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Another
Dish TV hoarding lines the Juhu skyline in Mumbai
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Is the marketing and communication hype worth it,
considering the subscription base growth has not been electric?
Dish TV feels that the exercise is worth it as the time has come
when to up the ante on the DTH front in general. Imminent arrival
of serious competition from Tata Sky could be another factor for
drumming up excitement as there is a market to be tapped.
According to Hong Kong-based media research firm Media Partners
Asia (MPA), India is set to emerge as Asia's leading revenue generating
pay-TV market by 2015 with multi-channel video industry (cable,
DTH and IPTV) turnover growing from $3.6 billion in 2005 to $7.2
billion by 2010 and $10.5 billion by 2015.
MPA also feels the Indian DTH market is likely to grow to Rs 45
billion ($ 1 billion) by 2015 on a base of slightly over 11 million
subscribers and 7.8 million customers by end 2010.
At 1.25 million subscribers almost after two years of service,
Dish TV still has a long way to go. And, though Tata Sky is likely
to set stiff targets for itself, there’s still room for growth
and expanding subscriber base.
Khanna and gang at Dish TV realise this and their marketing activities
are being tailored around this factor.
“With our a-dish-on-every-rooftop campaign where the total
cost was below Rs. 2,000, we had successfully managed to bring down
the entry barrier. In our latest campaign we are saying a DTH service
is a way out of cable problems and daily argument with the cable
operator,” Khanna elaborated.
Khanna admits that no media from print to outdoor to TV to radio
and cinema halls will be left out. “And, why not? We are India’s
first interactive TV service and introducing new features, which
are not available on cable networks,” he says with confidence.
Is the latest Dish campaign aimed at pre-empting Tata Sky’s
media initiatives, which, according to some reports, also revolve
around the freedom-from-cable theme?
“Any comparison or similarity (with Tata Sky’s media
campaign) is purely coincidental. We had planned our initiatives
much before and as they are getting fine tuned, we are announcing
them,” Khanna says with a straight face.
As part of the marketing initiatives, Dish is also not upping its
charges for the new services like the gaming portal that is to be
launched over the next seven days.
“With the Star channels slated to join the platform, there
has to be a slight revision of prices, but we feel for a total of
140 channels, Rs. 300 per month subscription is competitive pricing,”
Khanna said.
The 140 channels on Dish TV include some made-for-DTH channels
like those airing various genres of Hindi movies and some exclusive
ones like Boomerang, which is presently not available on cable networks.
It’s the price factor that’s also going to play a crucial
role in DTH proliferation. A MPA report states, “While cable’s
low monthly price is a competitive deterrent to DTH, aggressive
deployers such as Tata Sky will likely match cable’s low monthly
fees and subsidize upfront charges.”
Get set for some real action and fun --- direct to home.
(Rs 47 = 1US$)
(Pictures by SATEJ SHINDE)
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