AsitPaul
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A Hybrid Model Approach for DD's DTH Service
PS: Someone plz copy-paste the content. I'm on mobile device.
PS: Someone plz copy-paste the content. I'm on mobile device.
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A hybrid model approach for DD’s
DTH service
With the hybrid model approach,
supported by a well thought
business model, the commercial
status of DD can change potentially, says R.C. Bhatnagar
Restructuring Doordarshan DTH
service by introducing a hybrid
model
The DTH venture of
Doordarshan started
in the year 2003,
when "Pilot project of
"Ku-band
transmission" (Free-to
-air DTH)" was
approved by the
Government. The prime objective of
the project was to provide TV
coverage to the uncovered areas of
the country that came in shadow
zone of terrestrial transmission due
to difficult terrain conditions. DTH
technology emerged as a natural
choice to fulfill the objective
because it ensured coverage of
entire population of the country in a
cost effective and reliable way.
Planning Commission sanctioned Rs.
164.35 crore for the project that
made it possible for Doordarshan to
fulfill its obligation as the Public
Broadcaster. Project was completed
by Doordarshan in a record time of
one year and DTH uplinking centre
(Satellite Earth Station for uplinking
of Ku-band signal) was set up at
Todapur, Delhi. The Ku-band
transmission started in December,
04 using NSS-6 satellite. The FTA
bouquet consisted of 33 TV
channels, which included 19
Doordarshan channels and 14
channels of private broadcasters.
Later this DTH platform was
expanded to accommodate 50 TV
channels. At present, there are 42
TV and 21 radio (All India Radio)
channels on 5 Ku transponders of
INSAT 4B that replaced NSS-6
satellite. The uniqueness of
Doordarshan DTH service is its Free
to Air (FTA) channels. It means that
viewer does not have to incur
recurring expenditure in the form of
monthly subscription. There is only
one time investment on part of the
viewers towards cost of Dish, LNBC
and set top box. For any other type
of cable TV/conventional DTH the
viewer is bound to pay recurring
charges to the service provider, who
provides him with a customized set
top box to receive his signal only.
Bottlenecks in FTA transmission
Initial launch of Doordarshan DTH
was extremely successful and service
became immensely popular and
scaled fast to cover an estimated
subscriber base of 6 million. But as
the time passed and other private
DTH players came in India with
their costly yet attractive bouquets,
Doordarshan DTH started loosing
the popularity due to its weak
content and lack of any marketing
strategy that could formulate a
sustainable model to generate
revenue and increase the popularity
of the bouquet. The FTA DTH of
Doordarshan today is a loss-making
proposition. The revenue generated
is comparatively negligible as
compared to the cost of content
creation and programming,
transmission, salary of staff etc.
It is a truth that only a strong
platform with attractive content will
enable DD to grow its customer base
making this platform even more
attractive to other broadcasters, who
would also like to join this platform,
thus attracting even more
customers. This will generate
revenue and would also ensure that
Doordarshan continues to maintain
high viewer-ship for free-to-air
social, cultural and educational
channels. Without an attractive
platform and revenue generation
Doordarshan may not even fulfill its
PSB obligations as it may not be
able to attract viewers.
Strategies for improving the present
FTA model
At this stage it is essential for the
Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) i.e.
Doordarshan to devise a proper
business model that will make it a
viable business proposition and also
make it easier to discharge its duty
of a public broadcaster. This can be
made possible with a combination of
free-to-air and pay-TV model. With
the hybrid model approach
supported by a well thought
business model the commercial
status of DD can change potentially.
This combination will enable
Doordarshan to have a separate
identity compared to the private
sector DTH operators. DD platform
will have a unique selling
proposition (USP) that none of the
other private sector operators are
likely to have. Customers will have
the option of switching off payment
and still continue to get multi-
channel free-to-air television. With
large scale penetration in the rural
and poor areas with a strong human
workforce, DD can make some
attractive offers like subsidy on
standard receive systems that can
be distributed through remotely
located Doordarshan stations and
establish a unique market
positioning. In addition, the legacy
of being the Public Service
Broadcaster can establish DD as an
"honest operator", who can gain the
faith of public more easily without
any flashy marketing gimmicks that
have hidden traps revealed at later
stage.
