DTH IN INDIA

 www.trai.gov.in
 Dish TV India limited result quarter ended June 30, 2010
 http://en.wikipedia.org
 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
 www.dddirectplus.in
 www.indiandth.com
 www.airtel.in
 www.rapidtvnews.com
 http://b4tea.com
 http://trak.in
 www.tatasky.com
 http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net
 www.indiadth.in
 http://www.indiantelevision.com/headline…aug108.php
 http://dthnews.mediadir.in
 http://dataxisnews.com
 http://news.outlookindia.com
 http://www.pitchonnet.com
 www.bigtv.co.in
 http://www.sundirect.in
 http://www.sundirect.in
 http://www.d2h.com
 http://www.ddinews.gov.in
 http://www.bigtv.co.in
 http://www.dishtv.in

WHAT IS DTH?

INDIAN DTH INDUSTRY OVERVIEW:

DIFFERENT PLAYERS IN INDIAN DTH SPACE

PROFILE OF DIFFERENT PLAYERS:

DD DIRECT+:

DISH TV:
SUN DIRECT:
TATA Sky:
AIRTEL DIGITAL TV:
BIG TV:

VIDEOCON D2H:

MARKET SHARE OF DIFFERENT PLAYERS:

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF DIFFERENT PLAYERS:

SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGTH:

WEAKNESS:

OPPORTUNITIES:
THREATS:

CABLE TV VS DTH:
INNOVATION IN DTH:
CONSUMER CHOICE:
REVENUE FACTOR:

SUBSTITUTES:

GOVERMENT POLICIES:

LATEST RECOMMENDATIONS BY TRAI:

DTH FORECAST:
REFERENCES:
 Economic growth of the country in general and rising disposable income levels.

 Gradually liberalizing attitude of the government.

 Greater interface with international companies .

 Privatization and growth of the radio industry .

 Advancement in Technology .

 Favourable regulatory initiatives by TRAI.

 Liberalized foreign investment regime.

 Digital signaling gives you great quality when you connect your TV with AV

cable or connect your 5.1 speakers with STB.

 Latest movies can be viewed at nominal cost in your Hall (Kills the piracy).
  Facilities like Movie on Demand and Active/Interactive Services, parental control,

live TV recorder etc.

WEAKNESS:

 Installation cost is high.

 You will miss local news channel or music on demand channels usually offered by

Cable TV vendors.

 During the monsoon season if there are thick clouds above your Dish Antenna,

there will be reception problem.

 Television in multiple rooms will require additional Digicomp and service charge.

INDIAN DTH INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW:

DD DIRECT+:

DD Direct Plus was launched in December 2004 by Doordarshan. It was India’s first DTH service
offering about 59 TV channels and 21 radio stations. DD DTH is a free service and has acquired a
subscriber base of 60–70 lakh connections (July 2009). Doordarshan is the public television
broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati, a public service broadcaster. Customer
need to pay 3000 rupees for installation and activation, no need to pay monthly rental.

DISH TV
 Dishtv is a part of Zee Network Enterprise (Essel Group Venture). Dish TV is
India’s first direct to home (DTH) entertainment service which was launched in 2004.
Dish Tv is the market leader with 7.5 million subscribers. Dish TV continues to be a
market leader with 32% market share in 7 player scenario on date.
It broadcasts high quality programs by satellite with control selecting channels
services. Dish TV imparts Digital Picture Quality, Geographic Mobility, Capacity up to
400 Channels, Instaflip, A La Carte Channels and stereophonic sound effects to the
customers .
‘Dish Tru HD’, launched on May 27, 2010, became an instant hit with football fans
across the country and recorded encouraging activations too. In a pioneering move
earlier, Dish TV had introduced Live TV entertainment on two iconic Indian luxury trains
– Palace on Wheels and Royal Rajasthan. Now, to further re-define the way ‘Indian
Railways’ travellers, especially foreign tourists, perceive in-train entertainment, the
company has enabled viewing of HD programming on these trains.
With more than 250 channels and services on its platform, Dish TV has the largest
content offering as compared to cable, digital cable, IPTV or any other DTH platform. 8
new channels belonging to varied genres like infotainment, sports, Hindi movies, GEC
and devotional were added to Dish TV’s platform during the quarter ended June 30,
2010. The DTH category is expected to see similar growth in the year ahead. Dish TV,
with its focus on growth beyond just subscriber numbers, remains well-positioned to
leverage the opportunity. Dish TV started its service in Pakistan with the collaboration of
Budget Communication.

