| Apart
from the many channels on the Tata Sky platform, a conspicuous absentee is the
Zee Turner bouquet of over 20 channels as an agreement between Tata Sky and Zee
Turner Ltd has not yet been concluded. Kaushik
admitted that negotiations have not been concluded, but was hopeful that “things
would get sorted out soon.” Another
major absentee is the Sun Network, which dominates the South Indian markets. Tata
Sky is, however, not alone in this, since Dish TV does not have access to the
Sun channels either. “We
are offering 55+ channels at the moment and with the passage of time the number
of offerings would grow,” Kaushik said. The
channels presently available on the non-tiered Tata Sky platform include all the
channels from the Star (17), Sony Discovery One Alliance (14) bouquets as well
as ESPN Star Sports and two channels of NDTV as its key offerings.
It
is worth noting here that it was only this morning that the deal for the carriage
of the One Alliance channels by Tata Sky was signed and delivered.
Confirming this to Indiantelevision.com, SET Discovery president Anuj Gandhi
said the pricing terms was similar to the one signed recently with Dish TV. One
Alliance is being paid around Rs 38 per subscriber by Dish for its channels. The
deal is a five-year one that is extendable at the end of it, Gandhi revealed.
Also
available on the Tata Sky platform would be some Doordarshan channels as well
the likes of Times Now, Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, etc. Some interactive and specially
designed movie channels have also been thrown in as a sop. The
Tata Sky service, Kaushik claimed in the presence of his company chairman Ishaat
Hussain, has been designed to give subscribers “choice, control and convenience”
in the way they want to watch television.
A
host of interactive services such as an on-screen programme guide, Actve Sports,
Actve Star News, Actve Newsroom and Actve Khabar are also on offer. To
offer maximum convenience to subscribers, Tata Sky has set up a pan-India distribution
network of popular consumer electronic stores and mobile phone outlets for retailing
its hardware and prepaid recharge vouchers. The
pre-paid vouchers come in various denominations starting off with Rs 260.
The
company has also tied up with LG, ITC International Business Division and Indian
Oil Corporation as part of its distribution drive. “We
are looking at ramping up our activity and service over the next three months
when the service should be covering the whole of India,” Tata Sky consumer
marketing head Vikram Mehra said. The
company has engaged a field force of approximately 3,000 people who will be complemented
by a high-end 24x7 call centre, manned by multi-lingual customer service associates,
trained to solve all customer problems.
But
Mehra was not forthcoming on the media campaign that’s about to break “soon”,
except to say that it would be a 360 degree campaign using all normal media outlets. Tata
Sky is an 80:20 DTH joint venture between the Tata Group and Hong Kong-based Star
Group.
The joint venture has invested over Rs 25 billion in the project till now, according
to Kaushik, who added the target of 1 million subscribers in the first year is
achievable. The
unveiling of the Tata Sky service finally turns into reality a dream Murdoch has
had since 1997 - of having a DTH platform in India
(Rs 47 = $ 1) | 
