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BEWARE OF TATASKY

Dear Friends

I have been put through a lot by TATASKY and have finally decided to send this letter to all types of media on 8th October 2006. I have informed TATASKY about this letter too by email. The medias through which I will be publishing this letter include Flyers, which I have got printed, Newspapers, local as well as national, News channels Hindi as well as English which will not include Star Network since I don’t hope for any justice from them. different Blogs on the internet and also am starting a new Blog which would be SAVE US FROM TATASKY. Also I am initiating a legal action against TATASKY for cheating me and for with holding information about charges.

I don't have any idea about Dish TV but my experience with TATASKY has not been a pleasant one and I would like to share my experience with you so that you can save yourself from being cheated.

I purchased TATASKY in Mumbai on 22nd August 2006. It was installed at my residence with 72 hrs. During my before purchase talks with TATASKY and the dealer I was made to understand that I would be paying the amount as mentioned below and till this date the their website says the same I have saved the web page for my records too.
The details of the package are as below :

Rs. 3000.00 for Hardware which includes Dig comp ( Set top Box.) and its Remote
Rs. 1000.00 for Installation plus Activation + 1 year comprehensive warranty
This includes the Dish and the cabling.
Rs. 200.00 Subscription Charges for the introductory offer.

I had specifically asked can I transfer the connection any where in India and I was told that you can transfer it anywhere for free.

After my purchase in August end in Mumbai in the beginning of September I was to move to Ahmedabad so I called up TATASKY and told them about the matter, they told me :

• We cannot change address over the phone even if they have registered our telephone no for recharging the subscription.
• We do not have a fax no. for address change.
• You cannot email the same as we do not change addresses on receipt of Email.
• You can only write a letter to our Bangalore address and we can change the address after 48 hrs from the receipt of this letter.
• I also rec’d a email which stated that Rs. 1000 would be charged for reinstallation.

The Bangalore address given to me on that day which was 5th Sept 2006 was as below.

TATASKY LTD, P.O. Box 2424, Hebbal, Bangalore. PIN : 560024.

I couriered them a letter on 5th itself from Mumbai vide Midway Express Courier which is the new name for Maruti Express Courier. The consignment note No. for this document is 7534 dtd 05th Sept 2006.

I moved to Ahmedabad and kept on calling TATASKY for installation till 11th Sept 2006 and the reply I always got was that TATASKY cannot do the installation till the address change takes place. I provided them with all the details and also told them that I had couriered the above information as well as emailed them but to my amazement that they told me that they are not in receipt of the same. So I installed the Dish that I had brought from Mumbai along with me not knowing that I was suppose to leave the Dish and the Cable at my old residence.

I installed the TATASKY on 11th finally and was getting all the channels with a very good signal, as I checked the signal too. All the channels were being beamed fine.
On 19th or 20th I got a problem and that was Star Movies stopped beaming suddenly.

I called up TATASKY and again found that my address was still of Mumbai. I told them that my TATASKY is not beaming Star Movies only and she had no answer she made me remove Digi Card still no go. A Service Engineer was sent to my place but to no avail. In spite of his 3 visits nothing happened and he also changed the Dig comp ( Set top Box.) still no good.

Finally I was told that since my address was of Mumbai and there was a judgment passed by the Mumbai High Court and in reference to that Star Movies is not being beamed so I told her that I am in Gujarat and how does that judgment affect me.

So I was asked for my new address over the Phone which I provided. Next day on 22nd I received a letter dtd 21st Sept stating that my address has been changed. Even after that the Scenario did not change. I was still not getting Star Movies, so after repeated calls for which I was being charged STD, again the engineer visits started.

Finally the engineer replaced the DIGI COMP and the DIGI CARD and I was not home on that day as I was in the office. The problem was resolved and the next day I got a message that I will have to pay Rs. 1000 for installation and activation.

I was shocked so I called them up and I was given complain no.’s and was told that the matter has been escalated and somebody would give me a call. I told them what would be a good time to call me and yet I received calls when I was be in office.

I just can’t understand the fact that why was I charged 1000 bucks for no fault of mine. In fact I had done the installation of the connection at my place so I should have been paid Rs. 1000.00 instead I was being charged and finally I was told today that the Rs. 1000 that I have been charged is because I relocated and that is what their finance department had to say. I did not agree with this and my connection has been locked and now I don’t get any channels and I was told that if I want my activation without Rs. 1000 than the warranty will be void and I will have to pay Rs. 300 every time the technician visited my place. So I told them that I will try and dispose this piece of crap and go for another company.
Now I don’t have any channels being beamed to my connection not even the Free To Air channels which technically speaking should be beamed as they are not suppose to charge me anything for that.

Finally I have decided that I am taking this matter in a big way and letting everybody no about what has happened to me and let people know that a company like TATASKY can go to such a extent for Rs. 1000.00. I have already spent a lot on this matter and I am no longer interested in keeping my services of TATASKY in the present scenario. Anyone else who has been facing any problems with TATASKY or any other DTH can contact me and we can get together and form a forum.

We can even take legal actions against them since they are trying to rob us of our hard earned money. I am going ahead and taking legal actions against TATASKY for this matter because it is not a matter of Rs. 1000/- but a matter of honesty integrity and business ethics. This is never expected from a company which has the name TATA.

Regards

VIPUL TRIVEDI
trivipul@yahoo.co.in

I am a customer of Dishtv since Nov 2006. From the very day till today the service provided by dishtv is pathetic. In case u have a problem with Dishtv and you try to lodge a complaint with the customer care then kindly be ready to spend around 2000 rs for your telephone calls as u will not get a solution to your problems.People in the customer care just take a complaint and take no acion to it. I had lodged two complaints with Dish TV. Since then 6 months have passed and my problem has not been resolved. The most interesting part of the customer care of dish tv is the exectives do not give u a proper name. The give fake names to the cusomter. I was speaking to one Vikas Sharma who claimed to be the Team leader in Dishtv, when i tried to call him up again i was informed by another exective that such a person does not exist in Dishtv.

My set top box is now lying in dustbin. If you want to save money please do not buy dishtv.

My humble request would be please do not buy dish TV.

Thanks and Regards
Kavitha Nair

Hi friends,

Today is the last day for my subscription and for renewal i have gone to disgtv website for online payment with my credit card and see this new website for dishtv. i have seen the complete new site and found it more interesting look wise and also more updated with latest information and offering. this new website also looks to be more informative and also more user friendly then the previous one. its good to see alots of new things happeing in Dishtv.

Dear ALL,

Just saw a new offer on dishtv website on renewal that 10% off on one year subscription renewal and this offer is valid for all customer and also 5% off on 6 months subscription renwal ( for maxi and welcome users). Inaddition to this every one who subscribe in this offer will enter in a lucky draw and can win Lots of prices like Maruti SX4, Bikes, Washing Machines and mobile phones. This offer is valid up to 20th november.
This was really a good offer if we subscribe for 1 year in maxi package then we will be able to get a discount of Rs.360/- that's good.

Dear All,

Dish tv peoples are trying to improve and give world class solutions to india. It is a very indian tradition to oppose anything at first when it comes to india.
As compared to other countires technological changes in india are very slow but as compared we need them at the most the same happend with mobile and pagers also . same happend with internet and same happend with ATm cards,.

why dont we understand that in india there is a big possibility of travelling through SUV's and bus and lost of volvo buses are on the road in some years. Imagine the joy of watching a live day night cricket match on espn in journey through mumbai goa,OR from Delhi to Agra or Jaipur.
Its Really good that Dishtv peoples are coming up with latest technologies. As Dishtv already has i tie up with Kingfisher airlines and now poeple are watching dishtv while flying in Kingfisher airlines right now it is not available in all the Kingfisher flights but very soon it will be there in all kingfisher planes. its simply amazing.

Hi friends,

Its really a good news that most awaited Sun channels are now available on dishtv. From last 15-20 days its more on discussion that tatasky added sun channels but not on dishtv as dishtv is always ahead in adding up new channels...but now 15 sun channels are available on dishtv.
Though all sun channels are in Tamil,telugu,malayalam and Kannada and having good hold of south indian people and now all south indian viewers are very happy with addition of sun channels on dishtv.

List of all 15 sun channels available on dishtv:
Gemini TV
Teja TV
Gemini Music
Gemini News
Kiran TV
Surya TV
Udaya TV
Udaya Movies
Udaya Varthegalu
U 2
Sun TV
KTV
Sun Music
SUN News
Chutti TV

Hi All,

Its a good news for all dishtv viewers that dishtv has extended the free preview of Star Cricket till 30th Oct for all Maxi and Welcome users.

Hi All,

That's the great news Shahrukh Khan has also joins dishtv family..... Shahrukh is appointed as a brand Ambassador for dishtv.

http://www.indiantelevision.com/mnd/y2k7/oct/4octgm2.php

Hi Friends,
I am a Dish TV User for past two year and my Friend is having Tata Sky for past six Months.(Believe me now he is planning to go for Dish TV).
Let me help in comparing

both of them and you choose which one is better.
Economic: - Dish TV is more economical than tatasky and having better offer "Diwali dhamaka offer".Dishtv provides 6 mnth free viewing on 1st at Rs.3990 Also 2 months free subscription at Rs.3150.
Channels and Channel Quality: - No. of Channels provided by Dish TV is 170 (video and Audio) But in Tata Sky it was far less approx 125 channels. And channel quality of Dish TV and Tata Sky are far better than cable wallas. Even Dish TV has slight edge on this as the picture quality of Zee channels on Tata Sky is poor.
Packages:- Dish TV has more and better options in choosing packages and really cares for customers money. E.g. No of channels given in Dish TV were more than Tata Sky for a sum of Rs.300.
After Sales Service:- Both have almost same But now Dish TV is going up Sales Services and Tata sky is going down.
Payment Option: - Dishtv has more payment option as compared with Tatasky and are more convenient.But still needs some improvement.
Active Service: - I think Dish TV is having upper hand on this by proving more number of active services. Eg Movie on demand, active sports,news games…etc
Regional Services: - Dish tv has a great advantage here by providing regional services for all over India for all customer like telugu, tamil bangali, Punjabi…etc
So overall what I suggest is Dish TV now has more advantages then Tata Sky. And value for your money.

MUMBAI: Deals are beginning to happen on the direct-to-home (DTH) front. Subhash Chandra-promoted Dish TV India Ltd. has diluted 4.9 percent stake to Indivision Capital, the private equity arm of Kishore Biyani's Future Capital, for Rs 2.5 billion.

Dish TV is raising Rs 1.25 billion in the first tranche via issue of equity shares at Rs 100 per share, valuing the DTH company in the current transaction at Rs 42 billion.

The second tranche will raise the same amount but through conversion of warrants at Rs 130 per share. "We will use the money for acquiring customers, buying set-top boxes and building the brand," said Dish TV CEO Arun Kapoor.

Dish TV board has approved to issue and allot 12.5 million equity shares of Re 1 each to Indivision at a price of Rs 100. Indivision will also subscribe to 9.6 million warrants - each convertible into an equity share - at Rs 130 per share within 18 months from the date of issue of the warrants. The preferential allotment is subject to regulatory approvals.

Dish TV's fund-raising activties will continue as the company is in a significant customer acquisition spree, says Kapoor. The plan is to invest Rs 11 billion over two years. "We are looking at a 60 per cent equity and 40 per cent debt ratio," adds Kapoor.

Dish TV has a gross registered subscriber base of 2.6 million, adding 126,000 new customers in the month of November. The gross subscriber addition during the first eight months of FY2008 (April-November 2007) stands at 673,000.

Said Dish TV chairman Chandra, “We are happy to announce the participation of IndivisionIndia Partners in our effort to provide consumers with unparalleled quality of digital television services directly to their homes. We are confident that Dish TV would deliver long term value to all its stake-holders."

By this time every body will come to know about Tata sky latest news that they dropped stb prices to Rs.1499/-.
But if we see actually tata sky become more expensive then ever.
Latest tata sky price is Rs.1499 /-( Hardware) + Rs.1000(Installation) = Rs.2499/-.

Previous offer: Rs.2999/- (Hardware) + Rs.1000 (Installation) - Rs.1800 ( 6months free offer @ Rs.300 pack) = Rs.2199/-.

So If you see Now tata sky has got Rs.300 expensive then previous offer. and fooling us and all their customer by saying that they have dropped prices.

What do you say?????

Sorry i am doning a comparision here between tata sky and dishtv pricing.
Tata sky i have already given in previous post now lets see what dishtv will offer:
Offer 1: Rs.4990/- (Hardware + installation+ 12 months free subscription) so here if we deduct subs. then its come to be Rs.4990 - 3600 (@Rs.300 pack for 12 months) = 1390 ( Include Rs.1190 for hardware and Rs.200 for installation)
So interesting part here is if remove installation then Its Rs.1190 Vs Rs.1499/- of Tata sky

Offer 2: Rs.3990 (H/w + installation + 6 months free subs) so here if we deduct Rs.1800 (of free subs) = Rs.2190 (Including hardware and installation) Vs Rs.2499/- of tata sky (Including h/w and installation).

I have heard that read in some forum as well about this that the STB'S provided by SUN dth are very much sun-standard, reason how can one give stb free of cost when they have paid some good amout for purchasing them.

Second: they are against the BIS standard and are not interoperable as instructed by govt.

This leaves certain question in my mind:

what happen if govt tell them to change STB because as per BIS stabndard only MPEG 2 STB usable and MPEG 4 are not interoperable.?

Is this breaking of law and voilation happen because they are running the govt their?.

Why they are not following the standards set by govt and playing with customers money and emotions.

I have heard and seen some articles on orkut and some other forums that STB provided by sun direct dth is of sub standard and are not as per the BIS STANDARDS and also not following govt norms for stb's :

Beacuse as per govt all the dth company will follow thw same standard for stbs and currently uses MPEG2 TECHNOLOGY. but sun direct is not following it and just provide stb which supports MPEG 4, which are not interoperable with any other service provider where govt rules says it should be interoperable.