TATA Sky:
Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. Tata Sky satellite television
service was incorporated in 2004 and launched on 8th August, 2006. Tata Sky was the
second private operator to launch DTH services in the country. In terms of subscriber
base it is the second largest private operator having 5.5 million subscribers
Tata Sky offers over 190 channels and services, designed to suit the varying needs
of the subscribers. The packages include a wide array of television channels in DVD
quality picture and CD quality sound and a host of new-age interactive services like
Active English, Active Mall, Active Cooking, Active Wizkids, Active Learning, Active
Stories, Active Games, Active STAR News, Active Darshan, Active Doordarshan etc.
Tata Sky has emerged on top in the customer satisfaction survey conducted by Hindustan
Times.
Tata uses MPEG-2 digital compression technology. In October 2008, Tata Sky
announced launching of DVR service Tata Sky+ which allowed 45 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 subscribers. Tata Sky was selected as a
SUPER BRAND for the year 2009-2010 by an independent and voluntary council of
experts known as Super brands Council. It is the only Indian DTH to have won this
distinction
SUN DIRECT:
Sun Direct TV was registered in February 16, 2005 and launched on 18th Jan
2008 . Sun Direct is an joint venture between the Sun network and Astro Group of
Malaysia. With 170+ TV channels and 31 Radio channels, Sun Direct has a subscriber
base of 5.8 million and it is the market leader in south India. Sun Direct DTH has become
the second largest direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV operator in the country. It has
moved ahead of Tata Sky, lagging only Dish TV in the pecking order.
It is the country's first MPEG 4 technology DTH service provider.Sun Direct is also the
first to provide high-definition television services in India. Because of the lowest pricing
of any DTH in India Sun Direct spread rapidly all over the country. On December Sun
Direct was launched in Mumbai and announced its pan India launch.

AIRTEL DIGITAL TV:

Airtel Digital TV is a DTH (Direct to Home) service from Bharti Airtel. It uses
MPEG-4 digital compression with DVB-S2 technology. Airtel digital launched on 8
October, 2008 with a 360 degree mega campaign 'Come Home to the Magic. Since then it
has launched 2 other campaigns: Stars come home and DTH Picture Clarity. Airtel
Digital TV has increased its channel base to 183+ channels. Airtel digital TV is now
amongst the fastest growing DTH brands in the Country.
Airtel digital TV telecasts World space Radio.
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 Video on demand, Digital TV recorder, Airtel
digital TV HD.

BIG TV:

Reliance ADAG launched their DTH service on 19 August 2008. Big TV has
more than 3 million subscribers. It currently offers more than 230 channels 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. It is the first Pan-India DTH provider
that uses MPEG-4 for broadcasting. There are also plans to introduce services like i-
Stock, i-News and other such interactive services in the future. When Reliance BIG TV
was launched, the overall DTH penetration was just about 4 million households. Reliance
Big TV has 21 exclusive cinema channels. For the first time in India, Big TV offers High
Definition brilliance and Digital Video Recorder convenience in one set-top box.

