(Updated at 9 March 2010 9:40 pm)
(9 March 2010 1:15 pm)

MUMBAI: Consumer electronics major Videocon has roped in Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan as brand ambassador and earmarked Rs 1 billion towards marketing of its direct-to-home (DTH) service, d2h.

Bachchan forms an important piece of this marketing push as Videocon d2h hopes to achieve its ambitious target of two million subscribers by the end of this calendar year. Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan endorse Dish TV and Tata Sky, the two market leaders who have over six and four million subscribers respectively.

Videocon will launch a new television commercial (TVC) with Bachchan, sticking to its tagline - "Direct Hai To Right Hai".

Bachchan will feature across all Videocon d2h brand and product communications including advertisements on TV, print, outdoor, radio and BTL media like POS and collaterals.

"We will be investing Rs 1 billion this calendar year to promote our brand," Bharat Business Channel Ltd CEO Anil Khera tells Indiantelevision.com. "Abhishek makes a perfect fit with the Videocon d2h brand. As our brand's face, he will be instrumental in communicating the benefits to consumers across the country."

Videocon d2h, the DTH brand operating under BBCL, is the sixth and last private entrant in the Indian DTH market.

Says Khera, "For a four-month old service, we have already touched a subscriber base of 400,000. We plan to touch two million subscribers by the end of this year."

The company offers DTH signals through direct satellite TVs, satellite DVD players and satellite boxes.

Videocon d2h's ARPUs (average revenue per user) stand at Rs 225, says Khera.

BBCL has so far invested close to Rs 7 billion and has a dealer-distributor base of 40,000 across the country. The company has set up digital infrastructure including a technology centre in Noida and three high-end call centres in Pune, Dehradhun and Bangalore to solve customer queries in 10 languages.

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