Why this voilation of govt rules only because they are running out govt there.???? and what happen if govt tells them to change their stbs and made them interoperable ????? and further a lots of question are there which needs to be answered....did any body have answers for this.

what i have seen all around in last few days about sun direct stb's and interoperability As their was a lot of comments available on net about the interoperability.

Further i have seen some about Sun direct stb's that those stb's are provided by sun direct are not interoperable, though it was true that MPEG 4 technology is better then mpeg2 but in india we are still having mpeg2.

As per my understanding of technology (though i am not a tech person) and govt rules about interoperability is that
" all stb's from all service providers are both ways interoperable, like dishtv and tata sky have as both are on MPEG2 and are interoperable with each other. but this is not the case with sun dth.

If govt made this mandatory that all service provider should have same stb standards and are interoperable then what happens. as sun is having MPEG4 and it is bacward interoperable with mpeg2 but not both ways .then will sun direct replace all stb's or what will they do.

In other words they are just violating govt rules due to high political influence, and also taking undue advantage of being in govetnment.

I have seen all this information floating on net...can we start a discussion here also based on same thing and what's wrong or right.

Pradeep posted a message saying there is a brand new digicomp for sale for RS.500. I am interested in buying it. Please email me asap.If any one is interested in selling, plz let me know.

Dishtv and ESPN STAR Sports Announce ‘Summer Sports Bonanza’ of Rs. 500
~Riding on Wimbledon, Asia Cup & UEFA EURO 2008 in June~
Dishtv and ESPN STAR Sports have announced a joint marketing programme titled, ‘Summer Sports Bonanza’ for the discerning sports lover subscribers of dishtv across the country. Under this initiative, a cash benefit of Rs. 500 will be credited back to the subscribers’ account on purchase of a new connection before June 30, 2008. This discount is over and above the Free Set Top Box offer already introduced by dishtv on May 10 by paying one year’s Maxi subscription & installation charges of Rs. 3990 only. Buying dishtv today is by far a huge value for money proposition for any consumer versus its competitors’ offerings.

This actually means that cost of the three sports channels - ESPN, Star Sports & Star cricket, positioned at around Rs. 40 per month, is reimbursed back to the consumer in form of this credit of Rs 500. So in effect the consumer enjoys the channels for free, for a full year! He is free to use this credit of Rs 500 to pay his onward subscription with dishtv or buy VAS services like movie- on demand etc. on the platform.

This promotion enjoys special significance given the impressive line-up of sporting events calendar on the three channels in the coming months. The array of events include the ongoing UEFA Euro Cup and FI season in June, Asia cup cricket in Jun-Jul, Wimbledon tennis tournament starting in June and ICC Champions Trophy in Aug/ Sep. All these events are live and exclusive on ESPN, Star sports and can now be enjoyed seemingly free of cost by all dishtv subscribers.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, dishtv India, said, “It gives us extreme pleasure, to partner with ESPN in this summer sports bonanza. As India's largest direct-to-home service provider, dishtv has always led from the front and provided the best in entertainment to its subscribers. This initiative will enable all our subscribers to enjoy the best of sporting action at a great value for money proposition. We are hopeful of further enhancing our reach amongst sports lovers across the country, with this offer.”

According to RC Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd, said, “We have had an extremely strong relationship with Dishtv right from its inception and are happy to partner with them in this interesting sales promotion scheme which will help penetrate DTH further to the sports lovers across the country.”

Dishtv, the country’s No.1 DTH Company has always been providing consumer friendly offering and it has been evident with the soaring sales seen since the launch of free set top box offer which is bound to grow further with this new initiative. The Free Set Top Box offer has ensured exponential sale with the month on month sale grown to almost double.

Please visit the link below which states Net loss of Tatasky in FY'08 is Rs.864 crores
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/market-news/are-tata-groups-flagship-unlisted-cos-making-losses/12/23/357957

Tata Group's flagship unlisted companies are yet to turn profitable. It’s the companies in insurance, DTH, telecom holding company and the newly launched real estate company that are making losses.

The Tata Group is not to create wealth and many of the companies are very aggressive in terms of mergers and acquisitions. But some of this unlisted companies, which are into emerging sectors like insurance sector, Direct to Home (DTH), telecom are indeed bleeding. Tata AIG is one of the companies which was in news last week, when AIG was going through financial troubles. This company had made a loss of nearly Rs 339 crore in FY08 as against Rs 72 crore in FY07and in FY06 the loss was around Rs 54 crore. Its media venture Tata Sky which is a joint venture with Sky, is also making a huge loss. In FY08 the loss stood at Rs 864 crore for Tata Sky, in FY07 it was another Rs 815 crore and in FY06 the loss was at Rs 53 crore.

Also Tata Teleservices, a holding company of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, is a listed company. But a lot of investors have a stake in this company including Temasek. This company made a loss of nearly Rs 1,813 crore in FY08, in FY07 the loss was at Rs 2,062 crore and in FY06 the loss was at Rs 1,871 crore.

Apart from these three big companies, there are other companies like Tata Realty and Infrastructure, which began operations last year. It's making a loss of nearly Rs 14 crore, it's joint venture with Fiat India Limited which makes Palio in India and does all the maintenance and servicing for Palio is making a loss of nearly Rs 89.7 crore. Apart from that, there is another company which is a R&D company located in UK that made a profit of Rs 12.8 crore.

Please visit the link below which states Net loss of Tatasky in FY'08 is Rs.864 crores
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/market-news/are-tata-groups-flagship-unlisted-cos-making-losses/12/23/357957

Tata Group's flagship unlisted companies are yet to turn profitable. It’s the companies in insurance, DTH, telecom holding company and the newly launched real estate company that are making losses.

The Tata Group is not to create wealth and many of the companies are very aggressive in terms of mergers and acquisitions. But some of this unlisted companies, which are into emerging sectors like insurance sector, Direct to Home (DTH), telecom are indeed bleeding. Tata AIG is one of the companies which was in news last week, when AIG was going through financial troubles. This company had made a loss of nearly Rs 339 crore in FY08 as against Rs 72 crore in FY07and in FY06 the loss was around Rs 54 crore. Its media venture Tata Sky which is a joint venture with Sky, is also making a huge loss. In FY08 the loss stood at Rs 864 crore for Tata Sky, in FY07 it was another Rs 815 crore and in FY06 the loss was at Rs 53 crore.

Also Tata Teleservices, a holding company of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, is a listed company. But a lot of investors have a stake in this company including Temasek. This company made a loss of nearly Rs 1,813 crore in FY08, in FY07 the loss was at Rs 2,062 crore and in FY06 the loss was at Rs 1,871 crore.

Apart from these three big companies, there are other companies like Tata Realty and Infrastructure, which began operations last year. It's making a loss of nearly Rs 14 crore, it's joint venture with Fiat India Limited which makes Palio in India and does all the maintenance and servicing for Palio is making a loss of nearly Rs 89.7 crore. Apart from that, there is another company which is a R&D company located in UK that made a profit of Rs 12.8 crore.

Please visit the link below which states Net loss of Tatasky in FY'08 is Rs.864 crores
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/market-news/are-tata-groups-flagship-unlisted-cos-making-losses/12/23/357957

Tata Group's flagship unlisted companies are yet to turn profitable. It’s the companies in insurance, DTH, telecom holding company and the newly launched real estate company that are making losses.

The Tata Group is not to create wealth and many of the companies are very aggressive in terms of mergers and acquisitions. But some of this unlisted companies, which are into emerging sectors like insurance sector, Direct to Home (DTH), telecom are indeed bleeding. Tata AIG is one of the companies which was in news last week, when AIG was going through financial troubles. This company had made a loss of nearly Rs 339 crore in FY08 as against Rs 72 crore in FY07and in FY06 the loss was around Rs 54 crore. Its media venture Tata Sky which is a joint venture with Sky, is also making a huge loss. In FY08 the loss stood at Rs 864 crore for Tata Sky, in FY07 it was another Rs 815 crore and in FY06 the loss was at Rs 53 crore.

Also Tata Teleservices, a holding company of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, is a listed company. But a lot of investors have a stake in this company including Temasek. This company made a loss of nearly Rs 1,813 crore in FY08, in FY07 the loss was at Rs 2,062 crore and in FY06 the loss was at Rs 1,871 crore.

Apart from these three big companies, there are other companies like Tata Realty and Infrastructure, which began operations last year. It's making a loss of nearly Rs 14 crore, it's joint venture with Fiat India Limited which makes Palio in India and does all the maintenance and servicing for Palio is making a loss of nearly Rs 89.7 crore. Apart from that, there is another company which is a R&D company located in UK that made a profit of Rs 12.8 crore.

Dish TV, TataSky plan to roll out DVR technology

Press Trust of India / New Delhi October 13, 2008, 17:28 IST

With competition hotting up in the direct-to-home television segment after the entry of Reliance Big TV and Bharti Airtel DTH, market leader Dish TV and TataSky are planning to introduce DVR technology around Diwali time to stay a step ahead.

The Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which allows viewers to record programmes in one channel while watching another and play according to convenience, is being billed as the next big thing in the evolving Indian DTH market.

"This, of course, will be a premium product and we plan to announce the launch of DVR technology platform for our DTH service very soon. It will be a Diwali gift to our customers," TataSky Chief Marketing Officer Vikram Mehra said.

Similarly, market leader Dish TV is also readying to roll out its DVR platform.

"Our launch of DVR is expected around Diwali and our offer will have 140 hours of recording time," Dish TV Chief Operating Officer Salil Kapoor said, adding the set top boxes for the DVR were expected to cost around Rs 10,000 each.

Their new rivals Bharti and Reliance Big entertainment are also readying DVR platform.
While an RCom official said soon the company would unveil DVR, industry sources said Bharti DTH may also launch the same thing.

Asked if they were compelled to bring the new technology due to increased competition, both TataSky and Dish TV denied.

"We have been planning for it over the last eight months doing pilot studies. Now we are ready to roll-out," Mehra said

Dishtv Launch " Aapki wish. Aapka Pack" freedom to choose package

MUMBAI: Dish TV, which garnered 431,253 subscribers in the month of October to take its total customer base to 4.4 million customers, has introduced a host of pricing packages to keep up its growth momentum.

Dish TV is offering set-top box (STB) at Rs 1,490 along with which the consumer has a choice to select from multiple packs ranging from Rs 99 to Rs 275 per month.

The pack Aapki Wish. Aapka Pack allows freedom of choice to end users to customise their channel bouquet with maximum permutations and combinations.


Earlier in September, Dish TV had brought down the installation price from Rs 3,990 to Rs 1,990. Consumers had to pay Rs 1,990 and get a STB connection with 12 months subscription free.


In another value pack, Dish TV is offering a combo pack at Rs 2090 where the STB is bundled with the 'Platinum Pack' for three months with 165 channels and services.


Consumers have another option where they can select from a list of four tier packs Silver, Gold, Diamond and Platinum. Silver pack offers 110 channels at Rs 111 while customers opting for the Gold pack get to watch 125 channels at Rs 180. The Diamond pack offers 140 channels at Rs 247 while Platinum pack comes for Rs 309 with 165 channels.

In another scheme, the direct-to-home service provider is offering more than 30 channels (a la carte packs) from Rs 15 to Rs 55.

Says Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor, The new package offerings will offer our customers complete freedom of choice to customise channel packages."

Another departure from the current pricing model is the separate representation of service tax payable on monthly subscriptions. Reeling under intense pressure from multiple taxes by the Centre and the States, the tax element of DTH companies goes up as high as 40 per cent and includes service tax, entertainment tax, VAT and licence fee. Dish TV has decided to charge one component - the service tax directly from the subscribers and make the pricing transparent to that extent.

Says Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel, DTH industry is passing though a tough time due to burdensome multiple taxes by the Centre and the States and Dish TV has been providing considerable subsidies to consumer. Currently, the tax element of DTH companies includes service tax, entertainment tax, value added tax and license fee where as no other services are burdened with these many taxes. The subscribers are taxed entertainment tax on account of news content, that they are watching in the comfort of their home. The matter has been brought to the notice of I&B ministry and we hope that the government would rationalise the taxation structure on DTH and provide us some reprieve soon.

Good news for all dishtv subscribers as last weekend dishtv added 2 more new channels in their bouquet know they have more then 220 channels these two new channels are

NDTV good times on channel number 428 and ETV Rajasthan on ch. number 822. both the channels are available to all maxi subscribers.

Upcoming elections drive mobile DTH sales of Dish TV

The pressing need for politicians to stay connected and updated through satellite television even while on the move is driving the sales of Dish TV's mobile DTH units, specially in states like Delhi, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that go in for Assembly elections shortly.

There are five private direct-to-home (DTH) operators in the market so far but only Dish TV provides a mobile DTH unit that costs about Rs 1.45 lakh per unit. This can be fitted on a car, bus or any sports utility vehicle (SUV).

A mobile DTH unit comes in with a special built-in roving antenna that can receive DTH signals even when the vehicle is on the move. It has to be fitted on the rooftop of cars or buses as it weighs about 3-4 kilograms. Therefore, only large cars like the SUVs qualify for these mobile DTH units.

So far, political personalities like LK Advani, Lalu Prasad, Vasundhara Raje, among several others, have got Dish TV units installed in their vehicles in which they travel within their states or constituencies, say executives from Dish TV.

Dish TV is the country's largest DTH operator and recently crossed the 4.5 million-subscriber mark and sees the mobile Dish TV units as an extension of its mission "Dish TV everywhere". Already, the mobile Dish TV units are fitted on board 15 aircrafts of Kingfisher and on the special trains of high-ranking railway officials. It is also fitted on some cruise ships, Dish TV executives say.

