The Hindu Business Line : ‘DTH to emerge leader under digital platform’

New Delhi, Dec. 19 The Indian media’s digital revolution is expected to have 28 per cent of the 100 million pay television homes served by a digital platform by 2010. Consultants such as Mr Farokh Balsara, National Sector Leader, Media and Entertainment, Ernst and Young, are betting on Direct-to-Home (DTH) television to emerge as the leader amongst digital platforms with a subscriber base of 19 million.

At a summit organised by Assocham here, industry leaders, including Videocon’s Mr Venugopal Dhoot and STAR network’s Ajay Vidyasagar, discussed the challenges ahead. The summit was attended by the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, the Minster of Mines, Mr T. Subbarami Reddy, and the Minister of Aviation, Mr Praful Patel.

Tata Sky’s Mr Vikram Kaushik said it now had 1.5 million subscribers, but regretted not being allowed to offer exclusive content.

“The pay TV market in India has not been able to maximise its revenues due to restrictive regulations, an unorganised value chain and lack of addressability in the analog platform,” said Mr Balsara. However, he believes more value will be created with digitisation of platforms.

UTV’s Mr Ronnie Screwvala complimented a particular DTH operator’s plans to offer a television set while incorporating the cost into the subscription price. Getting consumers to move from the single TV households to two TV households would open up huge revenue opportunities, according to him.

According to a report by Ernst and Young and Assocham, titled ‘India’s Digital Revolution: Impact on Film and Television Sectors’, from a current share of 78 per cent for local cable operator (LCO), 5 per cent for Multi System Operator (MSO) and 17 per cent for broadcaster, the equation by 2010 would change to 54 per cent for LCO and 23 per cent each for MSO and broadcaster. As digital platforms gain critical mass, consumers would also spend more time on digital interactive platforms leading with the Internet, and mobile predicts the report.