TRAI tariff order shakes up pay and FTA channel uptake

TRAI tariff order shakes up pay and FTA channel uptake

Pay channels with an average national connectivity of 75% went down to 51%.

TRAI

MUMBAI: Six weeks into the new tariff order (NTO) and the television landscape is changing, says Chrome data analytics and media report. It says that 96.5 per cent of the consumers in India are aware of the NTO, with 83.6 per cent coming to know about it via television.

The report also highlighted the packages that the consumers have chosen. It mentioned that 50 per cent has gone with the DPO-defined packages, packages defined by operators, leaving the balance 50 per cent split into two components-- 25 per cent with packages from broadcasters and the rest from a la carte package. 26 per cent has exercised both, which is a combination of a DPO package along with some kinds of a la carte, 2 per cent don't remember what they exercised. The report signalled that the consumers felt that they were earlier paying for content that they were not willingly subscribing to. So that leaves the tariff order in the right spirit of transparency where consumers are getting an idea of what each channel and each bouquet costs and they feel empowered to pick what they want.

Specifying about the reach or Chrome connectivity (OTS faired over the last six weeks), while broadly dissected into pay that observed a downfall and FTA which witnessing a hike. On one hand, pay channels with an average national connectivity of 75 per cent went down to an average of 51 per cent. FTA on the other hand, gained from 21 per cent to 26 which is a 23 per cent gain. 

The report added that the operators right now are competing for consumers by providing the maximum number of channels within the fixed one hundred and thirty rupees. DTH –Tata Sky, Dish, Airtel – Average of 250 channels in the network capacity fee.

Networks offering maximum channels within their Base pack

HEAD END

TOTAL FTA RUNNING

TOTAL PAY RUNNING

VISION POINT DIGITAL

277

23

GAJANAN CABLE/NXT DIGITAL

274

180

NXT DIGITAL

264

37

AFTAB CABLE VISION

230

4

JAK COMMUNICATION

219

48

ATHULYA INFO MEDIA PVT. LTD.

216

14

NXT DIGITAL

190

37

CHIKHALI CABLE NETWORK

186

74

KBC DIGITAL

185

110

CRYSTAL CABLE

185

46

PUNE CABLE SYSTEM

185

42

VK DIGITAL NETWORK

179

71

NXT DIGITAL

177

38

MCBS DIGITAL

176

100

ACT DIGITAL

175

32

SITI DIGITAL

174

125

KABLE FIRST DIGITAL

173

235

GRAND GUMBER

172

8

TATA SKY

262

135

DISH TV

202

145

AIRTEL DTH

195

125

Source: Chrome LIVE, ALL India (Urban), WK 10, 2019

State wise Package offtake status

MARKET

100 FTA CHANNELS RUNNING ON NETWORKS

MORE THAN 100 FTA CHANNELS RUNNING ON NETWORKS

LESS THAN 100 FTA CHANNELS RUNNING ON NETWORKS

BIHAR

17%

67%

17%

GUJ, D&D & DNH

9%

55%

36%

KERALA

3%

72%

25%

MADHYA PRADESH

5%

31%

64%

MAH & GOA

3%

44%

53%

UP & UTTARAKHAND

2%

25%

74%

All INDIA

2%

46%

52%

 

 

MARKET

100 FTA CHANNELS RUNNING ON NETWORKS

MORE THAN 100 FTA CHANNELS RUNNING ON NETWORKS

LESS THAN 100 FTA CHANNELS RUNNING ON NETWORKS

AP & TELANGANA

0%

38%

62%

CHHATTISGARH

0%

60%

40%

DELHI

0%

42%

58%

HHPJ&K

0%

20%

80%

JHARKHAND

0%

17%

83%

KARNATAKA

0%

50%

50%

KOLKATA

0%

83%

17%

ODISHA

0%

53%

47%

PUN & CHA

0%

100%

0%

RAJASTHAN

0%

50%

50%

TN & PONDICHERRY

0%

100%

0%

WEST BENGAL

0%

89%

11%

Source: Chrome LIVE, ALL India (Urban), WK 10, 2019

According to Chrome DM, in the long term, there is a price-quantity relationship which is already happening with operators putting in maximum number of channels to get maximum subscribers. On the broadcasting level, companies are graduating from pure distribution, lobbying driven business to consumer marketing organisations.