According to Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV, the demand for mobile Dish TV units has gone up by as much as 35-40 per cent within this month compared to the previous month. "The demand and enquires for our mobile DTH units have been overwhelming from states like Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, among others. We are pushing our mobile DTH units very aggressively and planning ahead considering the forthcoming general elections next year," says Kapoor.

The company is believed to have sold over 200-300 mobile Dish TV units to its buyers including political leaders, party workers and seasoned political king-makers recently. Dish TV is in talks with large auto makers like General Motors and Ford to provide its customers mobile Dish TV units as accessories.

There have been numerous individual enquiries as well, says Kapoor. "Mobile DTH service is for all those who need to stay connected with the world. They could be people with interest in the stock markets, sports, politicians, celebrities and business persons. We can say that most of these consumer categories have subscribed to our mobile DTH units," Kapoor says.

Source: Business Standard

ICICI Active is really very good and informative service by dishtv. As yesterday because of this service i will be able to touch base with ICICI cutomer care and get requiried information in no time.

As after deduction in interest on loans by Govt. I have decided to take house loan but i don't have any information on that and what are their requirements. then i just switch on dishtv's ICICI Active service hoping that we might get some info on the same and too my surprise i got all the information about loans and their requirements also the nearest contact point numbers with customer care numbers. and i have just called their and got clear my doubt which i have.

i must say that ICICI Active is really a good service and i hope might be other will also be benefitted with this. Also i have noticed that their is complete details of ICICI bank ATM's and branch details with their numbers.

Dishtv premiers Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye on Movie on demand On 18th Dec

Setting yet another benchmark in the DTH sector, Dishtv, Indias No. 1 direct-to-home company and part of the biggest media conglomerate Zee group, today announced the premier of the latest bollywood blockbuster Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye over their Movie-on-Demand (MoD) service in 3.5 weeks of its theatrical release. Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye has proved to be a big hit among the Indian masses.

Announcing this Mr. Salil Kapoor, COO, dishtv said, The Premier of Oye lucky, Lucky Oye on Dishtv will enable our 4.6 million subscribers to enjoy the latest and best of movies in the comfort of their home. Dishtv is a market leader in providing premium content to its subscribers, we are the only DTH platform to broadcast Bollywood & Hollywood blockbuster movies like Taare Zameen Par, Jab We Met, Spider Man 3, Pirates of Caribbean etc. At Dishtv, we are always innovating and exploring new opportunities to bring wholesome entertainment to the masses.

Many production houses have approached us for the release of their forthcoming films on Dishtv, the largest DTH platform in the country. In the current scenario of multiplex sales dipping and viewers preferring to watch movies at home, this association could form a growing new revenue stream for us going forward. Salil Kapoor added. Dishtv has consistently set the benchmarks for the Indian DTH industry and it has redefined the business through marketing innovations, introduction of new generation value-added services and the highest standard of customer delivery.

TRAI consultation paper on interconnection issues in broadcast and cable service

Keeping in mind the stiff competition between DTH players and the cable industry, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a consultation paper on interconnection issues relating to broadcasting and cable services. The last time such a consultation paper was issued on interconnection was on December 10, 2004, the regulations issued were constantly amended in order to cover new issues. The Authority has invited all stakeholders to respond to the issues raised in this consultation paper by January 12, 2009.

There has been a marked increase in deployment of addressable platforms for distribution of TV channels in recent past. IPTV services and voluntary CAS have been rolled out by many service providers. In the near future, Head-End In The Sky (HITS) and mobile TV services are also likely to be available. The number of subscribers being served by the DTH services has also gone up significantly.

This consultation paper covers the interconnection issues for addressable platforms, interconnection issues for non-addressable platforms, general interconnection issues as well, as issues related to registration of interconnection agreements.

FDI hike not important for DTH and cable industry

TRAI had earlier recommended a hike in FDI to 74 per cent from the current 49 per cent in DTH and IPTV, which excluded the cable industry, which the Government is said to be considering. exchange4media speaks to Roop Sharma, President, Cable Operators Association of India (COAI), and Salil Kapoor, COO, DishTV to find out how much the FDI hike matters to them and their expectations from the Government.

Although a section of the cable industry is unhappy with the TRAI recommendation, Sharma has a different take on it. He said, The cable industry does not want more than 49 per cent of the FDI, however, the fact remains that the growth in the cable industry will remain good even in 2009 despite the competition from DTH players, and no matter what, the cable industry is here to stay and give a tough fight to their competitors.

Kapoor was of the opinion that, Even if the FDI is hiked to 74 per cent, it will not help the industry much as we have Indian promoters and, therefore, FDI has no role to play in it. Whether or not the Government hikes FDI limit, it will be of no difference to us. We are available even in the most remote areas of the country and provide 100 per cent remote coverage, which is not so in cable and being an information industry, Government support is vital. Currently, the industry is based on total subsidy and multiple taxes, which are hurting the industry. Government support should come by way of lowering these multiple taxes, which, in turn, will help in the growth of DTH industry.

www.Exchange4media.com

dishtv to premier new movies; targets 9 million subscribers by 2010

With the economic slowdown affecting pay packets and job security like never before, people have become cautious about their spends. One of the luxuries that is getting struck off peoples lists is a visit to the theatre to catch up on the latest release.

Keeping this in mind, DTH service provider DishTV on December 12 announced the premier of a recent Bollywood release, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye, over their movie-on-demand (MoD) service within three and a half weeks of the films theatrical release. The consumer needs to shell out Rs 100 for every new movie that is premiered on the DTH platform and watch the film throughout the day.

Salil Kapoor, COO, DishTV, in a prepared statement, said, The premiere of Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye on DishTV will enable our 4.6 million subscribers to enjoy the latest and best of movies in the comfort of their homes. We have broadcast both Bollywood and Hollywood blockbusters like Taare Zameen Par, Jab We Met, Spider Man 3, Pirates of Caribbean, etc.

He further said, Many production houses have approached us for the release of their forthcoming films on DishTV, the largest DTH platform in the country. In the current scenario of multiplex sales dipping and viewers preferring to watch movies at home, this association could form a growing new revenue stream for us going forward.

The DTH service provider has also started running trailers of the newly released movies as well, which are run on their MoD channels by default. We are right now releasing on a co-promotion basis, but going forward, we look forward for this move to be monetised and even featured in our ad sales strategies, Kapoor added.

Growth as per expectations

Kapoor said, We had three million subscribers on April, 1 2008, and we have set a target to achieve five million subscribers by March 2009. Today, we are at 4.6 million subscribers and we are very sure that we will achieve more than our target very comfortably. Our focus will be on providing a wide choice of popular content across customer segments and regions and specific value-added content according to their interest levels and requirements, such as special interactive services, channel packages, and offers.

Competition vital for DTH growth

This year also saw the entry of more players in the DTH space. The launch of Big TV and Airtel Digital has set off a price war amongst the DTH players, forcing the old players to change course in order to retain their subscribers and attract new ones. With Videocon, too, preparing to join the DTH bandwagon, the competition in this space is set to become fiercer.

Speaking about competition in the DTH space, Kapoor said, Currently, DishTV enjoys a market share of 46 per cent in the DTH space and aims to garner 9 million subscribers by 2010. The competition has only opened up the DTH category. Having multiple players will only expand the DTH space more and hasten the adoption of the category. I believe there is huge opportunity in this space and a lot of pent-up demand for DTH in the Indian market.

He further said, A DTH service provider needs to achieve economies of scale, resulting in lower operating costs, breaking key price barriers for consumer adoption, as well as granting easy access to premium content.

Part of Zee Group, DishTVs creative duties are being handled by Lowe, while Madison Media is its media agency. DishTV has on its platform 225 channels and services, including 21 audio channels.

www.exchange4media.com

DTH industry goes niche in its expansion drive

Regional markets have been growing in importance and are increasingly being considered by all media print, television, radio for further expansion. For the direct-to-home (DTH) sector, regional has always been an attractive market. It is now taking a step forward and going niche for instance, introducing western content for urban audiences and regional content for rural audiences.

DishTV had initially created a strong base in the regional markets and only later did it expand to the urban markets.

Salil Kapoor, COO, DishTV, elaborated, DishTV addresses the needs of viewers living away from their native place and outside their language area by providing the depth and width of regional language content. This linguistic minority is able to view the programmes in their mother tongue and stay updated on the happenings in their native city or state. We look for a substantial chunk of revenues coming from regional markets in the coming time. Advertisers from sectors like FMCG, lifestyle, automobile, etc., have approached us and we are in consideration to partner with them for these markets.

Sanjay Behl, Head - Brand and Marketing, Reliance Communications, said, Regional markets have always been our primetime focus and we have different propositions for different regions. We also customise our advertising and value propositions according to that region.

The industry boasts of offering its viewers more choice of channels and content and assured telecast quality. It is also one of the few broadcasting services that can penetrate in even the most remote areas of the country.

When it comes to revenue generations, the regional markets do represent a huge chunk of revenues for the sector, however, in some cases, it is equally distributed between metros and regional markets. But it is the larger towns or cities that help this industry to garner huge revenues.

http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?section_id=6&news_id=33521&tag=28481&pict=1

[b]Dishtv claims to have 4.7 million subscribers, which translate into 50% of the market share. Tata Sky 3 mn, Sun direct 2 mn and BIGTV 1 mn. The potential remains huge. of 220 mn households 125 mn have TV, Of those only 85 mn have CABLE Connection and 9.5 mn have DTH[/b]


Dishing it out: Dishtv the best
Bereft of conventional first-mover advantages, Dish TV is striving to stay ahead with depth and width. It is time to monetise both, and then some.

There is a new mirth, laced with a hint of snigger, pervading the Dish TV office in Film City, the one in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi. It has been there ever since TAM Media research, the agency that measures television viewership, said the channel share of Zee Interactive 999 was higher than that of CNN-IBN, CNN, UTVi, NewsX, and a few niche channels. The four mentioned here are well-known news channels, while 999 is the default channel of Dish TV, an interactive one that tells the users how to use the service and also works as a programme guide.

Dish TV, the direct-to-home broadcast vehicle of Subhash Chandras Zee Network, is sufficiently enthused by the TAM data to think of monetising 999. We will go out and sell air time on it, says Salil Kapoor, the companys chief operating officer, who became a recognised face in his earlier avatars as the head of sales for consumer goods major Samsung Electronics India and before that as the head of marketing for Samsungs rival, LG.

This is among a torrent of new revenue streams that Dish hopes to open. For some reason, DTH services prefer the moniker, Active, for their value-added channels which air things other than the usual television programmes, such as, gaming, education, virtual pilgrimage, and so on. But Dish, in addition to the others, has ICICI Active. It is a co-branded channel that tells you all about ICICI Bank, the countrys second-largest lender after State Bank of India, and its services, including an EMI (equated monthly instalments) tracker.

Some of Dishs channels show movies on demand and go by the somewhat obvious nomenclature of MOD, or Movie on Demand. Users can pay a small amount, which is smaller than the rental for a DVD, and catch the movie at any of the six or so slots during the day, or every time if they so desire. These films are shown without a break for commercials. That will continue. The change Dish has planned is to take sponsorship for these movies; sponsors advertisements can be aired before the film begins and after it ends. It has already started charging a carriage fee from channels, just like cable operators do, which ranges between Rs 3 crore and Rs 6 crore a year.

The company believes that the new revenue streams will help it stay ahead of the pack in the direct-to-home slugfest, which has well and truly begun with Reliance-ADAGs Big TV DTH and Bharti Enterprises Airtel Digital joining the battle which already had players like Tata Sky, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Rupert Murdochs STAR TV, and Kalanithi Marans Sun Direct, which has just ventured out of its cocoon in the South to spread its wings across the country. Government-owned Prasar Bhartis DD Direct has been there for a while and boasts of a large number of subscribers, but is a non-commercial venture and therefore left out of this article.

First mover
When a segment opens up to unbridled competition, the incumbent generally suffers because consumers recall the arrogance of the old days and switch to the newcomers. The prime examples are Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd in telecommunications.

However, Dish was not an incumbent in that sense. For one, both BSNL and MTNL were and continued to be owned by the government and enjoyed monopoly in an area in which private participation was not allowed. The many experts the strategist spoke to liken Dishs position with that of Maruti Suzuki in the 1990s. The car market leader was a near-monopoly at that time. It had 80 per cent of the industrys manufacturing capacity and the same proportion of the market. The rest was divided between Premier Automobiles (think Padmini) and Hindustan Motors Ambassador.

In the second half of the 1990s, nearly every global car manufacturer entered India, striking at the bastion of Maruti, which was caught in a bruising battle between its two principal shareholders. Once the fight was resolved in 1998, the company came back with a number of new models and a sharp focus on customer service to recoup its market share.

Dish started its service in 2002, though the official launch happened the following year. At that time, it showed mainly the Zee bouquet, many of Doodarshans channels, and some regional ones. The STAR family, of which STAR Plus had become the leader in general entertainment by a long mile, and Sony, which was still popular, were missing from its offering. This limited its appeal and Dish focused mainly on areas that did not have cable connections, which in industry jargon are called cable-dry areas.

These included some of the remotest parts, including Drass in the Himalayan range. Since DTH needs limited infrastructure if you have a source of power, a television and a set up box, you are connected Dish became an alternative for viewers whose options were otherwise limited to Doordarshans terrestrial service.

With time, some popular non-Zee channels, like HBO, came on the Dish platform, but by 2006 it still had no more than a million subscribers. That was when Tata Sky started and STAR, the 20 per cent partner in the venture, was forced by regulation to make its channels available to Dish.

For the first two to two-and-a-half years of our launch, STAR and Sony did not give me their bouquets. So I spread myself in cable-dry markets in the remote areas. The government did not help, as there was no regulation on content. TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which is also the broadcast media regulator) used to say it could not frame regulation since there was just a single player, says Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel.

