH operators would either fold or merge, some movement in this direction in the next two to five years is expected.

Cable TV remains the dominant pay-TV distribution platform in India, with a 75% market share compared to satellite’s 25%. However, the average revenue per satellite subscriber is set to overtake cable ARPUs in India and will grow in tandem with the economy at a compound annual growth rate of 8% between 2010 and 2014.

The analysts are careful to point out this forecast could, however, deviate should analogue switch off happen within this five year time frame. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed that all 83 million analogue cable homes transition to digital by 2013, way before the official date for terrestrial analogue switch off, which Screen Digest believes, has now been put back to 2017.

As the DTH TV industry is currently in its growth phase, it is expected to attract a large number of subscribers in near future. This growth can be attributed to a wide range of options that DTH service providers offer to the subscribers. With the entry of new players in the Indian DTH industry, competition is getting intense. Owing to this, DTH service providers are offering their subscribers numerous attractive channel packages. Keeping in mind the social status of different customers, DTH companies provide a wide range of subscription prices and the comfort of switching between packages as per their needs and requirements. This is resulting in high growth of subscriber base.

Together, India’s six private DTH platforms serve about 30 million homes in India – with Dish TV (over nine million) and Tata Sky (over 6 million) leading the pack in terms of subscriber numbers. The totals come from the addition of subscribers to Zee Dish TV DTH, Sun Direct DTH, Tata Sky DTH, Reliance Digital TV (Big TV) DTH, Airtel Digital TV and Videocon D2H

DTH. They do not include viewers of public broadcaster Doordarshan’s DTH service DD Direct. Clearly, the Indian DTH market is on the verge of a revolution.

Dish TV From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search For the North America-based satellite television provider, see Dish Network.‹ Whether to make the |reason= mandatory for the {{cleanup}} template is being discussed. See the request for comment to help reach a consensus.›

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Dish TV India Limited

Type Public (BSE: 532839)Industry Satellite televisionFounded 2004Headquarters Noida, India

Area served India & Sri LankaPakistan, Afghnistan & Nepal

Key people R. C. Venkateish, (CEO)

ProductsDirect Broadcast SatellitePay TVPay-per-view TV

Parent Zee Network Enterprise (owned by Essel Group)

Subsidiaries

Management Services Limited (ISMSL), Agrani Satellite Services Limited (ASSL) and Agrani Convergence Limited (ACL)

Website www.dishtv.in

Dish TV India Limited (BSE: 532839) is an Indian company engaged in the business of providing direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service, which includes teleport service, customer support and transponder space leasing. Dishtv is a division of Zee Network Enterprise (Essel Group Venture). Dish TV India Limited is ranked # 437 and #5 in the list of media companies in the Fortune India 500 roster of India’s largest corporations in 2011.[1] It uses MPEG-2 digital compression technology, transmitting using NSS-6 Satellite at 95.0. Dish TV's managing director and Head Of Business is Jawahar Goel who is also the promoter of Essel Group and is also the President of Indian Broadcasting Foundation.[2] Zee Network incorporated dishtv to modernize television (TV) viewing. It provides features, such as Electronic Programme

Guide (EPG), parental lock, games, 400 channels, interactive TV and movie on demand. dishtv also brings national and international channels in India.

Its primary competitors are cable television and other DTH service providers—Airtel digital TV, Reliance Big TV, DD Direct+, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, and Videocon D2H.

Contents [hide] 

1 Slogan 2 History 3 Satellite link 4 DTH on Wheels 5 Subscriber Base 6 Dish truHD 7 Dish truHD+ 8 Website 9 Channel List

o 9.1 TV Channels 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit] SloganSab Par Dish Sawaar Hai...

[edit] HistoryDTH service was launched back in 2004 by launching of Dish TV by Essel Group's Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Dish TV is on the same satellite where DD Direct+ was, DD Direct+ shifted to Insat 4B which is adjacent to NSS-6.

Dish TV was only DTH operator in India to carry the two Turner channels Turner Classic Movies and Boomerang. Both the channels were removed from the platform due to unknown reasons in March 2009. In October 2010 Dish TV added the long awaited Neo Sports and Neo Cricket on its platform

[edit] Satellite linkDish TV uses NSS-6 to broadcast its programmes. NSS-6 was launched on 17 December 2002 by European-based satellite provider, NewSkies. Dish TV hopped on to NSS-6 from an INSAT

satellite in July 2004. The change in the satellite was to increase the channel offering as NSS 6 offered more transponder capacity. However, Dish TV booked additional transponders on the new Asiasat 5 satellite for starting its MPEG-4 based HD services. Dish TV is currently using 5 transponders on Asiasat 5.

[edit] DTH on WheelsDish TV also provides mobile satellite TV on vehicles, trains and aircraft.[3]

[edit] Subscriber BaseDish TV had about 11.2 million customers as of 30 June 2011.[4]

There are about 35.5 million DTH subscribers in India as of June 2011.[5]

[edit] Dish truHD

The logo of Dish truHD.

Dish TV recently launched its high definition service called Dish truHD. Its major competitors are SUN Direct HD, Tata Sky HD, Airtel Digital TV HD and the Reliance Digital TV. It supports 1080i HD quality. Currently there are 41 HD Services with 12 true HD channels and the rest up-scaled. DISHTV plans to give more HD content to its customers.

[edit] Dish truHD+Dish TV Recently introduces its PVR service which requires an External USB Hard disk drive to be plug into the Set Top Box's USB Port it can provide & support recording space up to 2 TB.

[edit] WebsiteOn 16 September 2011, Dish TV's website was hacked. Even after hours after being reported in the news and forums the site was not restored. There were worries expressed on various forum sites that critical data like the Subscriber Viewing Card numbers, Addresses, Contact Numbers would be leaked.

[edit] Channel ListThe following is the list of channels provided by Dish TV as of October 2011.[6]

[edit]

Airtel digital TV From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

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Airtel digital TV

Type SubsidiaryIndustry Satellite televisionFounded 2008Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, IndiaArea served IndiaKey people Sunil Bharti MittalProducts Direct Broadcast SatelliteParent Bharti Airtel [1] Subsidiaries Bharti Telemedia Ltd.Website www.airtel.in/digitaltv

Airtel digital TV is an Indian direct broadcast satellite service provider owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. Its satellite service, launched on 2008, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in India. It uses MPEG-4 digital compression with DVB-S2 technology, transmitting using INSAT 4CR 74°E and SES 7 108.2°E. Airtel Digital TV service was launched on 8 October 2008.[2]

As of March 23, 2012, Airtel has total 320 Channels and Services including 14 HD channels.[3]

Its primary competitors are cable television and other DTH service providers—Reliance Big TV, DD Direct+, Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, and Videocon D2H. It has a total subscriber base of 7.1 million as of 31 December 2011.[4]

Contents [hide] 

1 Technical information 2 Additional features

o 2.1 Airtel Digital TV Recorder o 2.2 Airtel Digital TV [HD] o 2.3 Airtel Digital TV [HD] Recorder

3 Mobile vehicle solution 4 Channel list

o 4.1 Interactive Services o 4.2 Mosaic iTV Services o 4.3 Radio Services (iRadio) o 4.4 Widget Services o 4.5 Games o 4.6 Total Channels and Services - 320

5 Reviews and Recognition 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Technical informationAirtel Digital TV's standard definition broadcasts are in MPEG-4 with Interactive Service (ITV) and 7-day EPG (electronic programme guide). Interactive Service (ITV) of Airtel Digital TV includes an add-on service that allows a user to shop, book movie tickets etc. A universal remote is included in the package that can, over IR frequencies, control both the TV and the DTH box. Like other DTH service providers, it also provides a Pay Per View interactive service that includes a catalogue of movies in Hindi, English and Regional languages.