VIDEOCON D2H:
 Videocon d2h launched May 1, 2009 by Videocon industries. It is the last operator to
launch its DTH service in India. D2hh has more than one million subscribers. it came with a very
good strategy for selling both of its electronic products like TV’s DVD’s along with the new set
top box. This is offering direct to TV without any set top box also. Only the antenna is enough, it
also came with DVD which is connected directly to the TV or antenna is connected to DVD
which gives a best quality of output. D2H uses MPEG4 and DVB-S2 TECHNOLOGY for
compression.D2H offers more than 230 channels with universal remote control. Some of the
options available in D2H are weather view, watch while playing, videos on demand, parental
control etc.
11

Big TV

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF DIFFERENT PLAYERS:

“GOOD MARKETING IS NO ACCIDENT, BUT A RESULT OF CAREFUL

PLANNING AND EXECUTION”

In the enormous consumer market that is India, occasionally an opportunity arises

that can create incredible growth and profit—provided those who seek to capture it can
move quickly enough.
As the Indian DTH turf heats up, marketers in the fray are leaning on top Bollywood stars
to help their cause. The 23-million subscribers strong Indian DTH market has six major
players—Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, Reliance Big TV, Airtel Digital and Videocon
D2H. And five of them have a bollywood star endorsing them.
Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan endorse Dish TV and Tata Sky, respectively,
Airtel Digital has Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor singing its praises. Videocon D2H
is the latest to have jumped on the bandwagon, roping in Abhishek Bachchan to endorse
its offering. Big TV has Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador.

DTH is a part of the entertainment industry, so the industry believes that it makes
perfect sense for them to rope in Bollywood stars because they belong to this domain.”
Clearly, Bollywood stars have become a norm in the DTH space. Brand ambassadors are
an integral part of there communication strategy. They give them instant clutter-breaking
capability and help build brand recognition faster.

Airtel Digital TV used eleven celebrities to launch in October 2008. In September

last year, the company launched a six week ad campaign with Saif Ali Khan and Kareena
Kapoor. Thanks to that campaign, they had the highest sales achieved by any operator
during October 2008, doubling there September sales in the process,
In November last year, Dish TV, the market leader envisaged on a brand revamp
campaign ‘Ghar aayi Zindagi’ with its brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan and is going
to spend Rs 100-crore on advertising in the coming financial TV feel Hiring Shah Rukh
Khan has enabled them to save on advertising spends as he helps them get the message
across more effectively in fewer exposures.

Sun Direct strategy has been ‘be regional, think national’ and continue to focus on
south India. The TV advertisement campaigns of Sun had an emotional connect with the
audiences as Sun communicated in the regional languages that they would get what they
wanted

At Rs 3,000, the average cost of getting each new subscriber for DTH operators is fairly high, while the ARPU for the
industry stands at about Rs 200-Rs 250, which effectively means a long investment recovery period. Add to that the
fact that DTH players subsidise equipment and content to gain a sizeable subscriber base and some like Sanjay
Behl, CEO, Big TV, feel that celebrities do not justify their costs.

Sun Direct strategy has been ‘be regional, think national’ and continue to focus on south India. The TV
advertisement campaigns of Sun had an emotional connect with the audiences as Sun communicated in the regional
languages that they would get what they wanted.