Kapoor echoes the view. In a way, we can say that the commercial launch of Dish TV took place at the same time as Tata Skys.

While that may be the case, the newer players came armed to challenge Dish. They are on MPEG-4, the latest version of the Moving Pictures Expert Group, which offers higher channel capacity per transponder using digital compression. Airtel Digital users can use the same remote to operate the set top box as well as the television. Tata Sky, on the other hand, seems to have found favour with consumers in the metropolitan cities.

So, shorn of the traditional first-mover advantages, how does the market leader deal with the situation? The stakes are immense. DTH is perhaps the fastest-growing consumer segment after mobile phones, defying the slowdown by adding nearly a million subscribers in October and then again in November. Thats nearly twice the number added in May-June. Even if the addition rate falls a trifle, the DTH subscription base, about 9.5 million now, could cross 20 million by the end of 2009. Of the current market, Dish claims to have 4.7 million, which translates into a share of nearly 50 per cent, Tata Sky 3 million, Sun Direct 2 million and Big TV a million.

The growth potential remains huge. Of the 220 million households in India, 125 million have a television set. Of those, only 85 million have cable connections and 9.5 million have DTH. We are an alternative to the cable operator. The growth will come from the cable-dry areas as well as from the cable-frustrated consumers, says Kapoor, whose group also has a cable operator in Wire & Wireless India Ltd.

However, the industry is creaking under a loss burden; the total figure may cross Rs 2,000 crore this financial year, double of what it was in 2007-08, when the market was serviced by only Dish and Tata Sky. Hong Kong-based international media research agency Media Partners Asia says these two and Sun Direct will have combined losses of $350 million, while Big TV and Airtel DTH will have $100 million.

Given that the increased competition has halved the initial cost to the consumer to Rs 2,000 and under, the average revenue per user, or ARPU, languishes at an industry average of about Rs 180. The industry is ridden with service tax, value-added tax, licence fee per subscriber, and entertainment tax, which together take away 40 per cent of the price paid by the consumer.

Monetisation and more
Merely being there is not enough. As the first mover, what are you locking up that the next guy cant have? asks market strategist and consumer behaviour expert Rama Bijapurkar.

Nothing, says Goel. However, Dish still considers itself in an advantageous position vis-à-vis the rivals. As on March 31, 2008, Dish had a loss of Rs 600 crore. But our rivals had three times as much. Our advantage is that we grew our infrastructure as we grew in volume. The others came in with huge investments in infrastructure and technology. Their technology and set top boxes are more expensive but not necessarily better. You have to buy smarter. So some of our rivals make huge losses as they have chosen expensive vendors, says Goel.

His company has the largest number of channels on offer, 225, compared to 150 or so that the others have, and says it is poised to increase the number to 450 with some incremental investment in transponders. It believes itself to be in a position to fight the competition on the two critical fronts of depth and width. We provide the most languages and genres as well as the most channels in each language and genre. We have so many things to look at its not funny, says Kapoor.

The serious thing is to monetise this depth and width, which, as described in the beginning of this article, has already begun.

Kapoor is quick to dispel the technology advantage with the new entrants. It is true that MPEG-4 needs fewer transponders and therefore saves some cost. But its set top boxes are costlier and, since they have to be subsidised, offset the savings on transponders. The operator does not benefit and the technology makes no difference to the consumer because it does not provide for better picture or sound quality.

Still, there seems to be the general impression that Tata Sky is the service provider of choice among upmarket consumers, a factor that may have played a role in the companys decision to start Tata Sky Plus, whose set top box costs Rs 10,000.

When Tata Sky came in, it saw a need gap in terms of the quality of service. So it positioned itself on that plank and started going for the creamy layer. It has always focused on service quality and went on to market and promote its brand in a big way something Dish hadnt done until now, says an analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Tata Sky revels in this perception. Dish TV had a lead of two years over Tata Sky. But I do not think the incumbent had any advantage. Dish TV also grew when we launched as the entire category grows when competition comes in. When we launched, Dish TV was focusing on the smaller markets and rural markets. We launched majorly in the metros, says Vikram Mehra, its chief marketing officer.

To that, Kapoors response is a shrug of the shoulders and: They have their own figure and we have our own. The key thing is that we have 50 per cent more subscribers than them. Goel believes that starting in the remote areas was actually an advantage. Today, he says, I have a pan-India presence and my subscribers are from everywhere. The advantage of starting with the remote areas first is that we have deeper penetration. And then comes a statistic: Since the launch of Tata Sky, Dish has added 3.7 million subscribers, while Tata Sky has added 3 million.

Source : Business Standard

[b]Dishtv claims to have 4.7 million subscribers, which translate into 50% of the market share. Tata Sky 3 mn, Sun direct 2 mn and BIGTV 1 mn. The potential remains huge. of 220 mn households 125 mn have TV, Of those only 85 mn have CABLE Connection and 9.5 mn have DTH[/b]


Dishing it out: Dishtv the best
Bereft of conventional first-mover advantages, Dish TV is striving to stay ahead with depth and width. It is time to monetise both, and then some.

There is a new mirth, laced with a hint of snigger, pervading the Dish TV office in Film City, the one in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi. It has been there ever since TAM Media research, the agency that measures television viewership, said the channel share of Zee Interactive 999 was higher than that of CNN-IBN, CNN, UTVi, NewsX, and a few niche channels. The four mentioned here are well-known news channels, while 999 is the default channel of Dish TV, an interactive one that tells the users how to use the service and also works as a programme guide.

Dish TV, the direct-to-home broadcast vehicle of Subhash Chandras Zee Network, is sufficiently enthused by the TAM data to think of monetising 999. We will go out and sell air time on it, says Salil Kapoor, the companys chief operating officer, who became a recognised face in his earlier avatars as the head of sales for consumer goods major Samsung Electronics India and before that as the head of marketing for Samsungs rival, LG.

This is among a torrent of new revenue streams that Dish hopes to open. For some reason, DTH services prefer the moniker, Active, for their value-added channels which air things other than the usual television programmes, such as, gaming, education, virtual pilgrimage, and so on. But Dish, in addition to the others, has ICICI Active. It is a co-branded channel that tells you all about ICICI Bank, the countrys second-largest lender after State Bank of India, and its services, including an EMI (equated monthly instalments) tracker.

Some of Dishs channels show movies on demand and go by the somewhat obvious nomenclature of MOD, or Movie on Demand. Users can pay a small amount, which is smaller than the rental for a DVD, and catch the movie at any of the six or so slots during the day, or every time if they so desire. These films are shown without a break for commercials. That will continue. The change Dish has planned is to take sponsorship for these movies; sponsors advertisements can be aired before the film begins and after it ends. It has already started charging a carriage fee from channels, just like cable operators do, which ranges between Rs 3 crore and Rs 6 crore a year.

The company believes that the new revenue streams will help it stay ahead of the pack in the direct-to-home slugfest, which has well and truly begun with Reliance-ADAGs Big TV DTH and Bharti Enterprises Airtel Digital joining the battle which already had players like Tata Sky, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Rupert Murdochs STAR TV, and Kalanithi Marans Sun Direct, which has just ventured out of its cocoon in the South to spread its wings across the country. Government-owned Prasar Bhartis DD Direct has been there for a while and boasts of a large number of subscribers, but is a non-commercial venture and therefore left out of this article.

First mover
When a segment opens up to unbridled competition, the incumbent generally suffers because consumers recall the arrogance of the old days and switch to the newcomers. The prime examples are Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd in telecommunications.

However, Dish was not an incumbent in that sense. For one, both BSNL and MTNL were and continued to be owned by the government and enjoyed monopoly in an area in which private participation was not allowed. The many experts the strategist spoke to liken Dishs position with that of Maruti Suzuki in the 1990s. The car market leader was a near-monopoly at that time. It had 80 per cent of the industrys manufacturing capacity and the same proportion of the market. The rest was divided between Premier Automobiles (think Padmini) and Hindustan Motors Ambassador.

In the second half of the 1990s, nearly every global car manufacturer entered India, striking at the bastion of Maruti, which was caught in a bruising battle between its two principal shareholders. Once the fight was resolved in 1998, the company came back with a number of new models and a sharp focus on customer service to recoup its market share.

Dish started its service in 2002, though the official launch happened the following year. At that time, it showed mainly the Zee bouquet, many of Doodarshans channels, and some regional ones. The STAR family, of which STAR Plus had become the leader in general entertainment by a long mile, and Sony, which was still popular, were missing from its offering. This limited its appeal and Dish focused mainly on areas that did not have cable connections, which in industry jargon are called cable-dry areas.

These included some of the remotest parts, including Drass in the Himalayan range. Since DTH needs limited infrastructure if you have a source of power, a television and a set up box, you are connected Dish became an alternative for viewers whose options were otherwise limited to Doordarshans terrestrial service.

With time, some popular non-Zee channels, like HBO, came on the Dish platform, but by 2006 it still had no more than a million subscribers. That was when Tata Sky started and STAR, the 20 per cent partner in the venture, was forced by regulation to make its channels available to Dish.

For the first two to two-and-a-half years of our launch, STAR and Sony did not give me their bouquets. So I spread myself in cable-dry markets in the remote areas. The government did not help, as there was no regulation on content. TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which is also the broadcast media regulator) used to say it could not frame regulation since there was just a single player, says Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel.

Kapoor echoes the view. In a way, we can say that the commercial launch of Dish TV took place at the same time as Tata Skys.

While that may be the case, the newer players came armed to challenge Dish. They are on MPEG-4, the latest version of the Moving Pictures Expert Group, which offers higher channel capacity per transponder using digital compression. Airtel Digital users can use the same remote to operate the set top box as well as the television. Tata Sky, on the other hand, seems to have found favour with consumers in the metropolitan cities.

So, shorn of the traditional first-mover advantages, how does the market leader deal with the situation? The stakes are immense. DTH is perhaps the fastest-growing consumer segment after mobile phones, defying the slowdown by adding nearly a million subscribers in October and then again in November. Thats nearly twice the number added in May-June. Even if the addition rate falls a trifle, the DTH subscription base, about 9.5 million now, could cross 20 million by the end of 2009. Of the current market, Dish claims to have 4.7 million, which translates into a share of nearly 50 per cent, Tata Sky 3 million, Sun Direct 2 million and Big TV a million.

The growth potential remains huge. Of the 220 million households in India, 125 million have a television set. Of those, only 85 million have cable connections and 9.5 million have DTH. We are an alternative to the cable operator. The growth will come from the cable-dry areas as well as from the cable-frustrated consumers, says Kapoor, whose group also has a cable operator in Wire & Wireless India Ltd.

However, the industry is creaking under a loss burden; the total figure may cross Rs 2,000 crore this financial year, double of what it was in 2007-08, when the market was serviced by only Dish and Tata Sky. Hong Kong-based international media research agency Media Partners Asia says these two and Sun Direct will have combined losses of $350 million, while Big TV and Airtel DTH will have $100 million.

Given that the increased competition has halved the initial cost to the consumer to Rs 2,000 and under, the average revenue per user, or ARPU, languishes at an industry average of about Rs 180. The industry is ridden with service tax, value-added tax, licence fee per subscriber, and entertainment tax, which together take away 40 per cent of the price paid by the consumer.

Monetisation and more
Merely being there is not enough. As the first mover, what are you locking up that the next guy cant have? asks market strategist and consumer behaviour expert Rama Bijapurkar.

Nothing, says Goel. However, Dish still considers itself in an advantageous position vis-à-vis the rivals. As on March 31, 2008, Dish had a loss of Rs 600 crore. But our rivals had three times as much. Our advantage is that we grew our infrastructure as we grew in volume. The others came in with huge investments in infrastructure and technology. Their technology and set top boxes are more expensive but not necessarily better. You have to buy smarter. So some of our rivals make huge losses as they have chosen expensive vendors, says Goel.

His company has the largest number of channels on offer, 225, compared to 150 or so that the others have, and says it is poised to increase the number to 450 with some incremental investment in transponders. It believes itself to be in a position to fight the competition on the two critical fronts of depth and width. We provide the most languages and genres as well as the most channels in each language and genre. We have so many things to look at its not funny, says Kapoor.

The serious thing is to monetise this depth and width, which, as described in the beginning of this article, has already begun.

Kapoor is quick to dispel the technology advantage with the new entrants. It is true that MPEG-4 needs fewer transponders and therefore saves some cost. But its set top boxes are costlier and, since they have to be subsidised, offset the savings on transponders. The operator does not benefit and the technology makes no difference to the consumer because it does not provide for better picture or sound quality.

Still, there seems to be the general impression that Tata Sky is the service provider of choice among upmarket consumers, a factor that may have played a role in the companys decision to start Tata Sky Plus, whose set top box costs Rs 10,000.

When Tata Sky came in, it saw a need gap in terms of the quality of service. So it positioned itself on that plank and started going for the creamy layer. It has always focused on service quality and went on to market and promote its brand in a big way something Dish hadnt done until now, says an analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Tata Sky revels in this perception. Dish TV had a lead of two years over Tata Sky. But I do not think the incumbent had any advantage. Dish TV also grew when we launched as the entire category grows when competition comes in. When we launched, Dish TV was focusing on the smaller markets and rural markets. We launched majorly in the metros, says Vikram Mehra, its chief marketing officer.

To that, Kapoors response is a shrug of the shoulders and: They have their own figure and we have our own. The key thing is that we have 50 per cent more subscribers than them. Goel believes that starting in the remote areas was actually an advantage. Today, he says, I have a pan-India presence and my subscribers are from everywhere. The advantage of starting with the remote areas first is that we have deeper penetration. And then comes a statistic: Since the launch of Tata Sky, Dish has added 3.7 million subscribers, while Tata Sky has added 3 million.