Content: A governing factor
The most important factor for
making any platform popular is the
rich content along with a host of
value added services. Care should
be taken to select the software ie
channel content so that it suits the
interests of both types of viewers-
the rural and average segment-
interested in FTA channels and the
niche segment, who is willing to pay
but won't compromise on either the
quality or the content of the
channels. Proper audience research
should be carried out to have an
idea about the public choice so that
appropriate bouquet conforming to
the choices of both types of
segments may be produced and
marketed to enlarge the subscriber
base.
Obviously the role of the Public
Service Broadcaster is more than
that of a pure entertainment
provider. It also involves taking up
the important issues like education,
rural development, social issues,
health care and most importantly to
be always present there with the
sole aim to protect the national
integrity and safety in the times of
crisis instead of cashing on by
sensationalizing the tragedy.
Global scenario
Many countries like Sweden, Italy,
UK, France, Germany, Spain etc have
taken up DTH as an important mode
of TV signal distribution along with
the existing cable or terrestrial
modes. Various countries have
adopted different models like FTA+
Pay TV, FTA+PPV (Pay per View) and
DVB-H (TV over mobile) to suit their
needs. It has been found that for
popularity of Pay TV the content is
the most important factor. Also it
was found that the local language
and regional content are important
factors to attract the viewers. In the
developed countries, where per
capita income is high, people are
ready to pay more to access high
quality contents like HDTV, Pay per
View, and Interactive services.
Present status of DTH in the country
At present, Doordarshan DTH is free
to air with no subscription charges,
whereas the other DTH services such
as "Dish TV" and "Tata Sky" available
in the country are operating on
purely commercial basis. Also, more
commercial DTH services like
Reliance, Bharati Telecom and Sun
are in the offing. There had been
delay in launching of these services
due to some problem in the INSAT
series 4 and NSS satellites that
provide the Ku Band transponders
for transmission of DTH signal
In India, to regulate these services
Ministry of I&B have issued
guidelines. These guidelines for DTH
services are prima-facie on a
subscription-based (Pay-Channels)
business model. Essential features
of these guidelines, therefore,
envisage mandatory encryption of
signals, use of Conditional Access
(CA) and Subscriber Management
System (SMS) to enable the
subscribers access to signals directly
and the broadcasters to realize
subscription revenues from the
service providers / customers. The
guidelines neither envisage nor
make it financially viable to run a
free to air DTH service.
The private DTH operators are
charging a monthly subscription
according to the bouquet subscribed
by the viewers. The rates are purely
subjective on the part of DTH service
provider and the schemes floated by
them from time to time are also as
per their discretion. Apart from
regular subscription extra charges
are levied for accessing premium
services like Movie on demand,
interactive sports programmes etc.
It was mandated in Doordarshan's
pilot project of Ku-band
transmission that the service should
be self-sustainable and carriage fee
would be charged from the private
channel operators for coming to the
DD DTH platform. However, this did
not proceed as expected and there
was reluctance on the part of private
operators to pay carriage fee as
asked by Prasar Bharati, which
carried these channels free of cost
for more than two years and they
started moving to Pay DTH platforms
run by private operators to earn
revenue from subscription fee. This
has been a setback for DD DTH and
the loyalty of the viewers was at
stake.
Doordarshan proposal for pay
channels
A successful Pay DTH has been
proved to be a highly paying
business in any corner of the world.
Doordarshan will have to turn Pay
DTH for providing private channels
in its bouquet, in addition to meet
its commitment to provide its signal
free of charge to people as a public
broadcaster, to regain its popularity
and to sustain the service.
The following options can be
considered to meet the
requirements of both FTA and Pay
channels over the Doordarshan DTH
platform;
A hybrid model consisting of
both FTA and Pay TV channels,
where the FTA channels would
be available to the public
without any subscription, while
`niche' services would be
provided on paid basis through
CAS enabled set top boxes (STB).
Value added and interactive
services like video on demand
and pay per view with
addressability of the subscriber.
Transmission of HDTV
programmes (Pay Channel).
Many popular movies can be
transmitted in HDTV format over
DTH as Pay channel.