[edit] Additional features

[edit] Airtel Digital TV Recorder

A premium DVR Digital Video Recorder allows 150 hours of recording live TV on a 160 GB hard disk with MPEG 4 picture clarity. This product was discontinued after the launch of [HD] Recorder.

[edit] Airtel Digital TV [HD]

Airtel Digital TV HD provides channels in their native resolution of 1080i or 720p with 16:9 aspect ratio. The STB is compatible with 7.1 Channel Dolby Digital Plus surround sound as well and is in fact the first HD STB in India to be compliant with Dolby digital Plus.[citation needed]

[edit] Airtel Digital TV [HD] Recorder

On 4 May 2010, Airtel digital TV from bharti airtel announced the launch of its 3D ready High Definition Personal Video Recorder (HD Recorder).[5] Retaining its pioneering Remote Recording feature, airtel digital TV's HD Recorder offers unique features of Automatic Favourites, Search and Genre and Category sort and is 3D ready. It is also the first STB in India to support compatibility for 1080p signals in future.

On 24 May 2011, Airtel announced that its digital TV HD and HD-DVR boxes are software-enabled to view standard definition (SD) content upscaled to 1080i HD.[6]

[edit] Mobile vehicle solutionAirtel Digital TV on Oct. 2010 launched a new way for people to enjoy live TV on the move, in form of in-bus entertainment.A multi TV screen Mobile Vehicle DTH solution with installation of its connections in RSTC Super Luxury Volvo buses plying on Delhi – Jaipur Highway[7] Airtel Digital TV also Lunched HD DVR with 3D

[edit] Channel list

Airtel Digital TV SDU and MDU dish

The following is the list of channels provided by Airtel Digital TV as of March 23, 2012.[8]

[edit] Interactive Services

iKidsworld iExam iDarshan iAstro iRadio iFasal iGoodlife

[edit] Mosaic iTV Services

iDivine [Shalom/Angel TV/Subhavarthaa/God TV] iDD [DD Saptagiri/DD Chandana/DD Malayalam/DD Bangla]

[edit] Radio Services (iRadio)

AIR Assamese AIR Bangla AIR Gujrati AIR Hindi AIR Kannada AIR Malayalam AIR Marathi AIR North-East AIR Oriya AIR Punjabi AIR Ragam AIR Tamil AIR Telgu AIR Urdu FM Gold FM Gold Mumbai FM Rainbow FM Rainbow Bangalore FM Gold Chennai Gyaanvani Radio Radio Kashmir

[edit] Widget Services

World Clock Weather Airtel (Offers) Showbiz Cricket News Market Live Global Markets

[edit] Games

Aladdin Cricket Fever Hungree Birds RA.ONE Road Racer Agneepath

[edit] Total Channels and Services - 320

Standard Definition(SD) TV Channels : 252 High Definition(HD) TV Channels : 14 Help & Promo Channels : 5 Pay Per View Channels : 3 Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) Channels : 2 Widgets Services : 8 Interactive Services : 7 Mosaic Services: 2 Radio Channels : 21 Games : 6

[edit] Reviews and Recognition Rated as the best DTH service in India in a review by Living Digital Magazine on

December 2, 2008.[citation needed]

Tagged as "the most tech savvy operator" and recommended as the most technically advanced service by Times of India in a DTH review[9] dated August 14, 2011.

Airtel Digital TV [HD] Recorder was rated as the best HD DVR in India over Tata Sky+ HD in an independent comparison[10] carried out by Techwek.com. Airtel's HD DVR was rated 9/10 overall in the review.

Videocon d2h From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  (Redirected from Videocon D2H)Jump to: navigation, search

Videocon d2h

Type Subsidiary of Videocon GroupIndustry Satellite televisionFounded 2009Headquarters Mumbai, IndiaArea served India

Products Direct broadcast satellite, Pay television, Pay-per-view

Parent Videocon GroupWebsite www.videocond2h.com

Videocon d2h is one of the largest Indian pay TV provider, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to commercial and residential customers in India. It uses MPEG-4 with DVB S2 digital compression technology. Its primary competitors are cable television and other DTH service providers—Airtel digital TV, Reliance Big TV, DD Direct+, Dish TV, Sun Direct and TATA Sky.

Contents [hide] 

1 History 2 Tagline 3 Technical Information 4 Videocon d2h HD 3D 5 Videocon d2h HD DVR with 3D 6 Subscriber Base 7 Awards & Achievements 8 Channel List 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] HistoryVideocon d2h is the DTH service provided by the Videocon Group. Videocon Group is an industrial conglomerate with interests all over the world, and is a Indian multinational company. The group has 17 manufacturing sites in India and plants in China, Poland, Italy and Mexico. It is also the third largest picture tube manufacturer in the world. The group is a USD 4 billion global conglomerate. Videocon d2h has been providing DTH services in India since its inception in Aug 2009.

As a pioneering offer in the Indian DTH market, Videocon d2h offered Satellite LCDs & TVs which were DTH enabled with sizes ranging from 19" to 32". This concept in the DTH service was an innovation in the presence of other players like Dish TV, Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV, Sun Direct and Reliance Digital TV providing only the set top box.

As of 1 January 2012, Videocon d2h offers 330 channels and services which include 12 HD channels and 21 Active Music Services. In March 2011, Videocon d2h launched its HD Digital Video Recorder (DVR) box with 3D which could record live content. With the launch of its 3D Set Top Box (STB), Videocon d2h became the first DTH provider in India to offer a 3D compatible STB since none of the other DTH providers had a 3D compatible Box.

[edit] Tagline"Videocon d2h’s tagline initially was Direct Hai Correct Hai which was later changed to “Digital DTH Service” in Nov 2011.

[edit] Technical InformationVideocon d2h uses the ST 1 satellite at 88 ° east . Videocon d2h has 6 transponders for transmitting its services. VIdeocon d2h uses MPEG 4 and DVBS 2 compression technology.

[edit] Videocon d2h HD 3DVideocon d2h became the first DTH service provider in India to offer a 3D ready Set Top Box in India. Videocon d2h subscribers could view 3D content on their TV provided they have a 3D TV. Videocon d2h was also the first DTH service in India to have a active channel with 3D content .