Source : Business Standard

Celebrating 25 million Viewers
Dishtv offers Free Recharge
Free A-La-Carte packs & MOD worth the same amount of recharge value

New Delhi, January 19, 2009: Dishtv - Indias No. 1 direct-to-home company and part of the biggest media conglomerate Zee Group, today announced an enhanced value offering for its discerning subscribers, by presenting a Recharge Free offer to its existing and new
subscribers in the countdown to cross 25 million viewers.

To celebrate 5 million subscribers resulting into 25 million viewers milestone Dishtv offers its subscribers a mega offer of Free Recharge, through this offer whatever amount the subscribers recharge for they get the same value worth free, thus recharge becomes completely FREE.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Salil Kapoor, COO, Dishtv, said Dishtv has always been in the forefront of bringing innovative and path breaking offers that have set the industry benchmarks. We are about to cross the 25 million viewers landmark and we would like to thank all our subscribers for making us the No.1 DTH company. We are extremely delighted to present our subscribers a Free Recharge offer to commemorate this major milestone.

Dishtv has always taken the lead in enhancing the value proposition of the DTH category thereby expanding the DTH market. This new initiative is in line with our vision to add value to the lives of millions of customers across the length and breadth of India and to acquire 3
million subscribers in 2009 and remain customers 1st choice. Salil Kapoor added.

Dishtv has consistently led the DTH market in the country through its cutting edge products and superior services. Our philosophy of delivering value and high quality service to our customers combined with strong business leadership has made Dishtv the largest DTH
service provider in the country.

The free benefits on these recharge Cards are as follows:
Recharge Free Denomination
Pack Denomination Free Value
Ala - carte
(20% value)
MOD
(80% Value)
Silver 200 200 40 160
500 500 100 400
Gold 500 500 100 400
Diamond 700 700 140 560
Platinum 700 700 140 560
1800 1800 360 1440

Recharge Free is a limited period offer and is valid till March end.

Dishtv has introduced customized package wise and value based Recharge Free ITZ Cash Card, specifically for this offer. This is a new concept in the DTH industry where subscribers can top-up their subscription using tailor-made package cards. The denominations introduced are:
Silver Card Rs 200 & Rs 500
Gold Card Rs 500
Diamond Card Rs 700
Platinum Rs 700 & Rs 1800

For all the denominations, the recharge free benefits apply and 100% value will be returned back to the subscriber.
Subscribers can enjoy Recharge Free offer using any mode of payment like ITZ Cash Card, Net Banking, Credit Card, Cheque, DD, Easy Bill, Drop Box etc.

The Recharge free offer benefits are extended to all new subscribers of Dishtv. For all new subscribers buying dishtv, starting now, the Recharge free freebies of a-la-carte packs and MOD will be provided on all existing activation schemes available in the market, there is no
change in the prevailing prices/ offers, which are already very attractive. The freebies credited will be worth the activation value for the respective offer being purchased.

Dishtv offers its customers choice and superior value for money with a range of innovative value-added services backed by excellent customer service and a variety of 30 + a-la-carte Packs, ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 55 + tax. These packs have been so designed so as to offer maximum entertainment options and largest content basket at every price point.

http://www.dishtv.in/static/pdf/25%20million-PR.pdf
http://www.dishtv.in/static/pressroom.asp

6 New channels added by dishtv.

This is really a ggod news for all dishtv viewers that it has added 6 new channels.

In the past few days dishtv has added 6 new channels on their platform via DD Direct platform.

These Are:

1. MH1
2. IBN Lokmat
3. PBC TV
4. SVBC
5. Azad News
6. NTV

So enjoy the new channels free of cost.

NEW DELHI: Dish TV has extended its endorsement contract with Shah Rukh Khan for another 18 months. Dish TV, which leads the DTH category in the country, had signed up with Shah Rukh Khan in '07 to endorse its service. According to Dish TV officials, the service has a base of 4.85 million subscribers. Rival Tata Sky too uses Aamir Khan extensively in its advertising.



As reported by ET last week, Shah Rukh tops the list of celebrity endorsements on TV according to a new Tam AdEx report.


The economic slowdown seems to have had a positive rub-off on the DTH industry, as people have started restricting their entertainment bills and going out less. In the July-September '08 period, the DTH industry was adding six lakh subscribers per month, but the base jumped to one million in the October-December period.


"The DTH sector is witnessing explosive growth and Dish TV is fully equipped with key resources to maintain its leadership position in this growth phase. We have posted robust numbers in Q3 FY09 and are set to garner 8 million subscribers in next fiscal," Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor said.



Dish TV has added 7.89 lakh subscribers in the Q3 FY '09 compared to 5.29 lakh new subscribers in the previous quarter, registering an increase of 49%.

Today 2 new channels added on dishtv platform

Mahuaa tv on channel number - 829
Shalom tv on channel Number - 766

Just come to know that dishtv is going to reduce their packages prices. It is the first DTH company to pass on the benefits of Service tax reduction from 12.36% to 10.3% by govt to their subscribers.

As we all know that yesterday Govt has reduced Service tax from 12.36% to 10.3%. and dishtv is passing on the same benefit to their subscribers.

So from now onwards the price of dishtv packages are further reduced. Like Platinum pack which cost earlier Rs.309 (Including tax) will now cost Rs.303 (Including Tax). and the same is applicable for all packages and ala-carte packs as well.

Today i have compared the max pack of all the packages of tata sky with other DTH and found one thing that tata sky packages are very costly as compared with other dth.

Like consider their Max pack for North.

Super saver Pack = Rs.275/- (But Don't have any sports channel, missing all new entertainment channels)

Sports Platinum Pack = Rs. 65/- (Espn, Star Cricket, Star Sports)
Sports Gold Pack = Rs.40/- (Neo channels)
Ten Sports = Rs.20/-
Life style Gold Pack = Rs. 45/-
Education Gold = Rs.30/-

Total Cost = Rs.275/- + Rs.200 = Rs.475/-

That is you have to spend Rs.475 for Accesing all channels and packages on available on tata Sky. and if you are a south customer then Rs.310( South Jumbo) + Rs.200 = Rs.510 for all channels.

So I think Rs.500 per month for subscription is very costly. and Still after paying this much of money you are missing out lots of channels.

The country's leading direct-to-home (DTH) telecast firm, Dish TV, hopes to start showing a positive net revenue within the current quarter. This will be a first for any DTH player, industry sources say.



"We will turn EBITDA-positive within the current, or at the most within the next quarter, much ahead of our targets," Jawahar Goel, managing director, told Business Standard. EBITDA is net of operating revenue over expenses, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation allocations Dish TV is in its sixth year of operation.



Presently, say experts, every player in the DTH sector makes losses on almost every connection sold. According to Media Partners Asia's recent report, the combined losses for the DTH sector is set to cross Rs 2,000 crore in 2008-09. "Being EBITDA-positive for a DTH company means that it has managed to streamline its expenses. It is a positive sign," an observer said.



Dish TV expects to close the 2008-09 fiscal, in which it crossed the five million subscriber mark, with a total revenue upwards of about Rs 700 crore, nearly 70 per cent more than the 2007-08 fiscal. Dish hopes to curtail its losses to about Rs 430 crore or thereabout in 2008-09, almost the same level as in the last fiscal, says Goel.



The losses are incurred by all DTH players as a result of providing subsidised hardware to consumers. Dish has set aggressive targets for 2009-10. It aims to add another 2.5 million subscribers, to take the gross subscriber base to over 7.5 million subscribers.



The company is also looking at additional revenue through carriage fees and advertising generated on the clean-feed of select foreign channels. "I expect the carriage fees to contribute about Rs 50 crore to our revenue, up from Rs 25 crore this fiscal. Additionally, I plan to put advertisements on the clean-feed of select foreign channels and earn revenue from that, too," said Goel.



Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/dish-tv-may-break-even-before-target/351678/

[u][b]World in my village, courtesy DishTV[/b][/u]



[b]DishTV, an arm of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, wasnt only the first firm to launch the DTH service in India, it was also the first to roll out connections in the North-East[/b]



Dipanjali Kurmi cant take her eyes off the Discovery and National Geographic television channels these days. The reason: This 21-year-old Adivasi girl from Boroera village near Titabor town in Assam wants to know about the countries where her cousins live cousins whose names she doesnt know and whom she has never met.



Ive heard that centuries ago, the British took away people from the place my ancestors hailed from to far-away countries, says Kurmi, struggling to pronounce Mauritius. Assams tea garden workers were mostly indentured by the British from the Chhotanagpur area of modern-day Jharkhand, which was also the source of the cheap labour they took overseas.



Helping her in the quest is the direct-to-home (DTH) digital television service that her father, Gubin Kurmi, who works in the local post office, installed at home for Rs10,000, which includes the cost of the television set. We took a DishTV connection for Rs2,200, and now we can see more than 150 channels compared with the three Doordarshan (DD) channels we could see with our antenna earlier, says Kurmi, who admits that the DTH connection also helps her keep abreast of life in Bangalore and Mumbai, where she has spent almost two years studying and working before returning to her mudfloored house in Assam. I want to go back but father isnt convinced, says Kurmi, who has done a computer operations and programming course at a government-run vocational training institute in Bangalore.



Across districts such as Jorhat and Sivasagar in upper Assam, DTH has penetrated fast. In Amguri town (in Sivasagar) and surrounding areas alone (which has a population of 150,000), we have 1,000-odd connections, and the numbers are growing every day, says Vikramaditya Borthakur, area executive (sales) of Dish TV India Ltd for upper Assam and Nagaland.



Jorhat and Sivasagar have been traditionally better off than other districts because most people have their own land to till and the oil and tea jobs on offer.



So when DishTV came, they jumped at it, says Borthakur.
Though the firm refused to disclose details such as the number of customers in the two districts of upper Assam or across the state, DishTVs chief operating officer, Salil Kapoor, says, We command more than 60% of the market in the North-East, which is a big market for us as it is largely either cable dry or cable frustrated. This means that areas that have either no cable connection or have very poor connectivity.

Cable TV operators are restricted to the towns and dont find it cost-effective to lay a network to connect outlying villages, says Borthakur. Moreover, their bouquet of channels (50-odd) is less than ours and transmission quality isnt as good. Kapoor says demand for DTH connections has been steadily growing, despite the economic slowdown. We have seen business grow 40% in the last five-six months, says Kapoor, who claims DishTV has at least five million customers across India.

At least one-third of DishTVs customers live in rural areas and, according to Kapoor, they havent stopped buying DishTV connections because they havent fallen into the EMI (equated monthly instalment) trap.



People there (in the NorthEast) build a house with all the good things they can afford, to live in and not for speculative purposes, says Kapoor, adding, They are also not dependent on call centre jobs and not exposed to the media hype of recession or slowdown. What is more, Kapoor feels the downturn may have helped DTH service providers, saying that people now prefer to stay at home and watch TV instead of going to cinema halls or indulging in other forms of entertainment.



The way DTH has entered Jorhat and Sivasagar is not surprising because both these districts have high literacy levels, says Moushumi Borgohain, head of the department of economics at the Devi Charan Barua Girls College in Jorhat, the first fully literate district in Assam. As per the 2001 Census, Jorhats literacy level is 78% and Sivasagars, 75.33%, whereas the national average is 65.38%.



As a result, people have a greater yearning for infotainment and dont mind spending a little more to get DTH connections, says Borgohain. Jorhat has 14 colleges, one engineering college and an agricultural university, other than numerous research institutes.



Echoing Borgohains views are subscribers such as Rupa Neog, a schoolteacher from Nakachari village, and Niren Kotoky, a retired state education department employee. Today, information is the only way to move forward and integrate with the rest of the country. And without DTH, we were at the mercy of a few DD channels and the All India Radio broadcasts, says Neog, as her neighbour, who also has a DTH connection, nods sagely.



If Neog wants to keep up with what is happening across the country, Kotoky feels it will help his son, who wants to join a law school, and daughter, who aspires to join a master of business administration programme. We dont have Internet here in Kharonijan (in Titabor), so the educational programmes on various channels are our only window to the outside world, says Kotokis son, Mriganko.



A high literacy level isnt the only reason Jorhat and Sivasagar have embraced DTH with such gusto. Apart from tea and oil, which offer highly remunerative salaries, there are a number of small tea growers and affluent farmers, says Barun Borgohain, former head of the department of agronomy at the Assam Agri culture University in Jorhat.


Most villagers have a few bighas (1.6 bighas make 1 acre) of land, so most villagers make a decent living from their land, and if someone works in oil or tea, thats an added bonus, adds Borgohain. The Neog household of Amguri is one such example.



While elder son Goutam Neog works for Canadian oil and gas firm Canoro Resources Ltd, which is prospecting in the nearby oilfields, younger son Uttam Neog is a manager at a nearby garden owned by Amalgamated Plantations Pvt. Ltd, which now owns and manages gardens previously owned by Tata Tea Ltd.



Money was never a problem with us, we just want the best programmes and good transmission quality, says Goutam Neog, as he potters around his brothers day-old Chevrolet Optratheir second car. The Neogs have a top-end DishTV Platinum connection, with 165 channels and services.

In India, there are around 125 million homes that have television sets. However, it is estimated that 40 million of them have neither cable connection nor DTH. DishTV and competitors such as Tata Sky Ltd are aiming to enter these 40 million homes.



While DishTVs Kapoor is wary of giving away marketing secrets, he admits that being the first mover helped. Plus, our incentives and schemes were very attractive to the unemployed educated youth as well as small businessmen, says Kapoor, adding that this was a pattern his firm followed not only in the NorthEast, but across rural India.

Source: Mint:http://www.livemint.com/2009/03/25001103/World-in-my-village-courtesy.html

Good news for all dishtv subsribers as yet another new movie GULAAL just after 3 weeks of their cinema hall release is now available on movie on demand this week.

Dishtv movie on demand services really rocks with new movies almost every week.