By deploying new compression
format i.e. MPEG-4 which is now
becoming more and more popular,
Doordarshan plans to use this new
technology. With this format, as
compared to the presently available
10 channels per transponder, nearly
16 channels can be accommodated.
Providing HDTV over satellite is more
convenient and suitable by using
this better compression technique.
Also, in the interest of consumer and
the success of DD DTH service
another most important point to be
kept in mind is that any new
proposed MPEG 4 system should
have backward compatibility. In fact
DVB has already developed the
second generation DTH standard
called DVB S2 standard with
backward compatibility mode. This
means that the DVB S2 standard
enables combining of both MPEG2
and MPEG4 compressed streams into
a common emitted stream, which
can be decoded by both the existing
MPEG2 boxes as well as new MPEG4
boxes. The service provider has to
ensure this compatibility by using
standard equipment.
There are three major components of
Pay DTH, which are as under:
DTH Centre (Head End - Uplink /
Turn around station) - This is
required to receive the
programmes through satellite,
cable, play-out system etc. and
then uplink on Ku-band.
SMS (Subscriber Management
System) and Call centre - This is
for managing the accounts of
the customers / subscribers of
the Pay- DTH / and to address
complaints of viewers.
System for distribution of
Receive Segment to the
subscriber - This is to distribute
the special receive systems (with
interactivity) to receive the Pay
TV.
Doordarshan is already having the
DTH Centre (Head End) but SMS and
the system for distribution of
Receive Segment to the subscribers
was not established because
presently DD DTH is free to air and
there are no Pay channels. For
including Pay channels in
Doordarshan DTH platform and
making it financially viable, the DTH
Centre (Head End) will have to be
upgraded, which can be taken up by
Doordarshan, while the other two
tasks viz. SMS / Call centre and
system for Receive Segment
distribution may be outsourced.
Doordarshan has proposed to
upgrade the present DTH platform
by turning out 50 free to air
channels, 144 Pay channels, 4 HDTV
channels and 50 radio channels. The
proposal is under consideration.
DTH service
With the hybrid model approach,
supported by a well thought
business model, the commercial
status of DD can change potentially, says R.C. Bhatnagar
Restructuring Doordarshan DTH
service by introducing a hybrid
model
The DTH venture of
Doordarshan started
in the year 2003,
when "Pilot project of
"Ku-band
transmission" (Free-to
-air DTH)" was
approved by the
Government. The prime objective of
the project was to provide TV
coverage to the uncovered areas of
the country that came in shadow
zone of terrestrial transmission due
to difficult terrain conditions. DTH
technology emerged as a natural
choice to fulfill the objective
because it ensured coverage of
entire population of the country in a
cost effective and reliable way.
Planning Commission sanctioned Rs.
164.35 crore for the project that
made it possible for Doordarshan to
fulfill its obligation as the Public
Broadcaster. Project was completed
by Doordarshan in a record time of
one year and DTH uplinking centre
(Satellite Earth Station for uplinking
of Ku-band signal) was set up at
Todapur, Delhi. The Ku-band
transmission started in December,
04 using NSS-6 satellite. The FTA
bouquet consisted of 33 TV
channels, which included 19
Doordarshan channels and 14
channels of private broadcasters.
Later this DTH platform was
expanded to accommodate 50 TV
channels. At present, there are 42
TV and 21 radio (All India Radio)
channels on 5 Ku transponders of
INSAT 4B that replaced NSS-6
satellite. The uniqueness of
Doordarshan DTH service is its Free
to Air (FTA) channels. It means that
viewer does not have to incur
recurring expenditure in the form of
monthly subscription. There is only
one time investment on part of the
viewers towards cost of Dish, LNBC
and set top box. For any other type
of cable TV/conventional DTH the
viewer is bound to pay recurring
charges to the service provider, who
provides him with a customized set
top box to receive his signal only.
Bottlenecks in FTA transmission
Initial launch of Doordarshan DTH
was extremely successful and service
became immensely popular and
scaled fast to cover an estimated
subscriber base of 6 million. But as
the time passed and other private
DTH players came in India with
their costly yet attractive bouquets,
Doordarshan DTH started loosing
the popularity due to its weak
content and lack of any marketing
strategy that could formulate a
sustainable model to generate
revenue and increase the popularity
of the bouquet. The FTA DTH of
Doordarshan today is a loss-making
proposition. The revenue generated
is comparatively negligible as
compared to the cost of content
creation and programming,
transmission, salary of staff etc.