[edit] Videocon d2h HD DVR with 3DVideocon d2h has its own HD Digital Video Recorder (DVR) Set Top Box which has features like Slow Motion, Rewind, Fast Forward. Videocon d2h’s HD DVR has a Hard Disk capacity of 160 GB which can record up to 200 hours of content

[edit] Subscriber BaseVideocon d2h has about 4 million subscribers as of September 2011.[1]

[edit] Awards & AchievementsSince its inception in 2009 Videocon d2h has won many awards and recognitions. Videocon d2h won the Product of the year Award in 2010 for its Satellite DVD . This was achieved in a short span of a year since its launch. Videocon d2h was also selected as the 4th most successful brand launch of the year 2009 across all product categories in the Brand Derby survey carried out by Business Standard. Also the first to launch HD 3D DTH Services in the country.

[edit] Channel List

Reliance Digital TV From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  (Redirected from BIG TV)Jump to: navigation, search

Reliance Digital TV

Type Subsidiary of Reliance Communications

Industry Satellite televisionFounded 2008

Headquarters Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, Navi Mumbai, India

Area served IndiaKey people Anil Ambani

Products Direct broadcast satellite, Pay television, Pay-per-view

Parent Reliance GroupSubsidiaries Reliance Digital TV Ltd.Website www.reliancedigitaltv.com

Reliance Digital TV is one of the largest Indian pay TV providers, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to commercial and residential customers in India. It uses MPEG-4 digital compression technology,[1] transmitted using MEASAT-3 91.5°East. It is the 5th DTH service launched in India.

Its primary competitors are cable television and other DTH service providers—Airtel digital TV, DD Direct+, Dish TV, Sun Direct, TATA Sky and Videocon D2H.

Contents [hide] 

1 Slogan 2 History 3 About Reliance Digital TV 4 Subscriber Base 5 Channel List

o 5.1 TV Channels o 5.2 Radio Channels

6 See also 7 Further reading 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Slogan"TV ho Toh BIG Ho" ("If you have a TV, it has to be BIG")

[edit] HistoryDTH service was first launched in India in 2004 by launch of Dish TV by Essel Group's Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

Reliance ADAG launched their DTH service on 19 August 2008.

[edit] About Reliance Digital TVReliance digital TV limited is a part of Reliance Communications Ltd., a subsidiary of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group [2] founded by the Late Dhirubhai Ambani, the Indian business tycoon and owned by his son Anil Ambani. BIG TV started operations from 19 August 2008 with the slogan "TV ho Toh BIG Ho" ("If you have a TV, make it BIG"). It currently offers close to 250 channels[3] and many interactive ones, 32 cinema halls (i.e. Pay Per View Cinema Channels) as well as many Radio channels. The company plans to increase the number of channels in the near future to 400 and begin High Definition (HD) broadcast. There are also plans to introduce services like i-Stock, i-News and other such interactive services in the future.[4]

The available opportunity today is huge considering the fact that India has an existing population of 225 million TV households out of which 130 million are C&S households and 16.5 Million are DTH households. When Reliance BIG TV was launched, the overall DTH penetration was just about 4 million households[citation needed].

Reliance BIG TV's launch in August deployed the MPEG4 technology.[5] MPEG4 technology can support HD TV and not MPEG2 which is used by the earlier entrants in the DTH industry[citation needed].

The MPEG4 technology helps to broadcast up to 35 to 40 channels per transponder[citation needed]. With 12 transponders they are able to broadcast over 400 channels[citation needed]. They are currently utilizing only 9 of their transponders to broadcast over 230 channels[citation needed].

Reliance digital TV's retailer network is spread across 100,000 outlets in 6,500 towns in India[citation needed]. They also introduced 32 Pay-Per-View Movie Channels, the highest by any DTH player[citation needed].But as on march 2012 they have only 4 Pay-Per-View channels.

[edit] Subscriber BaseReliance Digital TV had about 3.5 million customers as of November 2010.[6] There are about 30 million DTH subscribers in India as of February 2011.[7]

[edit] Channel ListThe following is the list of channels provided by RELIANCE DIGITAL TV as of 9 MARCH 2012.

Tata Sky From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  (Redirected from TATA Sky)Jump to: navigation, search

TATA Sky

Type Joint ventureIndustry Satellite televisionFounded 2004Headquarters Mumbai, IndiaArea served IndiaKey people Harit Nagpal (MD & CEO)

Products Direct broadcast satellite, Pay television, Pay-per-view

Parent Tata Group (60%)STAR Group (30%)

Website www.tatasky.com

Tata Sky dish antenna unit

TATA Sky is a direct broadcast satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 digital compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4A at 83.0°E.[1]

Its primary competitors are cable television and other DTH service providers—Airtel digital TV, Reliance Big TV, DD Direct+, Dish TV, Sun Direct, and Videocon D2H.

Contents [hide] 

1 History 2 Tata Sky+ 3 Tata Sky HD 4 Tata Sky+ HD

o 4.1 Video on Demand 5 Channel List

o 5.1 Active Channels o 5.2 Tata Sky Active Services

6 Certifications and Honours o 6.1 ISO 27001: 2005 accreditation o 6.2 Superbrand 2009–2010

7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] HistoryIs a joint venture between the Tata Group, that owns 60% and STAR Group that owns a 30% stake.[2] Tata Sky was incorporated in 2004 but was launched only in 2006. It currently offers close to 196 channels (as of december 2010) and some interactive ones; this count includes some numbers off HD channels offered by Tata Sky (as Tata Sky-HD) and interactive services also.

In March 2010, Sun Microsystems partnered with Tata Sky to provide IT Infrastructure solutions and support for the launch of the company's direct-to-home (DTH) television.[3]

The company uses the Sky brand owned by British Sky Broadcasting.[4]

In October 2008, Tata Sky announced launching of DVR service Tata Sky+ which allowed 90 hours of recording in a MPEG-4 compatible Set Top Box. The remote is provided with playback control keys and is being sold with special offers for existing suscribers. After 2011, TATA Sky+ started selling only HD Version of TATA Sky+ know known as TATA Sky+ HD.

In 2008, Singapore-based Temasek Holdings picked up 10% stake in Tata Sky from the Tata Group. This has diluted Tata's stake in the venture to 75%.

STAR’s parent company, News Corporation, owns an International group of DTH businesses that include Sky Italia in Italy and Foxtel in Australia.

[edit] Tata Sky+Tata Sky+ is a premium set-top box PVR (Personal Video Recorder) or even known as DVR (Digital Video Recorder) that allows recording up to 130 hours of live TV, recording one

programme while watching another, pause, fast-forward and rewind a live telecast and review a TV programme.

[edit] Tata Sky HDTata Sky HD was launched on June 14, 2010, and has channels in their native resolution of 1080i or 720p. The STB is compatible with 5.1 CH surround sound as well. The service currently offers Eight HD channels - National Geographic Channel HD, Discovery HD World, STAR Movies HD, STAR Plus HD, STAR Cricket HD, STAR World HD, STAR Gold HD, ESPN HD.