In the past couple of months they have shown lots of new movies like fashion , oye lucky lucky oye, A Wednesday, kismat connection, The Da Vinci Code and many more and now once again its Gulaal.

FILM production house Eros Internationals new release, Aa Dekhe Zara, will become the first film to be available on demand for direct to home (DTH) service users less than two weeks after its cinema hall release, as multiplex owners and movie producers continue to squabble over sharing revenue from box office sales.

Recently DTH service providers came to the rescue of another filmproduction house UTVS Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, which lost out on revenues from multiplexes because of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Eros, in a deal with Dish TV, spent Rs 3.5 crore on marketing the movie. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing boycott of new films by multiplex owners, the movie could only be released on single screens and not in the multiplex chains, said Eros International chief operating officer and commercial director, Jyoti Deshpande.

To make up for the loss of box office sales at multiplexes, the movie production house has inked a revenue sharing deal with Dish TV to showcase the movie. We have not decided on the pricing of the movie yet. But movie producers are waking up to the importance of DTH industry, which has 11 million subscribers, of which Dish TV has about 5 million, said Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor.

Usually, DTH service providers charge their viewers Rs 75-100 for a day. Dish TV claims it received 50,000 hits for the movie Fashion showcased on its movie-on-demand service and believes it will get a similar response for Aa Dekhe Zara.
We have seen 15% increase in the number of subscribers accessing movies through this service, he added. Besides Dish TV, Eros is talking to other DTH service providers such as Tata Sky. A senior executive with a management consultancy service said, the price for rights to air movies on satellite channels has dropped by 40-60% in the last few months.

DTH movie-on-demand service is emerging as an alternative revenue stream for film producers. However, it will take a few years for it to become a significant revenue churner for DTH companies as well as movie producers, he said, refusing to be identified. Movie producers either charge a minimum guaranteed amount from DTH companies for screening their content, or sign a revenue share deal. On the other hand, TV channels buy satellite rights for movies for three-to-five years, which they then rent to other channels to maximise returns. Most DTH providers believe video-on-demand servive will start contributing 4-5% to their overall revenue in the next couple of years.

Source:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/ETNEW/navigator.asp?Daily=ETD&showST=true&login=default

The Economic Times: Page 16

[b]DTH operators eye foreign channels to woo subscribers [/b]

NEW DELHI: As competition hots up in the direct-to-home (DTH) space, operators, including Dish TV and Sun Direct, are now turning to foreign language channels to build their content bouquet in a bid to take themselves ahead of other players.

Even though the viewership remains small, DTH players are looking at adding more foreign channels such as Fox, DW and Warner Brothers' WB to their portfolio with increasing demand. The viewership remains mostly in metros and tier I and II cities. Howev er, these channels add to the content offering and with more channels coming in, the demand certainly has gone up, Dish TV Chief Operating Officer Mr Salil Kapoor said.

The Essel Group firm currently offers TV5 Monde (French), DW TV, NHK (Japanese), MGM and WB. Asked if the company would bring in more such channels, Mr Kapoor said, To broadcast foreign channels in India, we have to obtain licence from the Information and Broadcasting ministry. With that in mind, we would look at bringing in more foreign channels depending on their availability and if there is viewer demand.

Sun Direct is also actively looking at offering foreign channels to its subscribers. - PTI

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/19141420.htm

Dish TV plans to go mobile in metros

http://www.livemint.com/2009/04/15161716/Dish-TV-plans-to-go-mobile-in.html?h=B

The new device would be compact and will have buffering capacity so the viewer doesnt lose video under a tree or in a tunnel while drivingReuters

Mumbai: Direct-to-home operator Dish TV India is exploring a new technology to beam channels in vehicles for intra-city travel in metros at special subscription rates, a top official said on Wednesday.

The product, which can be fitted in cars, buses and sports utility vehicles (SUVs), will air limited channels only, unlike a similar product launched last year, managing director Jawahar Goel told Reuters over the telephone.

Last year, the firm had launched Dish TV mobile, which airs all channels, can be fitted in large cars and SUVs for inter-city travel, and the service is currently being used by Kingfisher Airlines, the Railways and Indian Navy.

We are working on the hardware, which goes in the cars in metro cities, where the travel time from office to home takes 1- hours or more, he said. We can provide people with a couple of news channels, business channels, sports and music.

The new device would be compact and will have buffering capacity so the viewer doesnt lose video under a tree or in a tunnel while driving, he said, adding unlike the Dish TV mobile units which are bulky.

This month, rival Sun Direct, which has over 3 million subscribers, launched high definition services, claiming to be the first such platform in India.

ONE MANS LOSS, ANOTHERS GAIN

While analyst view the ongoing spat between multiplex owners and movie producers as a posiitve for DTH operators, Dish TV is not keen on buying movie rights and has a revenue-sharing model with producers, Goel said.

In March, film-makers decided to freeze marketing and release of all films over a dispute on revenue-sharing with multiplex owners.

Movie-on-demand is a category which is taking up but there is no great revenue. DTH will not become significant revenue generator for film-makers, Goel said.

The firm, which plans to spend Rs8 billion in 2009-10 to acquire hardware and add more subscribers, expects television consumption to rise in the coming months due to elections and the upcoming indian premier league matches.

The total industry will garner 10-11 million subscribers in FY10, Goel said, adding there was a concern due to recession in world economies and a rising dollar.

However, the company sees an additional burden of 500 rupees per new subscriber on account of foreign exchange losses on set-top boxes, which are imported.

This impact on the subscriber acquisition cost translates to Rs1.25 billion in the current fiscal year, Goel said. The Indian rupee has lost 2.3% against the US dollar so far in 2009.

Shares in the firm ended down 0.16% at Rs32.05 in a choppy Mumbai market.

GROUND ZERO: A bleeding subsidy (Source: Impact Magazine)

Curious why India's grossly underserved direct to home (DTH) market is not getting the kind of traction that it should? And that too with multiple players in the field. While the broadcasters Zee (Dish TV), Tata Sky (Star), Sun and Doordarshan (for cable dry zones) are fighting for market share, aggressive telecoms Reliance Communication (Big TV) and Airtel (Digital) are hot pursuing the networks in a market which clearly has enormous potential. Potential yes, but problems galore. The subsidy being provided by the DTH operators in this business is killing these players softly but surely. Bearing this cross, the DTH players are in a jam, while logic says that they should be making money hand over fist.

Let us take a quick gander at the math of the DTH business. What is the per customer subsidy that is being given by the service provider? DTH operators, even the bigger telcoms Reliance and Airtel are bleeding profusely. Not only is the set top box being subsidised, but an extremely high customer acquisition cost is being forked out. Advertising an integral part of this customer acquisition programme is a scary Rs 500 per subscriber. Airtel's Digital is the broadcast sponsor for IPL 2.0. Each customer is being given approximately Rs 2910 subsidy by the operator for acquisition. The per subscriber subsidy broken down reads like this:



*Customer premise equipment cost Rs 2000
*Given to retailer/distributor per sub Rs 600
*Advertisement per subscriber Rs 500
*12 month free package cost Rs 1800
*TOTAL COST Rs 4900

*Money taken from subscriber on board Rs 1990
*Subsidy given per subscriber Rs 2910

Which brings us the old adage of the more you sell, the more you lose. In the newspaper business, it is the advertising which covers costs and returns profit. If newspapers were to sell without advertising, they would all be in the pawn shop. Similarly, the more the DTH operators sell under the existing regime, the more they lose money. So, here is a damn good business, but highly loss making. While the set top boxes are being shipped in from China at lowest cost, cut throat pricing in the market is not allowing any of the operators any room to manoeuvre.

We are expected to have closed 2009 with around 83 million cable & satellite households, a growth of 8 per cent over the previous year which had 77 million C & S households. Against that DTH would have completed 15 million households this year, an increase of 50.3 per cent over last year's figure of 9.9 million households. I asked my young friend Rohit Dokania at Batlivala & Karnani Securities to provide me with some cold figures and projections for this business. The numbers are startling - the growth will slow down to a mere 25 per cent to 19 million for 2010, a trickle of 13 per cent to 21 million in 2011, a centipede like 10.5 per cent to 23 million in 2012 and so on. Instead of exponential growth, very matter of fact numbers. The reason is simple - the more you sell, the more you lose. DTH really got a fillip when Conditional Access System was notified in several metrops in India. This had seen a bitter battle between Subhash Chandra's Zee and then Peter Mukerjea led Star TV. It had spilled over to the news pages and I remember then I & B secretary Pawan Chopra being in the thick of the battle, trying his level best to control the two corporate rivals. Those days at HT, we wrote many stories on the subject.


So, what is the future of this beleaguered industry? Market leader and first mover Dish TV now plans to launch ultra low cost set top boxes and even cheaper monthly subscription schemes to tap the 40 million non-cable and satellite TV homes in India. I must add here that if we have 83 million C & S households in India, we also have an additional 49 million terrestrial TV homes. This is what Dish TV wants to plug and play into. Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel hopes to post profits in the recently concluded quarter for the very first time. Goel believes he can add 2 to 2.5 million subscribers in 2009-10. His battleplan is segmentation and attrition from the DD homes. Dish TV wants to launch premium STBs for affluent homes with home theatre systems, as also live TV on the go to car owners. He is already providing live TV on the go to Kingfisher on board the aircraft.

Tata Sky has already gone in for market segmentation by offering Live TV (record and watch live) by offering boxes and subscriptions at a higher price point.

The biggest problem that DTH operators face today is the lack of forebearance (in reverse) in their sector. Unlike telecom tariffs which benefited due to forebearance as service providers slashed rates to rock bottom to benefit consumers. Here the situation is diametrically opposite - DTH operators cannot raise rates to survive. In a highly competitive but capital intensive business, this is a major downer. First the operator has to pay through his nose to buy the boxes from China, then he has to pay a hefty sum to acquire the customer.

But the bigger challenge is the absence of a bonafide broadcast regulator in the country. India's telecom regulator doubles up as the broadcast regulator from the NDA's days when Pradip Baijal functioned as a dual authority. Now the problem is that the telecom regulator while smart and agile to the needs of his sector doesn't really have the wherewithal, expertise and bandwidth to deal with broadcast matters. The cap on consumer pricing is actually hampering growth in the sector. Since the telecom regulator and other members of the Authority are steeped in telecom experience, they don't have the basic understanding to deal with broadcasting issues. Let me explain why I say this. I knew Pradip Baijal extremely well and I know the present TRAI chairman Nripendra Mishra equally well. I am not casting aspersions on their conduct or capability. All I am saying is that broadcast is a vast business domain with complexities which are in variance with telecom regulation. At the same time, I must add that if India has a gangbuster telecom landscape, then it is primarily because of the push that it has got from two successive regulators - Baijal and Mishra.

Let us understand the complexity - voice and data transfer require only two resources - one very scarce called spectrum and the other licence fee. Broadcast meanwhile is myriad. One cannot charge the same sum for money for news, general entertainment and cricket content. There has to be proper segmentation in pricing of content. The cap of consumer pricing means two things - not only is the DTH operator getting it in the neck, but equally the channel and network is suffering due to this. Which means that as a consumer I should be willing to pay more to my DTH operator, I guess end user needs to pay, as long as he doesn't get fleeced and it doesn't border on profiteering. Perhaps the cap can be enlarged so that the subsidy is partly taken care of. I hear that DTH operators, a powerful combine if not a cartel because Zee doesn't see eye to eye with Tata Sky while the animosity between Reliance Big and Airtel Digital is too well known to recount here, are already lobbying hard to get some justice. It is believed that animus between Airtel and Reliance Big TV cost Sony MSM boss Kunal Dasgupta his job, and set off a domino which nearly engulfed the IPL in a ring of fire.

DTH is a good viewing experience if I am a consumer, but believe me, if you are the operator then you are walking on egg shells.

Dishtv Offers Sabse Zyaada Entertainment
Sabse Zyaada - Number of Channels
Sabse Zyaada Regional Channels
Sabse Zyaada Genre
Sabse Zyaada - Value at Every Price Point

Dishtv - Indias No. 1 direct-to-home company and part of the biggest media conglomerate Zee Group, today unveiled its new brand positioning Sabse Zyaada and has revamped its packaging in three tiers - Silver, Gold & Platinum by structuring the channels genre wise. Dishtv announced that it is the only DTH service which provides maximum number of channels Sabse Zyaada - 240 channels, Sabse Zyaada Regional Channels, Sabse Zyaada Genre, Sabse Zyaada Entertainment and unmatched value at every price point.

Speaking on the occasion Salil Kapoor, COO, Dishtv said In a multi player scenario it is imperative to create a differentiated brand strategy and Dishtv has repositioned its brand with Sabse Zyaada - a positioning that clearly brings together the differentiation of Maximum Entertainment and Maximum No. of Channels and Maximum Value offered by Dishtv in a powerful way.

Sabse Zyaada positioning comes from the strength to offer maximum width and depth of content with 240 channels and services, Sabse Zyaada channels across Genres/languages that we provide to our subscribers along with Sabse Zyaada Value at every Price Point. Be it Regional content, Sports, News, Movies or Kids Channel Dishtv offers Sabse Zyaada Channels on its platform as compared to Cable, Digital Cable, IPTV and other DTH players. This combined with our latest technology products and continuous innovation it truly makes Sabse Zyaada proposition for the consumer. Salil Kapoor added.


DTH Players
Total No. of Channels and Services
Dishtv 240
Tata Sky 190

Sun Direct 200+
Big TV 200+
Airtel Digital TV 150+

Genre Tata SkyAirtel Digital TVSun DirectBig TVDishtv

Cinema 10 11 11 12 15
GEC 22 16 23 21 25
News 23 21 22 24 32
Kids/ Info 14 12 13 13 15
Regional 61 59 77 60 90

DishTV ties up with Microsoft XBOX 360 and provide them a advertisement medium for their product XBOX 360.