It is a truth that only a strong
platform with attractive content will
enable DD to grow its customer base
making this platform even more
attractive to other broadcasters, who
would also like to join this platform,
thus attracting even more
customers. This will generate
revenue and would also ensure that
Doordarshan continues to maintain
high viewer-ship for free-to-air
social, cultural and educational
channels. Without an attractive
platform and revenue generation
Doordarshan may not even fulfill its
PSB obligations as it may not be
able to attract viewers.
Strategies for improving the present
FTA model
At this stage it is essential for the
Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) i.e.
Doordarshan to devise a proper
business model that will make it a
viable business proposition and also
make it easier to discharge its duty
of a public broadcaster. This can be
made possible with a combination of
free-to-air and pay-TV model. With
the hybrid model approach
supported by a well thought
business model the commercial
status of DD can change potentially.
This combination will enable
Doordarshan to have a separate
identity compared to the private
sector DTH operators. DD platform
will have a unique selling
proposition (USP) that none of the
other private sector operators are
likely to have. Customers will have
the option of switching off payment
and still continue to get multi-
channel free-to-air television. With
large scale penetration in the rural
and poor areas with a strong human
workforce, DD can make some
attractive offers like subsidy on
standard receive systems that can
be distributed through remotely
located Doordarshan stations and
establish a unique market
positioning. In addition, the legacy
of being the Public Service
Broadcaster can establish DD as an
"honest operator", who can gain the
faith of public more easily without
any flashy marketing gimmicks that
have hidden traps revealed at later
stage.
Content: A governing factor
The most important factor for
making any platform popular is the
rich content along with a host of
value added services. Care should
be taken to select the software ie
channel content so that it suits the
interests of both types of viewers-
the rural and average segment-
interested in FTA channels and the
niche segment, who is willing to pay
but won't compromise on either the
quality or the content of the
channels. Proper audience research
should be carried out to have an
idea about the public choice so that
appropriate bouquet conforming to
the choices of both types of
segments may be produced and
marketed to enlarge the subscriber
base.
Obviously the role of the Public
Service Broadcaster is more than
that of a pure entertainment
provider. It also involves taking up
the important issues like education,
rural development, social issues,
health care and most importantly to
be always present there with the
sole aim to protect the national
integrity and safety in the times of
crisis instead of cashing on by
sensationalizing the tragedy.
Global scenario
Many countries like Sweden, Italy,
UK, France, Germany, Spain etc have
taken up DTH as an important mode
of TV signal distribution along with
the existing cable or terrestrial
modes. Various countries have
adopted different models like FTA+
Pay TV, FTA+PPV (Pay per View) and
DVB-H (TV over mobile) to suit their
needs. It has been found that for
popularity of Pay TV the content is
the most important factor. Also it
was found that the local language
and regional content are important
factors to attract the viewers. In the
developed countries, where per
capita income is high, people are
ready to pay more to access high
quality contents like HDTV, Pay per
View, and Interactive services.
Present status of DTH in the country
At present, Doordarshan DTH is free
to air with no subscription charges,
whereas the other DTH services such
as "Dish TV" and "Tata Sky" available
in the country are operating on
purely commercial basis. Also, more
commercial DTH services like
Reliance, Bharati Telecom and Sun
are in the offing. There had been
delay in launching of these services
due to some problem in the INSAT
series 4 and NSS satellites that
provide the Ku Band transponders
for transmission of DTH signal
In India, to regulate these services
Ministry of I&B have issued
guidelines. These guidelines for DTH
services are prima-facie on a
subscription-based (Pay-Channels)
business model. Essential features
of these guidelines, therefore,
envisage mandatory encryption of
signals, use of Conditional Access
(CA) and Subscriber Management
System (SMS) to enable the
subscribers access to signals directly
and the broadcasters to realize
subscription revenues from the
service providers / customers. The
guidelines neither envisage nor
make it financially viable to run a
free to air DTH service.