[edit] Tata Sky+ HDTata Sky have launched their HD DVR Set Top Box. Tata sky plus HD comes with a 500 GB hard-disk. However, almost 120 gb is reserved for future services like VOD leaving about 425 hours of SD recording or 380 gb that is actually usable by customers. This is still the highest capacity recorder in the indian market as of feb 2012.

[edit] Video on Demand

[1]

On December 25, 2011 Tata Sky launched Video on Demand(Vod) services for their Tata Sky+ HD set-top boxes.

Tata Sky VoD service will include Catch Up TV and VoD library of movies & TV concerts for subscribers for download but this requires a separate broadband connection to be plugged into the STB.

[edit] Channel ListThe following is the list of channels provided by Tata Sky as of January 2012.[5]

In October 2011, Tata Sky removed most of the Malayalam Channels from its list. Even customers who subscribed to their South Jumbo Package are provided only channels from Sungroup (Surya and Kiran) and Asianet (Asianet and Asianet News). Channels dropped are Kairali TV, Amritha TV and DD4 Malayalam. Many suscribers have complained to TRAI alleging discrimination by Tata Sky towards the language.

[edit] Active Channels

DD Girnar DD Kashir DD Punjabi DD Saptagiri NDTV Hindu

[edit] Tata Sky Active Services

Active Cooking Active Darshan (Shirdi Saibaba/ISKCON/Siddhi Vinayak/Kashi Vishwanath/SVBC) Active Doordarshan (DD Gujarati/DD Saptagiri/ DD Punjabi/ DD Kashir) Active English Active Games Active Learning Active Mall Active Music Active Stories Active Wizkids

[edit] Certifications and Honours

[edit] ISO 27001: 2005 accreditation

In March 2009, Tata Sky, became the first Indian direct-to-home (DTH) service provider to be awarded the ISO 27001:2005 accreditation, the benchmark for information security.[6] ISO 27001:2005 is an international standard that provides specifications and guidance for the establishment and proper maintenance of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). The assessment for the certification was conducted by Intertek Systems Certification, the management systems business unit of Intertek Group. This certification confirms that every transaction carried out through Tata Sky’s IT systems are highly secure.

[edit] Superbrand 2009–2010

Tata Sky was selected as a SUPER BRAND for the year 2009-2010 by an independent and voluntary council of experts known as Superbrands Council. It is the only Indian DTH to have won this distinction.

What is CAS? What is DTH?Last updated on: September 05, 2006 20:17 IST

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Watching television will no longer be the same again. Bad transmission quality, blackouts, disconnection of channels, high cable bills -- all these could soon be history.

With Conditional Access System slated to take off in Mumbai [ Images ], Delhi [ Images ] and Kolkata [ Images ] from January 1, television viewers will have a good bouquet of channels to opt for. What's more, you need to pay for only those channels you would like to watch.

What is CAS?

CAS stands for conditional access system, which is a digital mode of transmitting TV channels trough a set-top box (STB). The transmission signals are encrypted and viewers need to buy a set-top box to receive and decrypt the signal. The STB is required to watch only pay channels, not free-to-air channels, like Doordarshan.

The CAS Bill and what it means

In the new system, Indian broadcasting companies will decide which channels would be 'non-pay' (free-to-air) and which would be 'pay'. The viewer will now be able to select the pay

channels he wishes to watch and pay for only these. Each broadcasting channel will determine the rates for buying the channel.

Currently, there is no segregation and subscribers pay a blanket rate for the entire service. There will soon be two levels of segregation. The first will be a broad differential according to lower, middle and upper classes of society across cable households.

The second differential will be amongst pay channels, like premium channels, which will include focused news, entertainment, sports, music channels and niche channels like nature, health and fashion.

When was it first proposed in India [ Images ]?

The idea of CAS was mooted in 2001, which was followed by a furore over charge hikes by channels and subsequently cable operators. It was decided that it would be first introduced in the four metros. It has been in place in Chennai since September 2003.

According to estimates, only 25 per cent of the people have subscribed the new technology. The rest watch only free-to-air channels. The inhibiting factor is the cost of the STB.

What is a set-top box? How much does it cost?

The set-top box is the device that enables a subscriber view pay channels. This instrument decodes signals from the cable operator for viewing a pay channel. It can also monitor the number and duration of channels viewed by the subscriber.

Analog STBs cost between Rs 3,000-3,500, while digital STBs cost 5,500 to 7,000.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (which also regulates India's cable television regime) has asked cable TV service providers in CAS areas to offer digital set-top boxes on a monthly rental scheme of Rs 30 and a refundable security deposit of Rs 999.

Subscribers will also have another option of not paying any security deposit but the monthly rental will be higher at Rs 45 per STB.

For analogue boxes, the rent will be Rs 23 per month per STB. Multi-system operators, like Hathway, now plan to give out STBs to their subscribers at a nominal rental of Rs 1 per day. If you change your address, you may have to go in for a new MSO who covers your new location.

Will CAS be cheaper than cable TV?

Yes, according to a TRAI order, if one opts for all the existing channels then the pay out will be less. For example, the Star bouquet at present comes for Rs 67 for eight channels. Under CAS, if one avails all the eight channels then the pay bill will be Rs 40 plus a 12.2 per cent service tax. The new tariff order will reduce the cable bills in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.

What will be the pricing of channels under CAS?

Broadcast regulator TRAI has fixed a ceiling of Rs 5 per pay channel per month under the CAS regime, much to the disappointment of broadcasters.

TRAI has fixed Rs 77 cap on pricing of free-to-air channels. It has also laid out easy norms for procurement of set-top boxes, which enable a subscriber to access pay channels in a CAS regime.

Under CAS, a subscriber can access to around 22 pay channels apart from the free-to-air bouquet within the Rs 200 package monthly. However, broadcasters and multi-system operators can offer a bouquet of channels, and discounts. One month's notice to subscribers before conversion of a free-to-air channel to pay channel or vice versa is needed.

Advantages of CAS

For viewers: Under, CAS viewers can watch only what they would like to watch, than what the cable operator has on offer. Subscribers save money they now spend on unnecessary channels. They will get better transmission (because of the use of optic fibre instead of metal cables). The cable operators will no longer have any control over the pricing of channels.

For broadcasters: It benefits broadcasters as they always had to grapple with the issue of cable operators not declaring the actual number of subscribers, and hence suffering losses. With CAS, they can find out the exact number of subscribers with a cable operator.

For cable TV operators: They need to pay a part of the subscription fees to the broadcasters only for the actual number of end users who opt for the channel. This allows operators to price their channels according to their popularity.

For advertisers: It gives a far more accurate indicator of programme popularity with only the actual subscribers of each channel being accounted for.

So why has there been opposition to CAS?