Tata Sky DTH has Aamir Khan as their brand ambassador.150

Shah Rukh Khan has been the brand ambassador for Zee Dish TV240

Videocon ropes in Abhishek for DTH

brand
Big tv 235, hrithik roshan

Airtel 200 saif ali khan kareena kapoor

“In the DTH sphere, it is dangerous if you do not watch costs with a hawk eye.” Nonetheless, the operator is close on
the heels of launching a promotional campaign with Hrithik Roshan, the ambassador of Reliance Communications, of
which Big TV is a part. Industry sources say that the company will be spending Rs 150-crore on advertising this year.
Market segmentation, marketing strategies, marketing practices and marketing concepts
specific to the industry
Indian TV channel broadcast 15.7-mn advertisement every year, which totals to 362-mn
seconds of TV advertisement every year. India currently has over 400 channels.
TV viewer ship has declined by 5% since 2001. TV broadcasters are expected to go hike
in advertisement rate this year by 16-18%. Market segmentation in DTH industry mainly
concentrates on women who don’t like missing their daily soap and news more ever
women are able to learn English speaking which is a very special feature of DTH. DTH
also concentrates on children also by providing them games, dictionary, some discovery
videos specially inbuilt, maths, science and social knowledge. It also focuses on old
people as it has updated videos of various holy and religious places.
DTH uses different marketing strategies for promotion and sales of its product. It gives
advertisements with their brand ambassadors which attract customers, door to door
selling, on the phone selling, discount and offer sales, packages, etc
Marketing practices is a continuous process as the competition keeps increasing among
the players in the industry. Each player is investing lots of money in promoting there
brands. Many players are making advertisement with movie actor and actress as brand
ambassadors for their products because DTH is mainly considered with entertainment.
Some of the companies like Tata sky is having Super Star Amir khan as brand
ambassador and Airtel is having many film stars like kareena kapoor, A.R.Rehaman, saif
ali khan, etc. Dish TV is also having Super Star Sharuk khan as the brand ambassador.
Sun direct also uses southern actress for their brand promotion. Marketing practices are
the decisions taken by the manufacturing company to increase sales, expand themselves
into many areas etc. Successful marketing practices bring sale up, while unsuccessful
marketing practices have no impact on sale or negatively impact sale.Marketing concepts
specific to the industry is primarily targeted at a niche segment who buy the TV sets from
the electronic retail chains.
22

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.

Key Drivers (Media & Entertainment)

REVENUE FACTOR:

DTH industry since its inception in 2003 not able to yield profit in any quarter for any
operator. But still this company cn yield good profit in the near future, when seeing the
results and analysis below.
The Indian television industry is projected to grow by 11.4% over the period 2009-13 and
is projected to reach an estimated Rs. 420 billion in 2013 from Rs. 245 billion in 2008.
No significant shift is projected within the relative shares of the television distribution
and television advertising industry over the next five years. Hence, television distribution
is projected to garner a share of 60% in 2013; on the other hand, television advertising
industry is projected to command a share of 36% in 2013 (34% in 2008).

Television distribution industry is expected to reach Rs. 250 billion in 2013 from the
current estimated size of Rs. 150 billion in 2008, which translates into a growth of 12.2%
on cumulative basis over the next five years. The growth in the television distribution
industry is expected to be contributed by both subscription spending, by Pay TV
subscribers as well as growth in the Pay TV homes (cable and DTH). While the dominant
mode of distribution will continue to be cable (80 million households at CAGR 2.4%)
DTH households will grow to 35 million at a CAGR of 31.2% till 2013.
Television advertising industry is expected to reach Rs. 150 billion in 2013 from
the size of Rs. 84.2 billion in 2008, which translates into a growth of 12.2% on
cumulative basis over the next five years. The television advertising industry growth is
expected to slow down because of the economic crisis the world is going through. Inspite
of the slowdown in growth, India spurred on by domestic demand is still expected to have
among the highest growth rates in television advertising along with China.

For the direct-to-home (DTH) segment, rural market seems to be a bigger revenue
generator than the urban areas. Rural viewers continues to generate revenue for all the six
private DTH operators.

Currently, of the 23 million DTH subscribers, 60% reside in rural areas and small towns.
According to the new DTH service providers, including Airtel Digital TV, Videocon
D2H and Reliance Big TV, around 65% of their new subscribers are from rural and semi-
urban areas. Also, 40% of the DTH subscribers are first time viewers of cable and
satellite services. For the established operators like Dish TV, Tata Sky and Sun Direct
DTH, the ratio between urban and rural subscribers is almost equal.

Competition in the direct-to-home (DTH) industry is so severe that the existing players
are finding it tough to break-even and then show profits.