The private DTH operators are
charging a monthly subscription
according to the bouquet subscribed
by the viewers. The rates are purely
subjective on the part of DTH service
provider and the schemes floated by
them from time to time are also as
per their discretion. Apart from
regular subscription extra charges
are levied for accessing premium
services like Movie on demand,
interactive sports programmes etc.
It was mandated in Doordarshan's
pilot project of Ku-band
transmission that the service should
be self-sustainable and carriage fee
would be charged from the private
channel operators for coming to the
DD DTH platform. However, this did
not proceed as expected and there
was reluctance on the part of private
operators to pay carriage fee as
asked by Prasar Bharati, which
carried these channels free of cost
for more than two years and they
started moving to Pay DTH platforms
run by private operators to earn
revenue from subscription fee. This
has been a setback for DD DTH and
the loyalty of the viewers was at
stake.
Doordarshan proposal for pay
channels
A successful Pay DTH has been
proved to be a highly paying
business in any corner of the world.
Doordarshan will have to turn Pay
DTH for providing private channels
in its bouquet, in addition to meet
its commitment to provide its signal
free of charge to people as a public
broadcaster, to regain its popularity
and to sustain the service.
The following options can be
considered to meet the
requirements of both FTA and Pay
channels over the Doordarshan DTH
platform;
A hybrid model consisting of
both FTA and Pay TV channels,
where the FTA channels would
be available to the public
without any subscription, while
`niche' services would be
provided on paid basis through
CAS enabled set top boxes (STB).
Value added and interactive
services like video on demand
and pay per view with
addressability of the subscriber.
Transmission of HDTV
programmes (Pay Channel).
Many popular movies can be
transmitted in HDTV format over
DTH as Pay channel.
By deploying new compression
format i.e. MPEG-4 which is now
becoming more and more popular,
Doordarshan plans to use this new
technology. With this format, as
compared to the presently available
10 channels per transponder, nearly
16 channels can be accommodated.
Providing HDTV over satellite is more
convenient and suitable by using
this better compression technique.
Also, in the interest of consumer and
the success of DD DTH service
another most important point to be
kept in mind is that any new
proposed MPEG 4 system should
have backward compatibility. In fact
DVB has already developed the
second generation DTH standard
called DVB S2 standard with
backward compatibility mode. This
means that the DVB S2 standard
enables combining of both MPEG2
and MPEG4 compressed streams into
a common emitted stream, which
can be decoded by both the existing
MPEG2 boxes as well as new MPEG4
boxes. The service provider has to
ensure this compatibility by using
standard equipment.
There are three major components of
Pay DTH, which are as under:
DTH Centre (Head End - Uplink /
Turn around station) - This is
required to receive the
programmes through satellite,
cable, play-out system etc. and
then uplink on Ku-band.
SMS (Subscriber Management
System) and Call centre - This is
for managing the accounts of
the customers / subscribers of
the Pay- DTH / and to address
complaints of viewers.
System for distribution of
Receive Segment to the
subscriber - This is to distribute
the special receive systems (with
interactivity) to receive the Pay
TV.
Doordarshan is already having the
DTH Centre (Head End) but SMS and
the system for distribution of
Receive Segment to the subscribers
was not established because
presently DD DTH is free to air and
there are no Pay channels. For
including Pay channels in
Doordarshan DTH platform and
making it financially viable, the DTH
Centre (Head End) will have to be
upgraded, which can be taken up by
Doordarshan, while the other two
tasks viz. SMS / Call centre and
system for Receive Segment
distribution may be outsourced.
Doordarshan has proposed to
upgrade the present DTH platform
by turning out 50 free to air
channels, 144 Pay channels, 4 HDTV
channels and 50 radio channels. The
proposal is under consideration.