I have seen XBOX logo on dishtv gaming service on channel 90 and also on the home page of Playjam and Qizzy. Further we can also play quizzy where all the questions are related to XBOX 360.

Just Check even the interface of the Qizzy has also been changed and looks more attractive now.

I think it was really good way to advertise on dishtv platform as with advertising on dishtv platform gives that product a direct reach of 25 miilion viewers.


[QUOTE]

Speaking on the occasion, Salil Kapoor, COO, Dishtv said Marketers are constantly looking for innovative ways and channels to send marketing messages. Increasingly, as an outcome, customers are being bombarded with so much advertising messages its not surprising that these messages are blocked out. Dish TV with a critical mass of over 25 million viewers is filling the void as an innovative medium in the advertising market by providing greater flexibility and a highly targeted medium to reach customers within uncluttered advertising environment with measurable results.

Jaspreet Bindra, Regional Director, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd.; expressed his enthusiasm at this new alliance, saying, We are delighted to partner with Dishtv. The Xbox 360 Arcade is a complete entertainment device that helps fulfill the diverse entertainment needs of each member of the family in terms of playing games, watching movies or listening to music. Additionally, with access to an internet connection, one can even connect and enjoy an exhilarating gaming experience with family members or friends across the world with Xbox LIVE. An increasing number of Indians are now active gamers and by coming on to the Dishtv platform we strongly believe we will enhance our positioning as the best gaming console money can buy, while simultaneously propagating gaming as an ideal leisure activity and thereby grow the category further.

[/QUOTE]

Dishtv most Economical & Sundirect most costly DTH

while seeing the Sun Direct packges closely i have found that Sun direct is the most costly DTH among all the dth available in the India.

I have just compared it with dishtv below with Sun direct packages.

Comparison: Dishtv Platinum Pack + Colors+ UTV pack and Between Sundirect's Shine Pack+ Jumbo + Sports channels.

Taken these packs because Sun direct won't have any other pack then base pack rest all is ala-carte.

1. Economy- Dishtv Packages are more economical the Sun direct packages ------ Dish platinum(283+ Tax) + Colors( 20+ tax)+ UTV pack (Rs.25+ tax) = Rs.362

Where as Sundirect Shine Pack (99+ Tax)+ Jumbo (Rs.300+ Tax) + Sports channels (Rs.143+ tax)( espn, star sports, star cricket, Zee Sports, Tensports). Total= Rs.600

Approx Rs.250 More the dishtv package.

2. Channels ----- Dishtv have more number of channels the Sun direct. even in the above mentioned packs Dishtv Has 188 channels and services and Sundirect have 170 channels and services.

3. Important Extra Channels on Dishtv------- Even afterTaking so many packs for Sun direct it still misses few channels which dishtv have in their platinum pack.
these are: SAB , Sahara One, Discovery Travel & Living, Zoom, Zee Action, Premiere, Classics, MGM, MTV.

4. Extra Channels on Sun direct: Bindass, World Movies, Babay TV, Fox, Fox Crime.

So over all if you see Sun direct is very costly as compared to Dishtv.
When comparing the same set of channels as per platinum pack Sun direct cost the same channels At Rs.600 and still missing few channels.

Where as dishtv cost only Rs.362 And miss very few channels hardly 3-4 channels.

Dish TV plans to raise $150 million via FCCBs
http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k9/may/may285.php

MUMBAI: Dish TV, the leading DTH operator in India, plans to raise $150 million through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) to complete its funding requirement before it operationally breaks even.



The funding will be largely towards customer acquisition as the Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group company targets to mop up 2.5 million subscribers in the current fiscal.



"We plan to raise $150 million via FCCBs. Along with the rights issue, this will more than take care of our funding needs till we turn cash positive," says a source in the company.



Dish TV could have gone in for a qualified institutional placement (QIP), a flavour among many Indian companies for raising funds amid a global downturn economy. "We are currently a negative networth company and couldn't have commanded a higher price. The FCCB will be good for us as the future price for the Dish TV scrip looks positive. The instrument, though, will finally depend on the prevailing market situation," says the source.



Dish TV is raising Rs 11.4 billion through a rights issue, priced at Rs 22 per share, in three tranches within 18 months. The company has already received Rs 3.1 billion in the first tranche.



The second tranche is expected in September. Dish TV promoters had to subscribe to the rights issue, lifting their stake from 57.94 per cent to 80.15 per cent, in a tough market condition that saw the scrip of the DTH company trading below the issue price fixed at Rs 22 per share.



Dish TV mopped up two million subscribers in FY'09, taking its total registered base to 5.07 million.



Shares of Dish TV closed Wednesday at Rs 47.65, up 4.5 per cent from its previous close on the BSE.

Dish TV to raise $200 mn via FCCB
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/dish-tv-to-raise-200-mn-via-fccb/63078/on

Press Trust of India / Mumbai May 28, 2009, 14:52 IST

Zee group firm Dish TV today said it will raise up to $200 million (about Rs 953.88 crore) by way of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB).

"The board has approved the raising of long-term funds by way of issuance of FCCBs for an amount not exceeding $200 million," Dish TV said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Further, the direct-to-home services provider said it will allot 5,89,200 shares under its employee stock option plan (ESOP).

Besides, the board has approved the grant of 5,89,200 stock options convertible into equal number of equity shares to 13 employees at an exercise price of Rs 47.65 each under ESOP.

Shares of Dish TV were trading at Rs 48.80, up 2.41 per cent in late afternoon trade on the BSE.

BIGTV BECOMES MORE COSTLY: INCREASED THEIR PACKAGE PRICES

Today BIGTV has increased the prices of their packages and become more costly and even they have reduced their number of channelsin their packages.

Check below for new and old package price comparison

Old Pricing and channels count
Package Price/ Channels count

Starter 1 98 + tax/ 68 channels
Starter 2 175+ tax/ 89 channels
Starter 3 190+ tax/ 104 channels

and as per new packs:


Package Price / Channel Count
Starter 1 = 127 / 55
Starter 2 = 204 / 80
Starter 3 = 232 / 97

So that means bigtv have hike the price of their packages by reducing the total number of channels.


http://www.bigtv.co.in/starterpack.html#

MUMBAI: Essel Group-owned direct-to-home (DTH) operator Dish TV has announced the addition of five regional channels to its bouquet.

The five new channels include Star Ananda (Bangla), Star Pravah (Marathi), Star Majha (Marathi), Kasturi (Kannada), and Suvarna (Kannada). The channels are available across various subscription packs.

Says Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor, The addition of these new channels is in line with our vision to offer Sabse Zyaada content to our subscribers across the country. We take pride to offer maximum content to our regional customers and will continue to expand our offerings with more and more additions.

The company is planning to expand its network with 240 channels and services
Source: Indiantelevision.com

Once again dishtv come up with another lastest movie first on any platform BILLU.

Good new for for all shahrukh and lara dutta fans as dishtv is showin BILLU on their movie on demand.

Its good to see lots of lastest and good movies on dishtv MOD channels on regular basis week after week.

Other movies this week are:

Hindi:
1. Billu
2. One Man Army (Hindi)
3. Taare Zamien Par
4. Kismat Connection
5. 8x10 Tasveer
6. Nehle pe Dehla
7. Raqeeb

English:
1. Gabriel
2. Anaconda 3: Offspring

http://www.dishtv.in/static/modpage.asp

A very Good news for all dishtv subscribers as dishtv is going to add one more new channels today.

UTV i news on channel no 598.

In all the base packs with 3 months free preview.

So enjoy the new channel at no extra cost.

New Delhi, July 3 The Railway Budgets promise to introduce infotainment services on select trains has Dish TV excited. Essels Direct to Home company has been running trials with the Indian Railways for a while to offer television channels to passengers.

The service would be introduced on Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and important long distance inter-city trains for a pleasurable travel experience said the Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee.

We have done some installations for the inspection carriages. The concept is fully proven and we and Railways are very happy and excited with the results. The Railways are evaluating the implementation and commercial aspect of the concept and we believe very soon passengers will be able to enjoy Dish TV on trains, said Mr Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Operator, Dish TV.

The companys mobile DTH unit comes in two models priced at Rs 1,49,000 and Rs 79,000. A special built-in roving antenna of about 3-4 kgs, fitted on the roof of the vehicle, receives DTH signals even when the vehicle is on the move.

Interested parties


The company claims the service has attracted interest from inter-city luxury bus segment, airlines, railways, yachts and ships in addition to sports utility vehicles in which you can see a 100 channels. Mobile Dish TV units are also fitted on board 15 Kingfisher aircraft on which CNBC English, CNN, NDTV 24X7, Ten Sports and a host of Zees channels including Zee TV.

However, there are a few challenges to overcome, including where to position the screen in each cubicle and how to ensure they stay fixed on trains.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/07/04/stories/2009070451610200.htm

Movie on demand service is really rocking on Dishtv. Watch Superhit Hindi Block Buster Movie DEV - D on Dishtv Movie on Demand from Tomorrow onwards.

Price: Rs.75/-

In the last couple of months MOD on dishtv is really rocking as almost every week dishtv brings new latest hit movies to their subscribers. Last they had shown Billu and Now DEV - D.

Dishtv and Shaadi.com have collaborated to offer an interactive Matrimonial service Shaadi Active, a user friendly interface for Dishtv subscribers, which would allow the prospective bride or groom and their parents / relatives to search and contact the life partner of their choice from amongst millions of profiles listed on Shaadi.com from the convenience of their homes. The profiles will be updated twice every week.

Speaking on the occasion, Salil Kapoor, COO, Dishtv, said that, Dishtv stands for world class DTH services, superior customer care and Sabse Zyaada Entertainment. Shaadi Active service redefines the experience of searching for a life partner by offering thousands of marriage proposals in the comfort of your home. The convergence of the internet and TV medium will make matrimonial services easily accessible to millions of Dishtv viewers across India. It has been Dishtvs endeavor to provide an unmatched TV viewing experience to all its customers. The launch of the innovative Shaadi Active service represents yet another reaffirmation of this commitment. Salil Kapoor added.

Gourav Rakshit, Business Head Shaadi.com said, Shaadi.com has been helping people find their perfect match for over a decade now., and we are constantly innovating and looking to provide our users with better platforms to match on. Television is the most popular mass medium in the country and it made sense for us to extend our services to this medium. Through this collaborative effort with Dish TV, we will offer a superior matchmaking experience the largest user base of DTH users in the country, so that they can find the perfect match via the television, without having to log on to the Internet.

Dishtv viewers can define the parameters of selection and search prospective bride/groom by the criteria of age, community, location etc. Based on these criteria, Shaadi.com profiles will be displayed on the TV screen and the subscriber can then choose the profile of their choice and contact them. To know the contact details of the selected profile, they would need to become a Shaadi Active premium member by choosing any of the following membership options:

S. No.
Package

Contacts
Validity
1 Rs. 249/- 8 contacts 1 month
2 Rs. 499/- 20 contacts 3 months
3 Rs. 799/- 40 contacts 6 months

Want to find a new job or a bride? Or perhaps you want to zero in on a new holiday destination? Soon you may be able to do these things by just switching on your television.

Leading direct-to-home (DTH) services provider Dish TV has increased its value-added services by tying up recruitment jobsite monster.com, matrimonial website shaadi.com and travel portal yatra.com to provide the services on DTH.

DishTV COO Salil Kapoor said, "Internet access is available in limited pockets in India and television has penetrated every pocket. Through these value-added services (VAS) along with previous ones like ICIC Active, news active and games active, etc, we will increase the penetration of DTH and compete with cable operators."

A Ficci and PWC report stated that there are 120-125 million households in India, out of which 83 million have cable network services (CNS), 30 million have DTH access, of which DishTV enjoys a market of 5.5 million subscribers.

There will be special discounts for Dish TV subscribers apart from packages for hotels if they book through yatra.com, Kapoor said.

The DTH operator is also in the process of tying up with companies, which will enable subscribers to download ringtones, wall papers and order home delivery, etc.

Dish TV services are offered on Volvo busses, SUVs, Kingfisher airlines, naval ships, yachts and even in trains like Palace on Wheels .

Viewers can watch movies after its release two weeks later on their TV sets. "We have tie-ups with production companies like UTV and Sony on an equal revenue-sharing basis. This will also reduce piracy issues faced by the entertainment industry."

Dish TV is, however, facing competition from host of other DTH providers -- Tata Sky, Bharti Airtel, Big TV and Sun Direct.

Tata Sky's subscriber base has crossed 4 million and is closing on Dish TV's, yet Kapoor remains unfazed. "We will add 2.5 million subscribers this financial year and will invest Rs 1,600 crore for the next two-and-half years."

The slump did not hit the DTH operator at all but the government's policy to increase entertainment tax did affect the firm.

Have you seen the new ad of Dishtv ???

Just saw the new advertisement of Dish TV featuring Shahrukh Khan on 3 Life Services introduced by Dish TV.

It was really a very good ad by Dishtv. where shahrukh Khan is explaining the 3 VAS services, Monsterjobs Active, Travel Active and Shaadi Active.

[quote]Synopsis of advertisement:-

Where one guy watching TV and his mother shouting from the kitchen " Saara Din TV TV TV... Shaadi karle " (Whole day watching TV , Just get married and settle down ) and then suddenly before the guy say some thing Shahrukh appears on the TV Screen and replies " Wahi to kar raha hai",(That Is what he is doing) and then the guy and his motherwas surprised and the guy looks back surprisingly then Shahrukh Replies " Dish Active".

After that he again busy in watching TV and the his father shouts " Nawab Saab TV Chodo aur Naukri dhoondho" (leave TV and just search for Jobs) and the again Shahrukh appears on the screen and replied the same and then father also get surprised to hear that and then again Shahrukh replies to the guy "Dish Active".