Two factors have contributed to this. First, the average revenue per user or ARPU — an
amalgamation of subscription revenues plus activation charges of average subscribers in
a specified period — has not shown linear growth for a long time. Especially, when one
considers this in the light of the fact that subscriber acquisition costs for players have
gone up.
A case in point is Dish TV. In the past two years, even though the company’s subscriber
acquisition costs have come down from Rs 2,634 in June ’09 to Rs 2,383 in March ’10,
its ARPU is yet to improve during the same period. Its ARPU in June ’09 was Rs 164,
which fell to Rs 138 in March ’10.

This shows that conversion of analogue subscribers into digital is not taking place on a
big scale. This stems from the fact that many players have access to the same technology
and hence the only differentiator is the price. For instance, the recently-launched high
definition services videos having resolution higher than the normal available resolution
by almost all DTH players.

But considering that each player aims to garner a larger pie of the subscriber base of the
industry, the price pegged for services has come down from close to Rs 6,000 to around
Rs 2,600. This would result in a skewed distribution of revenues instead of few players
gaining a sizeable revenue pie.

Now, there are reports that

If the TRAI proposal comes into force, it may lead to a price war between cable operators
and DTH players, with the only winner being the one which would outsmart others on the
volume front.

An upshot of this would be that DTH players would continue to struggle to increase their
ARPUs. It would be good for players, if TRAI could delink DTH content pricing from
cable tariffs. In fact, this would be good for broadcasters too, as cable operators declare
lower revenues, while the DTH players share 100% revenues with broadcasters.
the average subscriber
acquisition cost being positively lower at Rs 2147 compared to Rs. 2383 in the previous
quarter. The total DTH sub base in the country at the end of the first quarter stood at an
estimated 23 million.

“Higher disposable income coupled with aggressive push by the DTH and consumer
electronic firms are responsible for the growth of DTH subscribers in the rural area. Also,
the availability of regional language channels at low cost is attracting the rural consumers
to DTH,

Number of channels registered with Ministry of I&B 485 and total Number of
Pay Channels reported by Broadcasters is 142
the Indian market which has 120 million viewers of TV.
As per the TAM Annual Universe Update - 2010, India now has over 134 million households (out of 223
million) with television sets, of which over 103 million have access to Cable TV or Satellite TV, including
more than 23 million households are DTH subscribers.

SUBSTITUTES:

 Cable television:
Cable TV is the major substitute for the DTH industry. In 1992, the
government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television. India has
over 130 million homes with television sets, of which nearly 76 million have
access to cable TV. The overall Cable TV market is growing at a robust 8-10%.

 CAS (Conditional Access System):

CAS refers to Conditional Access System where you will be able to pay only
for those channels that you watch. In India, this concept is really becoming more
and more popular as it gives a freedom of choice. The process works in the same
way as the signals are digitalized through set-top box (STB).It is available only in
metros.

 Internet Protocol Television (IPTV):

IPTV launched only in some cities around 2006-2007 by Mtnl/Bsnl later
Expands to many urban areas and still expanding. Private Broadband provider
Bharti Airtel also starts its IPTV service in Delhi,NCR region. At present
(2009/2010) IPTV in India is hardly making any impact in the market. But IPTV
and Online Video Services in India are expected to expand. Screen Digest
estimates broadband penetration of TV households to increase from 4.2 percent in
2009 to 13.4 percent in 2013.

 Terrestrial Television:
Doordarshan is the public television broadcaster of India and a
division of Prasar Bharati, a public service broadcaster nominated by the
Government of India. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in the
world in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Doordarshan is the
world's largest terrestrial broadcaster with over 1400 terrestrial TV transmitters
located throughout the country covering approx. 88% of India's geographical
area.It is losing its share among other private competitors.

 Online TV:
 The internet has changed lot of things, the way data & information are
stored, and shared has changed dramatically. Web 2.0 offers users to
watch TV programs online.TV channels are streaming live videos of
their programs. Online TV though is a niche industry as of now but with
increased penetration of broadband connection, it can pose significant
challenge to DTH industry.

GOVERMENT POLICIES:

 Applicant Company to be an Indian Company registered under Indian Company’s

Act, 1956.