Consumer activists were essentially opposed to the high cost of the STB. If more people subscribe to CAS nationwide, the prices would come down. There were also apprehensions about fees being charged for the bouquet of channels instead of individual channels. The latest ruling from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has struck down bouquet-wise pricing.

In simple terms, a person who wants to want only watch Star News, for example, will no longer have to buy the Star bouquet, comprising, Star Movies, Star World, Star One etc.

Activists are also seeking a limit on the duration of advertising on air. Cable operators are opposed to CAS because they become redundant and even if that didn't happen, they can no longer understate the real number of subscribers and cheat the government of entertainment tax.

Service providers are opposed because they have to set up new digital machinery for CAS and may even have to share the price of the STBs, to avert competition from direct-to-home transmission.

What are the alternate options now?

The alternatives is DTH, a broadband transmission, which is more expensive. The latest TRAI order, which limits the fee per channel per cable connection to Rs 5 (exclusive of taxes) is the consumers' best bet.

What is DTH?

DTH stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home.

DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996. But they did not pass approval because there were concerns over national security and a cultural invasion. In 1997, the government even imposed a ban when the Rupert Murdoch-owned Indian Sky Broadcasting (ISkyB) was about to launch its DTH services in India.

Finally in 2000, DTH was allowed. The new policy requires all operators to set up earth stations in India within 12 months of getting a license.

DTH licenses in India will cost $2.14 million and will be valid for 10 years. The companies offering DTH service will have to have an Indian chief and foreign equity has been capped at 49 per cent. There is no limit on the number of companies that can apply for the DTH license.

Who are the DTH operators in India?

Zee group promoted Dish TV was the first to start DTH operations in India. The latest entrant in India is Tata-Sky is a joint venture between the Tata group and News corporation's Star TV.

What is the DTH pricing?

Tata-Sky offers 58-channels to consumers at an introductory offer of Rs 200 per month. You will have to pay Rs 3,999 for hardware (set-top box and installation), and a monthly charge of Rs 200.

Zee group's Dish TV offers its hardware and installation at Rs 3,000 (excluding taxes) and three months' free subscription. This Dish TV package of 75 channels costs Rs 180 per month.

DTH providers justify the prices as it offers high quality transmission which makes TV viewing a pleasant experience. Dish TV also offers other packages.

The second DTH operator is government-owned DD-Direct Plus. This comes at a one-time cost of Rs 2,000-2,500.

What are the concerns over DTH?

In the absence of regulation, DTH operators may hike their fees arbitrarily. They may force consumers to pay for bouquets of channels, instead of individual channels. Also there could be illegal redistribution of DTH feed through multiple distribution units, amounting to evasion of tax.

DTH versus CAS

DTH does not compete with CAS. Cable TV and DTH are two methods of delivery of television content. CAS is integral to both the systems in delivering pay channels.

Cable TV is through cable networks and DTH is wireless, reaching direct to the consumer through a small dish and a set-top box. Although the government has ensured that free-to-air channels on cable are delivered to the consumer without a set-top box, DTH signals cannot be received without the set-top box.

Besides, the monthly subscription cost for DTH and CAS on cable will vary. While you can opt for a number of channels in CAS, under DTH you have a limited choice depending on the package you opt for. The quality of the broadcast will be of high quality with big players in the fray.

DTH versus cable TV

In DTH, TV channels would be transmitted from the satellite to a small dish antenna mounted on the window or rooftop of the subscriber's home. So the broadcaster directly connects to the user.

DTH can also reach the remotest of areas since it does away with the intermediate step of a cable operator and the wires (cables) that come from the cable operator to your house.

DTH offers better quality picture than cable TV. This is because cable TV in India is analog. Despite digital transmission and reception, the cable transmission is still analog. DTH offers stereophonic sound effects.

Apart from enhanced picture quality, DTH has also allows for interactive TV services such as movie-on-demand, Internet access, video conferencing and e-mail. DTH will not be able to be an alternative to cable if the initial investment is more than that for cable. DTH requires initial investment for both a dish antenna and a TV-top box.

Will Star channels be available on Dish TV and Zee channels on Tata-Sky?

Dish TV offers Star channels. But Tata Sky is yet to offer Zee channels. On July 14, 2006, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal asked Star TV to allow Dish to broadcast all Star channels. The telecom tribunal also asked Star TV to make available all its channels for not more than Rs 27 per subscriber on the Dish TV platform.

Star had earlier demanded Rs 67 per subscriber for some of its channels. But the pricing issue is yet to be sorted out. Tata Sky includes all the channels from the Star, Sony Discovery One Alliance bouquets as well as ESPN Star Sports and two channels of NDTV.

DTH (Direct To Home) TV in India, Features and Price ComparisonJanuary 21st, 2010 · Category: General · Tags: Airtel Digital TV, BIG TV, Dish TV, DTH, Sun Direct, Tata Sky, Videocon D2H

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DTH (Direct To Home) is the transmission mode by which satellite TV programming can be received at home. Currently there are six main DTH providers in India, namely Dish TV, TataSky, Big TV, Airtel Digital, Sun Direct and Videocon D2H.

Direct To Home (DTH) is the primary alternative if you don’t want to depend on local cable operators. We frequently face Cable TV outages and breakdowns and in most cases the service is not dependable. Since DTH signals come directly from the broadcast satellite to the consumer’s dish, it can even reach remote places without any cable running through the streets and highways. With the widespread implementation of Conditional Access System (CAS) throughout India, DTH is a good alternative.

Having many service providers makes it difficult to choose from. To select a DTH provider, we have to consider various factors such as picture quality, transmission during rough weather, suitability of the plans / packages, package pricing, and other value added services. The DTH service quality depends on the signal strength, so it is always better to check for excellent reception in your area.

DTH services offer MPEG4 quality or DVD quality or MPEG4 with DVB-S2 digital transmission. MPEG4 with DVB-S2 (Digital Video Broadcasting) has provision for HD quality, but not implemented yet. It also allows for enhanced interactive services with access to the Internet. Airtel and Videocon offer MPEG4 with DVB-S2.

Almost each DTH provider has special packs for the southern region that has packs specifically designed to include regional language channels. Many providers provide a Jumbo package or Mega Package or Titanium package, which includes all channels for an amount. On an average, the monthly charges for such a mega pack comes to about Rs 300 to Rs 350, which many include a few value added services and pay per view channel.

If you don’t want all channels, you can make a list of the channels you want, and go ahead with the service or package that gives you most of them for the least amount. Getting the desired combination of channels is more important than the number of channels in a pack.

DTH provides Movie On Demand, in which there will be specific channels where movies play at scheduled start times. These can be accessed through the service interface or DTH website or

SMS. Check for the availability of the latest movies in Pay Per View (Movie n Demand) when making a decision.

All providers, except Sun Direct, provide Interactive services to interact with the TV.

Some DTH providers such as Dish TV source content from online sources like matrimonial or job services. Others like Airtel allow you to set up widgets that give information and news snippets, weather, stock updates, breaking news on the press of a button without moving from the main screen.