And the whole family assembles to see what actually happening and then Shahrukh starts explaining about the 3 LIFE SERVICES introduced by Dishtv that you can find a job, search for a life partner and plan a vacation with Dish Active. and the wholw family watching DISHTV and Shahrukh comes on the screen and say " AB SABSE ZYAADA WISH KARO DISH KARO".[/quote]

DishTV uses television to spread awareness of its Internet services

Of late, DishTV, the DTH service provider from Zee Network Enterprise, has partnered with Monster.com, Shaadi.com and Yatra.com to provide their services on DTH, thus increasing its value added services (VAS). Now, DishTV has announced the introduction of Life Services by converging the Internet with the television medium, which is providing Internet services on television to reach out to the masses across India. This move is seen as an effective way to enable anytime access to life services like travel, job search and matrimony.

The objective is to drive awareness about the launch of the three new services Monster Jobs Active, Travel Active and Shaadi Active. Through our tie-up with Yatra.com for Travel Active, the subscribers can search and book the best selling holiday packages, hotels, international and domestic airline tickets at discounted prices. Monster Jobs Active, powered by Monster.com, and Shaadi Active all these services can be accessed by just a click of the DishTV remote in the comfort of ones home, said Salil Kapoor, COO, DishTV.

DishTV claims to offer maximum width and depth of content with over 240 channels and services.

The creative agency for this TVC was Lowe Lintas. However, DishTV has only recently roped in TAG Delhi as its creative agency. The production house is Red Chillies, while the director of this TVC is Haroon Mirza. The campaign is expected to last for about four weeks.

While the marketing budget was not disclosed at the time of filing of the report, it has been learnt that DishTV has called for 360 degree advertising campaign to promote Life Services. One of the reasons for using television as a medium to promote its Internet services is because of the low broadband penetration in India, which stands at around 2 per cent, and since television penetration is over 50 per cent in India, this move is seen at as aim to help spread awareness of its Life Services to wider audiences.

Dishtv Launches Onam Offer for their subscriber in Kerala
Its really A rocking offer from Dishtv.

Offer Price: Rs.1890/-
Installation Charges: Rs. 200/-

3 Months South Gold Pack subscription Free + Recharge Benefit of Rs.300.

So Now enjoy South Gold pack at the price of South Silver Pack.

Further Enjoy All Sports channels (ESPN, Star Cricket, Star Sports, Ten Sports adn Zee Sports) + All Cartoon Channels ( CN, Pogo, Animax, Nick, Jetix, Hungama and Disney) + English & Hindi Movie channels ( HBO, Star Movies, WB, PIX, Zee Studio, Filmy, Zee Action, Zee Priemiere and Zee Classic) and all infotainment channels ( History, NGC, Animal Planet, Discovery)

Offer valid till September 2009 end and available only in Kerala.

I have Just seen the new advertisement launched by Tata sky for their Tata sky + Product, which i found is the WORST OF ALL their TVC till date.

First I would like to say, Asin, who is she to take such a decision about eating habits of people. Further Dal Chawal in that ad appears to be sarcastic and demeans the eating habits of people specially vegetarian.

Second, In this TVC Asin is very monotomous, Not expressive, and does not appear camera friendly.

third, Demostration of product is missing for which the ad is all about.

In Comparison if you see the advertisement of other DTH is also their Like Dishtv and Airtel.

What a nice advertisement launched by dishtv on their new Life services or internet services on television, which is a very good advertisement where they have shown the product or services they launch. Shahrukh acted and express well in that adv.

Also Latest adv. launched by Airtel is also nice and cute one "dil titli" with saif and kareena.

Over all a worst advertisement launched by Tata sky.

Really a very bad news for all Tata sky Subscribers who are planning to go for Annual Pack subscription.

As Tata Sky increased their annual pack price by Rs.500 that is From Rs.5000 to Rs.5500.

http://www.tatasky.com/channel-packages.html

Dish TV partners Indiatimes for mobile VAS

Quote:
DTH major Dish TV today said it has partnered Indiatimes.com to offer mobile value added services (VAS) called 'Mobile Active' to its customers.

Through 'Mobile Active', viewers can preview mobile content like ringtones, wallpapers, text alerts and contests on their TV and download it onto their mobile handsets, Dish TV said in a statement.

"Through our latest offering Mobile Active, our main focus is on empowering our young customers and giving them an easy user interface to download mobile VAS products. We have joined hands with Indiatimes.Com to bring 'Mobile Active' to our 5.7 million subscribers," Dish TV Chief Operating Officer Salil Kapoor said.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/n...s/73511/on

Good new for all Dishtv Subscriber as Dishtv Introduce one more new active service " Mobile Active" Where One can download Ringtones, wall papers, Text messages and contest on your TV.

Tata Sky Ltd, the direct-to-home television services provider, had a net aggregate loss of Rs806.36 crore.

http://www.livemint.com/2009/09/24234746/Tata-group-looks-to-redefine-p.html

Whereas, Dishtv is only DTH company who is EBITDA Positive for consecutive 2 quarters.


[quote]Commenting on the Q1 results, Subhash Chandra, Chairman, DishTV, said, It is heartening to note that despite a weaker economic climate, the direct to home (DTH) segment, which was pioneered by DishTV in India, continued to grow at a strong pace. Digitisation of Indian television has gained irreversible momentum, while driving higher quality and a superior offering to the consumers.

He further said, We have extended the momentum gained during the last fiscal into the first quarter of FY10. Our revenues grew exponentially to Rs 2,521 million, a growth of 53 per cent over last year and I am glad to report that we achieved positive EBITDA for second successive quarter. These results are a direct outcome of our business strategy that is tuned to the needs of our customers.

Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, DishTV, said, The Q1 results testify to the resilience of our business model. DishTV continued to consolidate its leadership position in the market through record customer additions every month. The outlook for the industry remains positive and the year ahead promises to be an exciting one for DishTV.

[/quote]
http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?news_id=35464&section_id=6&pict=3&tag=31165

Good news for all Dishtv Subscriber, As dishtv launched a new offer on recharge Zyaada Recharge= Zyaada Retrun.

Where one can recharge with Different denominations of recharge card and can avail benefit of free ala-carte Packs.

Like if you Silver Pack and You recharge with Rs.250-699 then you will get 20 % extra (ex- In Rs.250 you get Rs.300) and the extra value can be used for ala-carte Subscription from selected ala-carte list

Similarly you can avail maximum of 30 % Extra

Like if you Silver Pack and You recharge with Rs.1400 and above then you will get 30 % extra and the extra value can be used for ala-carte Subscription.from selected ala-carte list

Process to avail the offer


Step 1: Choose a base pack and the corresponding amount to avail the additional value
Step 2: Remember higher the amount, higher the gain
Step 3: Order the Free A-la-Carte Packs (upto 2) with 15 days at one go
Your full value of Free A-la-Carte Packs basis your recharge value that you have earned, will be provided irrespective of the no. of packs chosen. i.e. If you choose a single A-la-Carte pack that will continue for a longer term vs. if you chose 2 packs where all two will be activated but for a shorter period.
Step 4: Stay on the same pack to continue enjoying the benefits
Step 5: Remember not to get de-active at any stage to enjoy the ZRZR benefits
Step 6: If you wish to NOT continue with the A-La-Carte Pack as billed, remember to opt out or else the Packs shall continue on paid basis

For More Details ClICK ON THE LINK:http://www.dishtv.in/static/New-RF-microsite/about.html

Really a very good offer on Recharge from Dishtv.

On the occassion of Diwali Dishtv launched a new Diwali offer for their subscribers In this offer:

Price: Rs.1590/- (Bare Box)

And get 3 months free subscription of Platinum/ South Platinum + Colors + UTV Pack.

That Enjoy All the channels at Rs. 1590 only. Plus Every 10th Customer with get Rs.1000 cash back.

Rs.400 Off from Previous Rs.1990/- offer

This new offer is valid for only one week: From 9th Oct - 17th Oct.

http://www.dishtv.in/static/pricing.asp

DishTV has won the Special Award at international ITV awards ceremony in Cannes for their unique and good quality interactive services. Especially for ICICI Active, Monsterjobs Active, Shaadi Active and Travel Active.

All these active services are unique and really very good Specially Monsterjobs Active and ICICI Active

Where, ICICI Active- Tie up with ICICI Bank and enables Dish TV viewers to access information on ICICI Bank products and services

Monsterjobs Active- Tie up with Monster.com and gives us access lots of jobs in different categories.

Travel Active- Tie up with Yatra.com, TV-viewers are now able to search and book the best selling holiday packages, hotels, international & domestic airline tickets at discounted prices

Shaadi Active- Tie up with shaadi.com and redefines the experience of searching for a life partner by offering thousands of marriage proposals.

And the best thing now is that uptill now these services were available on internet but now all these internet services are available on your Dishtv and you can access them in your TV with the click of a remote.

Good news for all Dishtv Subscriber and All Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor Fans, As the latest and new Movie "Main aur Mrs. Khanna" is available on Dishtv MOD from Today, Just With in 5 Days of Theatre Release.

Movie on Demand service really rocks on Dishtv with lots of latest realeases on their MOD Services week after week.

And "Main aur Mrs. Khanna" is really exceptional as it hits on Dishtv MOD channels just with in 5 Days of its release in theatre.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/media/entertainment-/entertainment/Mrs-Khanna-Direct-to-Home-from-October-20/articleshow/5140051.cms

Good news for all Govinda, Lara Dutta and Sushmita Sen Fans and to all Dishtv subscribers, As Dishtv premieres "Do Not Disturb" on their MOD Channels.

Price: Rs.75/-

Synopsis: This film is a zany comedy of errors. A filthy rich businessman (Govinda) married to a beautiful and sophisticated woman (Sushmita Sen) tries to hide his extramarital affair with a supermodel (Lara Dutta). To save his skin, he bribes his friend, a waiter (Ritesh Deshmukh) into pretending to be the supermodel's boyfriend. What follows is a series of mistaken identities and misunderstandings, culminating in one mammoth laugh riot.

Further the best thing is that now most of the new movies are available on DTH just after few days of their release like Main aurr Mrs.Khanna is available on Dishtv in just after 4 days of its release.

Hi Everybody,

This is my first post here, I am a Dishtv Subscriber since last year and pretty much satisfied with my Dishtv. Whether its Customer Service, packages or whether its pricing. I Find Dishtv is value of money to their subsribers.

Further let me share my experience with Dishtv.

I have planned to Buy my second Dishtv Connection for my second TV in other room. Though I am very much satisfied with my first connection so i decided to go for Second Dishtv Connection, But also checked and enquired about other connections and their packages as well and at the end decided to go with one more Dishtv Connection.

So, i have decided to book through website, (As you might have aware of That they have Free postpaid Home Delivery of Connection), So I go to Dishtv Website and Order the Second Connection, So i filled up the details on the form and Submit and i got a token Noumber as a reference.

http://www.dishtv.in/Static/home-deliveryEnqInfo.asp
(Also one can request for Free Home delivery of Postpaid Dishtv Connection by Sending SMS "dishtv" to 57575)

So in next around 4 hrs i have recieved a call from Dishtv team confirming about installation time. I have given the installation time of evening on the same day. And this time i am really amazed to see the fast and improved customer service from Dishtv. As when i have Enquired about Tata Sky they said it will take 48 hrs and Dishtv will take 24 Hrs.

Further Dishtv Installer were came on the time in the evening and installed the complete connection and Activated and then collected the money and the necessary documents.

Some Good Point:

1. Its great to see Dishtv offering Free home delivery of Postpaid Connection where we have to pay the amount once the complete system is installed and activated.

2. No Extra Charges for anything or no hidden charges Only Rs.1590 BOX charges + 200 Installation

3. Experienced a very good customer service.

4. Further After complete installation, the installer given a complete demo of the BOX.

5. And good thing is our connection is installed and activated with in 24 hrs. Like mine i have ordered it in the morning and the connection is installed and activated by evening.

6. I must say this is a very good initiative and service by DISHTV where they provide complete peace of mind. Just book your connection and relax.

Yesterday, Saw the latest Advertisement of Tata Sky (Aamir Khan's Ad on Active Services): Which i feel is a reaction of Tata Sky on Dishtv's Shahrukh khan adv on MonsterJobs, Shaadi and Travel Active VAS services which was very Good, meaningful and catchy. Infact I believe Dishtv's SRK Monster-shaadi-travel adv was more catchy.

Tata Sky is Just Copying Dishtv.

Second, in this new Tata Sky Adv (Even in their old adv Also) their main focus is on Aamir Khan, ie Tata Sky focus more on Aamir khan or create more hype on Aamir Khan on the adv and so that the actual product feature of Tata Sky is lost. Also their actual communication was lost, due to this main focus on Aamir, viewers actually forgot what they are talking about.

Thirdly, they have introduced even a Single new active service in last one year or so.

Fourthly, Most of the active services are paid on Tata Sky, especially those which are featured in the adv.

Fifth they have already lost their No.2 Position and i hope in coming years they continues to fall.

In Comparision if we see active services on other DTH like Dishtv:-
which are very good, informative, helpful and based on viewers need Like Monster jobs Active, Shaadi Active, Travel Active, Icici Active All these services are very good informative and helpful for every user.

Secondly, Dishtv's Active Active are so good that they have won international iTV special award for their active services.

Thirdly, Shahrukh Khan's Advertisement on active service are much better as compared with this new Tata Sky Advertisement.

Forthly, Most important is all the active services are free on Dishtv, Dishtv provides all active free of cost to their viewers.

Last but not the least Dishtv is undisputed market leader with over 6 million subscriber base. Sun direct is at No.2 where Tata Sky Stands at No.3 position and i believe soon they lost this position of No.3 as well to upcoming Airtel DTH Which is also good.

Further if we talk about other active services on Tata Sky which are quite normal and are available on other platforms too.

Just checked, today dishtv has changed their old website and launched their new website with very good look and fields. Its very attractive and updated with complete information

Check Link: www.dishtv.in