 The applicant company must have Indian Management Control with majority
representatives on the board as well as the Chief Executive of the company being a
resident Indian.

 Broadcasting companies and/or cable network companies shall not be eligible to

collectively own more than 20% of the total equity of applicant company at any
time during the license period. Similarly, the applicant company not to have more
than 20% equity share in a broadcasting and/or cable network company.

 There will be no restrictions on the total number of DTH licenses and these will be
issued to any person who fulfils the necessary terms and conditions and subject to
the security and technical clearances by the appropriate authorities of the Govt.

 License will be valid for a period of 10 years from the date of issue of wireless
operational license by Wireless planning and Coordination Wing of Ministry of
Communications. However, the license can be cancelled/suspended by the
Licensor at any time in the interest of Union of India.

 The license will be subject to terms and conditions contained in the agreement and
its schedule.

 The license shall not be transferred without prior approval of the Licensor.

 The Licensee shall not carry any channels prohibited by the Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting.

 No licensee shall carry or include in his DTH Service any television broadcast or
channel which has not been registered by the Central Government for being
viewed within the territory of India.
  The DTH facility shall not be used for other modes of communication, including
voice, fax, data, communication, Internet, etc. unless specific license for these
value-added services has been obtained from the competent authority.

LATEST RECOMMENDATIONS BY TRAI:

 TRAI(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) is the regulating board for DTH in

india.
 A-La-Carte which means a subscriber can select individual channels instead of
package and pay for the particular channel (minimum of 150 rupees monthly).
 TRAI is proposing a formula in which the six DTH players would be required to
pay only close to 30% of cable tariffs to broadcasters compared to 50% now.
 This means a subscriber would have to pay less on a DTH platform than a cable
platform. It remains to be seen how deftly DTH players tap into the subscriber
base, as these subscribers have options available to switchover.

 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended changes to the

foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in broadcasting. The regulator recommended
that the FDI limit in direct-to-home (DTH), teleport and national and state-level
cable network operators be hiked to 74 per cent from the current 49 per cent.

 FDI limit in local cable operators (LCO) has been recommended to be reduced to
26 per cent from the existing 49 per cent. Trai also recommended that the limit for
IPTV and mobile TV be set at 74 per cent. There is no policy on foreign
investment in mobile TV at present.

 The authority recommended that with the convergence of telecom and

broadcasting sectors, operators in both sectors are capable of offering voice, video
and data services.

 Foreign investment limit for telecom is 74 per cent since 2007. Therefore, a view
of convergence of technologies was taken up for broadcast carriage services and
therefore, a raised FDI cap is expected to further push the growth of the sector. For
 content broadcasting services, only TV news & current affairs channels will have a
cap of 26 per cent. The regulator has also recommended raising the foreign
investment cap to 26 per cent from 20 per cent in FM radio.
 The Indian TV regulatory authority has recommended that all Cable operators be
given 5 years to change from the analogue system to the digital platform (July
2008).

 In the consultation paper, Trai sought recommendations from stakeholders to

check the possibility of manufacturing STBs that can ensure technical
compatibility and effective interoperability among DTH operators.

STRENGTH:

CABLE TV VS DTH:

 In 1992, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television
and in 2003 for DTH.

 As per the TAM Annual Universe Update – 2010, India has probably closer to 120
million Cable TV households.

 DTH offer digital superior quality picture against cable tv today which is most
analog.

 How is DTH (Direct to Home) service different from existing cable TV service?
DTH is an encrypted transmission that travels to the consumer directly
through a satellite. DTH transmission is received directly by the consumer at his
end through a small dish antenna. The encrypted transmission is decoded by an
individual STB at your home.

 The other advantage of DTH is the availability of satellite broadcast in rural and
semi-urban areas laying of cable is difficult.
  Due to digital compression techniques, many more niche channels are available
than cannot be provided by cable operators

 DTH also offers digital quality signals which do not degrade the picture or sound
quality. It also offers interactive channels and program guides with customers
having the choice to block out programming which they consider undesirable.