TataSky is the most popular DTH Service. TataSky provides 24×7 customer support in 11 Indian languages. Packages are expensive than others. TataSky provide the maximum number of interactive services.

Airtel Digital also provides a lot of innovative interactive services. Airtel provides some exclusive features such as a Univeral remote. The iNet feature provides customer with latest news, stocks from your portfolio, Bollywood gossip and the latest weather with widgets. Airtel Digital has partnered with NDTV for News widget and CNBC for stocks.

Dish TV who was awarded India’s first DTH license in 2003 and began operations in 2004. With Dish TV you can access content from Shaadi.com and search for potential partners through the Shaadi Active service. The content is not live but is updated every week. Similarly you can access content from monster.com and ICICI Bank.

BIG TV provides better picture quality using the MPEG4 technology. BIG provides better pay-perview movies options. They provide better package pricing.

Sun Direct has a strong presence in South India, with their south centric plans. Sun Direct packages are regions and languages specific, allowing you to select channels of your preferred lanugages.

Videocon D2H combined its electronics and consumer goods background to bundle LCD TVs and DVD players with in built DTH receivers, including a DVD players that have in built DTH receiver. it provides a 12 picture in picture mosaic to browse channels. It also has tickers for stock, cricket and news updates that form an overlay over the programming being viewed. Videocon d2h also has packs for every region.

DTH TV Feature Comparison

Tata Sky Dish TV BIG TV Airtel Digital

Sun Direct

Videocon d2h

Quality- MPEG4 DVD DVD Yes Yes Yes YesDVB -S2 No No No Yes No Yes

Interactive Service

Actve Topper

Gaming iStock iNet NA Active Darshan

Tata Sky Dish TV BIG TV Airtel Digital

Sun Direct

Videocon d2h

Actve Learning News Active iCricket iLearn Active

CookingActve Stories Bhakti Active iAstro iNews Active

Travel

Actve Mall Astro Active icooking iMatineeActive Health &Fitness

Actve English ICICI Active iCare iTravel

Actve Wizkids Sports Active iGame iAstro

Actve Games

Multilingual Service iNews iSports

Actve Darshan

Shaadi Active

Actve Cooking Jobs Active

Actve Astrology Travel Active

Package Model

Base pack+Add onPack + Few alacarte

Base Pack + Alacarte Base

Package+Add onPacks + regional Packs

Base Package + Addingnext Package or Topups

Base Pack + Add on +Alacarte

BasePack + Add on

Movies on Demand Channels

7 6 21 6 4 Coming soon

Favorite Channels list

1 with 20 channel

8 with Unlimited

8 with Unlimited

4 with 15 channel No

4 lists with 20 channels each

Naming Favourites No No Yes Yes No Yes

Top 10 list No No Yes No No NoParental control

with rating No No Yes Yes No No

Language for interface Single Single Single Single Single

2 Language out of 9 available

Customizable hud No No No No No Yes

Ticker/Widgets No No No Yes No Yes

DTH TV Price in India

DTH PACKAGE NO OF CHANNELS COST PER MONTH

Dish TV

Titanium pack 193 332.5Child pack 190 165Platinum Shine Pack+1 free top up190 312Gold 165 210Silver 145 125South platinum 190 312South Gold 155 190South Silver 145 125

D2h Gold pack 125 150Diamond pack 165 275

Airtel

Super value 110 127New value 118 160Economy 155 221Mega 177 304Ultra 184 364

BIG TV

Value pack 81 90+ TaxesBronze pack 111 135+ TaxesSilver pack 123 180+TaxesGold pack 138 225+TaxesDiamond pack 152 270+TaxesPlatinum pack 156 315+Taxes

TATA SKY

Super Hit pack 63 160Super Value pack 103 200Super Value Kids pack 104 225Super Saver pack 124 275

SUN DIRECT Shine Pack+1free top up 130 120North Jumbo pack 30 300

Read more at TECK.IN: http://teck.in/dth-direct-to-home-tv-in-india-features-and-price-comparison.html#ixzz1q7d4u8el

Best DTH Service in India – Comparison between Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon D2H, Sun DTH, Reliance Big TV etcby gadgetpunk under DTH India, Reviews

Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon D2H, Sun DTH, Reliance Big TV etc. are the most common names available in market offering DTH Services in India. Well choices are plenty and confusion too is very high when we one go to buy DTH.

Choosing DTH services for your home is little difficult. We have done a comparison between major DTH service providers available in the Indian market which will help you in choosing best one among Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon D2H, Sun DTH, Reliance Big TV etc.

Other DTH News Star India with Tata sky starts High Definition revolution

Picture Clarity & Technology Comparison Dish TV, Sun TV and Tata Sky are old players in DTH Market and use MPEG 2 technology while Reliance Big TV, Airtel Digital TV and Videocon DTH are based on MPEG 4 technology. MPEG4 technology is better as it gives better picture quality. Verdict: Airtel Digital TV, Videocon DTH and Reliance Big TV are winner.

Flexibility Channel flexibility is there in all providers. But here Airtel is giving more flexibility.

Best Pricing As earlier mentioned that Tata Sky, Sun TV and Dish TV oldest players in DTH Market, so Airtel is giving better and competitive rates to get market Share.  Verdict: Airtel would be the winner in this aspect.

Obviously here Airtel wins. Any way guys, its up to you to choose.

Let me know what you guys think about it. Which one do u think is better.

Provider Plan Details Channels Offers

Inst . and Activation charges

Monthly Payment

Total Setup & Monthly Costs

Dish TVComplete Entertainment Pack

2181 Month Platinum Pack Subscription Free

Installation Rs 200 /- Set top box & Dish cost 1190

Rs. 350/ month

Setup Cost : Rs 1390/- Monthly Cost: Rs 450/- to Rs 350/-

Airtel DTH

Complete Entertainment Package

17845 Days Ultra Pack Subscription Free

No Installation Charges Set top box & Dish cost 1590

Rs. 345/ month

Setup Cost : Rs 1590/- Monthly Cost: Rs 430/- to Rs 345/-

Videocon DTH

New Diamond Pack 1390 250

75 Days New Diamond Pack Subscription Free

Installation Charges Rs 300/- Set top box & Dish cost 1390

Rs. 295/ month

Setup Cost : Rs 1690/- Monthly Cost: Rs 377/- to Rs 295/-

Reliance DTH

Diamond Pack 1790 170

3 Months Diamond Pack Subscription Free

No Installation Charges Set top box & Dish cost 1790

Rs. 295/ month

Setup Cost : Rs 1790/- Monthly Cost: Rs 370/- to Rs 295/-

Tata Sky DTH

Mega Lite Pack 3000 176

6 Months Mega Lite Pack Subscription Free

No Installation Charges Set top box & Dish cost 3000

Rs. 500/ month

Setup Cost : Rs 1790/- Monthly Cost: Rs 500/-

* These details are analyzed and searched for specific location, and may vary location to location and also vary with Cahnnel package and services you subscribe. It also vary with time

DTH Compliance as per TRAI Guidelines - Important

Dear All,

This mail is to share with you the key 'Quality of Service' parameters as per TRAI guidelines defined for DTH business. (ref.document for details) 1. All No Signal complaints to be resolved within 24 hr. 2. Except No Signal & Billing related complaints, other complaints should be resolved within 48 hrs. 3. All complaints to be resolved within 5 days. 4. All Relocation cases / Shifting requests to be resolved within 5 days. 5. All Nodal cases to be resolved within 10 days.

These parameters are monitored by TRAI for our business every month. Non resolution of complaints within stated time not only leads to Non Conformance to guidelines but also leads to financial loss as these customer have to be given rebate basis DBR (daily burn rate). These parameters have also been highlighted by external auditors as 'critical observation' and categorized it as 'risk' for DTH CSD process.

TRAI Guidelines DTH

1. Every request for seeking direct to home service connection is provided a a unique customer identification number and a copy of Manual is supplied to customer at the time of subscription for DTH service.

2. The Home Set Top Box of a subscriber who does not intend to continue DTH services is not disabled for viewing DTH services of Doordarshan or any other DTH operator unless the subscriber has some outstanding dues.

3. All requests for shifts, transfer, disconnection or reconnection of direct to home services is fulfilled (subject to technical feasibility) not exceeding five working days from the date of making such request.

4. Complaints relating to non- receipt of all signals (other than those caused by disturbances of weather or natural calamities) - 90% per cent of all such complaints are redressed and signals restored within a period of 24 hours of the receipt of complaint.

5. Other complaints - at least 90% of complaints are to be redressed within a period of 48 hours of the receipt of complaint.

6. All complaints are resolved within five days.

7. In case of non redressal of complaints within the specified time period, pro rata rebate is given to customer for the period of non redressal counted from the date of expiry of 5 days.

8. All billing complaints are redressed within seven days of receipt of complaint/s,

9. All refunds due to customer are made within 30 days of making of complaint.

10. All complaints forwarded by TRAI are redressed within 15 days from the date of forwarding by the Authority and the resolution is communicated to TRAI and the concerned subscriber within one month from the date of forwarding.

11. Complete and accurate records of redressal of grievances of the subscribers by Call Centres and Nodal Officers is being maintained for at least one year . 12. Nodal Officers is appointed in in every State in which DTH service is provided.

13. Wide publicity is given about appointment of and change in Nodal Officers.

14. Details of Nodal officer via name, addresses and telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, facsimile numbers and other means of contacting them are displayed at Call Centre, customer care center, help desk, and, at the sales outlets, website and at the office of the Nodal Officer,

15. Every Nodal Officer is (a) accessible to DTH subscribers at the address publicized, (b) registering every complaint lodged with a unique number; © issuing an acknowledgement to subscriber within 3 days from date of the receipt of the complaint(d) redressing complaints within ten days from the date of registration (e) intimating the decision taken in respect of such complaint to subscriber within ten days.

16. Manual of Practice is published containing the following information -(a) details of call centres and Nodal Officers; (b) procedure and benchmarks for redressal of complaints through the call centres and through the Nodal Officers;© instructions regarding operations of Direct to Home Customer Premises Equipments; (d) rights conferred upon the subscribers under these regulations; (e) duties and obligations of the operator.

17. A copy of the Manual of Practice is provided to each DTH subscriber at the time of subscription.

Direct-To-Home(DTH) market of India

After cable TV entered India in the early 1990s, the face of entertainment changed drastically. In a short time, Cable TV made rapid penetration in rural as well as urban India. However, the inherent nature of the industry, that operated like a cartel dominated by the Local Cable Operators (LCOs) created many problems operationally and otherwise. For the parties involved in the industry (broadcaster and cable networks), the major problem was the extent to which LCOs understated the subscription fees. Subscribers too were upset as the cheap and unbranded equipments used by LCOs resulted in poor program quality and frequent disturbances in signal transmission. The Conditional Access System (CAS) introduced in 2003, also failed to check the problem as many subscribers were unwilling to switch from the cheap cable alternative. In 2003, another option – Direct-to-Home (DTH) emerged to give a tough competition to the LCOs. In a short time, many DTH providers – Dish TV, Tata Sky and Sun direct – mushroomed in the country and succeeded in making a humble beginning through aggressive marketing. When this DTH market began in India then the scenario in this market was that most of the companies offering the services were charging very high prices for the set top boxes and even the charges for the monthly subscriptions were also very high as compared to the charges that local cable operators were charging which were minimal in nature ranging from Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 per month. That is why in the beginning only a few people were willing to go for these connections as people had to spend a large sum of money to get these connections and even the monthly subscription charges were double than what were being charged by the local cable operators, but still people who started using these connections were happy because of the clarity of services that these operators were offering and this clarity of services was their differentiating mantra from the other local operators and it was for this clarity that they were charging a premium price from the customers and even they were willing to pay for it. Also it offered the customers a flexibility of having a bouquet of free channels that they could get along with the other paid channels that they could choose on their own. Thus, all these things made this a better and attractive option for customers because of the variety of options that it offered its customers. Still one of the fears that people had when it comes to buying themselves a DTH connection is that once they invest their money in any of these DTH services they will be forced to be with them forever. If they want to switch to a different service provider, then they will have to pay again for the set top box. Though companies like Sun DTH started advertising that set top box as free, they charged an additional Rs. 1000 for the installation along with the other subscription charges. So customers will be forced to pay this fee when they want to switch the service provider.This Market of direct to home cable networks has been a market that has got most of its presence mostly in the urban areas in the northern India and Western India with most of the business in India coming from these markets only. Though it is present throughout India and is growing at a very rapid pace but it still continues to remain a niche segments for the marketers and most of the players that exist in this DTH cable business are vying for the larger share of this market. But now because of the price wars that are going on even the set top boxes costs are getting reduced leading to this being removed as a barrier atleast. The growth in the television sets throughout the country and on the other side a growth in the size of middle class in Indian economy which has been working hard to get a hold of that fast growing segment has fuelled the growth of this segment. This segments growth has also been propelled due to the poor services being offered by