 DTH is gaining ground against cable TV amongst Indian TV viewers. That’s the
finding of a rapid assessment study conducted by the Delhi-based Centre for
Media Studies for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

FORECAST:
Dec 2008 10.9
June 2009 15 million
June 2010 23 million
June 2011 32 million

Pay tv subscriber
2009 105
2014 149
2020 173

DTH FORECAST:

In June 2010, the DTH subscriber base in India stood at 23.5 million, which is
equivalent to the size of the markets in other countries. By this year-end, India will leave
the US behind, which has got 32 million subscribers base, making us the largest DTH
country. The industry is clocking an 18 per cent growth this year as compared to last
year. Every month around 8.50 lakh new customers are coming in across the DTH
platform. The industry expects to register around 11-12 million new customers in this
year. -Bharat Business Channel Limited (BBCL) Videocon group.
In June 2010, close to one million, precisely 9.55 lakh subscribers were added in the
market. RNCOS, a market research and information analysis firm, expects the DTH
subscriber base in the country to grow at a compounded annual growth of 28 per cent in
2010-12.

India is poised to become the world's largest direct-to-home (DTH) satellite pay TV
market with 36.1 million subscribers by 2012, overtaking the US, a report by research
firm(MPA) says.

In its report titled 'Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2010', MPA said India's
DTH subscriber base will increase from 17 million in 2009 to 45 million by 2014 and 58
million by 2020.

"India will become the largest DTH market in the world in terms of subscribers by 2012,
overtaking the United States," it said. The industry sales is expected to grow to $12.1
billion by 2014 and touch $18.5 billion by 2020, it said adding that most DTH players
will start making money after 2013. The DTH operators today are toiling under a heavy
tax regime and subsidies given to customers on the new set-top boxes.

The Indian pay-TV sector (DTH and cable) generated sales of $6.5 billion in the last
financial year ended March 2010, which is expected to grow to $12.1 billion by 2014 and
$18.5 billion by 2020, MPA said. The DTH market will consolidate from six to four
platforms within three to five years, and the estimate four will be making money at the
EBITDA level by financial year ended March 2013.

MPA expects competition to remain intense as the tug-of- war for customer acquisition
shifts to regional markets. Pay-TV subscriber base is projected to grow from 105 million
in 2009 to 149 million by 2014 and 173 million by 2020. While cable will retain 70 per
cent market share by 2014, it is expected to decline to 64 per cent by 2020, with DTH
scaling up to almost 35 per cent share in the long-term.

INNOVATION IN DTH:

 Digital Picture Quality: The exceptional digital and direct-to-home transmission

ensures you watch all your favourite programmes in true DVD quality.

 Digital Sound: The Direct-to-Home satellite transmission treats your ears to a true
theatre experience by providing awesome Digital sound.

 High Definition brilliance and Digital Video Recorder

 Geographic Mobility: No matter which part of the country you are in or moving to, DTH with
its all India coverage ensures direct signals wherever you are.

 Uninterrupted Viewing: With DTH at your home, as long as your equipment is connected to a
power source you can enjoy uninterrupted transmission of your favourite programmes.
  DTH offers you the widest range of films on Movies on Demand.

 Internet-like experience on your TV with stock and news updates

 Plan your holidays with your family at home

 DTH operators offers you a range of fun and exciting games

 Weather watch

 Preview screen Parental control

 Reminder

 Advertisement-free cinema viewing

 Book movie tickets from home

 Fun while they learn for kids

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CONSUMER CHOICE:
Major Factors influencing the purchase decision of DTH are as below:
 Price
 Customer Service
 Reception
  Program choices
 New Technology and
 Technical Support

The Indian TV regulatory authority has recommended that all Cable operators be given 5 years to
change from the analogue system to the digital platform (July 2008).

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