the current cable operators in the Indian markets. And the customers are now demanding better services and this DTH market provides a better avenue in terms of quality of service and enhanced viewing experience have been attracting investments in this market.Looking at the current DTH scenario in India, it has to be noted that there is an increasing level of competition. This has made the initial costs and recurring monthly costs more and more competitive. So in this scenario, DTH service providers are suffering because of the pressures on the margins that are their because of increasing competition. India is also open to IPTV, which is another major competitor to DTH so to retain the customers, DTH service providers will need to win the trust of their customers and provide top-notch customer service. Direct-to-home companies are operating in a ‘land grab’ mode — trying to acquire as many customers as possible even at the cost of subsidising their equipment by as much as 60%. As the customers get off the network, the companies are forced to write off the cost of equipment, leading to high depreciation. The number of DTH subscriptions is 24% of all the cable and satellite households in the country and the current run-rate of around 1 million a month to continue for another 24-36 months. Cable, in contrast, is stagnant at around 85 million due to the on-slaught of DTH operators. DISH TV is also facing the issue of ‘churn’ or subscribers not renewing their subscriptions and dropping out in favour of other DTH operators or cable. Around 7 in every 1,000customers are written off as a drop out every month in DISH TV.So to gain more and more share another player Tata Sky followed by other six players, in mid-October, starting with Tata Sky all the six DTH players slashed prices of their Set Top Boxes (STB) to sub-Rs 1,000 levels. Although, Tata Sky says the move was not directed towards unleashing any predatory pricing in the market, the industry has seen consumer churn rise post this new pricing regime. "We introduced the Rs 999-entry price to give our customers the option to choose their own pack of channels. The idea was to give our customers the option which says no conditions apply," says a Tata Sky spokesman. The DTH player says this move led to a significant spike in customer acquisition in the last one month compared to last year although, no numbers were made available by Tata Sky."The DTH industry saw sub-Rs 2000 entry price triggered by incumbents in 2008 to counter the launch of Reliance BIG TV and Airtel, which recently got pushed down to sub-Rs 1000 level. The prices are likely to stabilize for some time, but only till the next big wave of penetrative price intervention, which will be led by the digital cable industry," says Sanjay Behl, CEO, Reliance BIG TV.Source: Times of IndiaThe drivers and challenges explain the factors influencing growth of the industry including the growing middle-class and rising disposable income, increasing television penetration and sale of LCD monitors, price war and different package options which has been attracting consumers and the advantage over traditional cable operators. The key challenges identified encompass the acquisition of a share of the cable driven market and facing the new age IPTV, TRAI’s content guidelines, demand supply gap for transponders in a 7 player broadcast market and the cap on foreign investments.To overcome these challenges and tap into the available potential markets these players have been using following methods: -While all the DTH players are learnt to raking up huge losses, Dish — the oldest player in India — had some reason to celebrate, thanks to a move to fixed price contracts for its channels. Dish TV had entered into 3 to 4 year fixed price contracts with many broadcasters in December 2009,

allowing it to offer cheap rates for channel packages to customers in a hyper competitive market. Dish, which has around one-fourth of the market, has converted nearly 75% of its content costs into the fixed price model, while the Sun group - a competitor in the DTH space — continues to insist on per-subscriber payment for its channels. DTH subscription rates for consumers have fallen by around 40% in the last one year due to the entry of many new players such as Reliance and Airtel, forcing players like Dish to negotiate a ‘fixed price’ contract allowing them to expand more freely. The move has further bolstered the growth of the market - currently expanding by a whopping 1 million subscribers per month. In line, Dish TV’s revenues too hit Rs329 crore during the quarter — a jump of 27% over the same quarter last year and 5.6% over the June quarter. Out of the 1 million, Dish TV are currently adding about 250,000 to 300,000 a month and the total number of DTH connections on the country has hit 26 million at the end of the last quarter. Also bundling channels and services into attractive bouquets and offers has been the forte to attract customer base along with the various value added services that they are offering. The most popular choices have been region specific channel packages that have channels bundled as per regions or media houses that have emerged as a competitive tool recently. Then come, the news, sports, movies and other entertainment channels, which constitute the so called “gravy” of the package. Hence, it shows that demography was the basis of planning packages and plans. With the new recommendation by TRAI, (Source Times of India) from September 1st subscribers were allowed to pick and choose every channel of their choice instead of the bundle offered by the DTH companies. This has changed the game, has put the subscriber firmly in the driver‟s seat. DTH companies can view this as an obstacle or opportunity for growth and market share. There is a potential for changes in pricing, alterations of services and channels offered by the operator(s). Also to compete on the non-price competition bases, differentiation is the key for all players.It is here that the role of subscriber analytics would play a vital role in making sure that the right content or package is offered to the right segment of customer to ensure right results! This will also necessitate operators to proactively analyze their customer base, usage, subscriptions changes and of course customer churn. Doing a good job could result in gains of market share, leading to higher revenues and growth. The report entitled ‘India DTH Industry – Growth Opportunities’ provides a detailed overview and a succinct, but deep-dive analysis of the Indian DTH market. The Indian DTH subscriber’s base is projected to grow at a CAGR of close to 19 per cent between 2009 and 2014; in the process India will become the largest DTH market in the world. This high growth presents a number of interesting scenarios, which have been thoroughly covered in our research.The Indian DTH industry players look forward to a seven times multiplication of its market, about 40 million subscribers by 2015, from a total of 165 million pay TV households.The increase in the sales of LCD TVs will be having a positive impact on the adoption of DTH services. To take full advantage of the quality and features of their new TVs, many of these purchasers have been switching to DTH services, which offer higher quality video and sound.Rural India will be driving the future growth of the India DTH industry. The DTH subscribers due to their unmatched financial muscle can tap a huge number of cable dark and cable underserved areas which do not have access cable and satellite televisions.Thus, though the competition in terms of price wars is hot and even the company’s margins are suffering, but if tackled carefully on the basis of the few points mentioned above, there is still a chance for all the players in this industry to grow both in terms of profits and bottomline without

coming in the way of each other as still the penetration levels in this industry is still low and there is a huge potential left to be exploited by the DTH companies.

Indian DTH Market to Register Unprecedented GrowthMar 12, 2011

Share |   Owing to the change in consumer preference and increasing standards of television viewership, the Indian broadcasting system is also going through a phase of evolution. The Direct-To-Home (DTH) service, which was introduced eight years back in India, is penetrating the Indian households at a fast pace. This growth has been possible due to the unmatched quality of DTH service, which has surpassed other broadcasting methods and revolutionized the television experience. As per our latest research offering “Indian DTH Market Forecast to 2012”, the number of DTH subscribers in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 14% during 2011-2013. Owing to its capital-intensive nature, the industry mainly comprises private players and involves no role of the public sector. Indian DTH market is dominated by some of the prominent names in the communications industry, such as Dish TV, Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV, etc. Competition in the industry has resulted into extremely affordable packages being offered to the people, with the option of changing the package at any time of the subscription. To provide a comprehensive outlook of the industry, our report has studied various factors and marketing strategies, which are driving the industry. Despite being an industry with immense growth potential, it has been observed that the profitability of the DTH companies is not as lucrative as the industry stature. Hence, to enhance their profit earning capacity, the players are ensuring a growth in the average revenue per user (ARPU) by luring the consumers to opt for high-end packages. Apart from the emerging and existing market trends, our report also covers various roadblocks, which may hinder the growth of the Indian DTH industry in near future. Additionally, our report provides pragmatic suggestions, which would help the companies to maintain their growth in the market. The report contains an in-depth competitive analysis with detail information about all the DTH service providers in India, along with the future outlook for subscribers, operators, ARPUs, and set-top boxes.