Done :tupAsitPaul said:
A hybrid model approach for DD’s DTH service
With the hybrid model approach, supported by a well thought business model, the commercial status of DD can change potentially, says R.C. Bhatnagar
Restructuring Doordarshan DTH service by introducing a hybrid model
Image The DTH venture of Doordarshan started in the year 2003, when "Pilot project of "Ku-band transmission" (Free-to -air DTH)" was approved by the Government. The prime objective of the project was to provide TV coverage to the uncovered areas of the country that came in shadow zone of terrestrial transmission due to difficult terrain conditions. DTH technology emerged as a natural choice to fulfill the objective because it ensured coverage of entire population of the country in a cost effective and reliable way. Planning Commission sanctioned Rs. 164.35 crore for the project that made it possible for Doordarshan to fulfill its obligation as the Public Broadcaster. Project was completed by Doordarshan in a record time of one year and DTH uplinking centre (Satellite Earth Station for uplinking of Ku-band signal) was set up at Todapur, Delhi. The Ku-band transmission started in December, 04 using NSS-6 satellite. The FTA bouquet consisted of 33 TV channels, which included 19 Doordarshan channels and 14 channels of private broadcasters. Later this DTH platform was expanded to accommodate 50 TV channels. At present, there are 42 TV and 21 radio (All India Radio) channels on 5 Ku transponders of INSAT 4B that replaced NSS-6 satellite. The uniqueness of Doordarshan DTH service is its Free to Air (FTA) channels. It means that viewer does not have to incur recurring expenditure in the form of monthly subscription. There is only one time investment on part of the viewers towards cost of Dish, LNBC and set top box. For any other type of cable TV/conventional DTH the viewer is bound to pay recurring charges to the service provider, who provides him with a customized set top box to receive his signal only.
Bottlenecks in FTA transmission
Initial launch of Doordarshan DTH was extremely successful and service became immensely popular and scaled fast to cover an estimated subscriber base of 6 million. But as the time passed and other private DTH players came in India with their costly yet attractive bouquets, Doordarshan DTH started loosing the popularity due to its weak content and lack of any marketing strategy that could formulate a sustainable model to generate revenue and increase the popularity of the bouquet. The FTA DTH of Doordarshan today is a loss-making proposition. The revenue generated is comparatively negligible as compared to the cost of content creation and programming, transmission, salary of staff etc.
It is a truth that only a strong platform with attractive content will enable DD to grow its customer base making this platform even more attractive to other broadcasters, who would also like to join this platform, thus attracting even more customers. This will generate revenue and would also ensure that Doordarshan continues to maintain high viewer-ship for free-to-air social, cultural and educational channels. Without an attractive platform and revenue generation Doordarshan may not even fulfill its PSB obligations as it may not be able to attract viewers.
Strategies for improving the present FTA model
At this stage it is essential for the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) i.e. Doordarshan to devise a proper business model that will make it a viable business proposition and also make it easier to discharge its duty of a public broadcaster. This can be made possible with a combination of free-to-air and pay-TV model. With the hybrid model approach supported by a well thought business model the commercial status of DD can change potentially. This combination will enable Doordarshan to have a separate identity compared to the private sector DTH operators. DD platform will have a unique selling proposition (USP) that none of the other private sector operators are likely to have. Customers will have the option of switching off payment and still continue to get multi-channel free-to-air television. With large scale penetration in the rural and poor areas with a strong human workforce, DD can make some attractive offers like subsidy on standard receive systems that can be distributed through remotely located Doordarshan stations and establish a unique market positioning. In addition, the legacy of being the Public Service Broadcaster can establish DD as an "honest operator", who can gain the faith of public more easily without any flashy marketing gimmicks that have hidden traps revealed at later stage.
Content: A governing factor
The most important factor for making any platform popular is the rich content along with a host of value added services. Care should be taken to select the software ie channel content so that it suits the interests of both types of viewers-the rural and average segment-interested in FTA channels and the niche segment, who is willing to pay but won't compromise on either the quality or the content of the channels. Proper audience research should be carried out to have an idea about the public choice so that appropriate bouquet conforming to the choices of both types of segments may be produced and marketed to enlarge the subscriber base.
Obviously the role of the Public Service Broadcaster is more than that of a pure entertainment provider. It also involves taking up the important issues like education, rural development, social issues, health care and most importantly to be always present there with the sole aim to protect the national integrity and safety in the times of crisis instead of cashing on by sensationalizing the tragedy.
Global scenario
Many countries like Sweden, Italy, UK, France, Germany, Spain etc have taken up DTH as an important mode of TV signal distribution along with the existing cable or terrestrial modes. Various countries have adopted different models like FTA+ Pay TV, FTA+PPV (Pay per View) and DVB-H (TV over mobile) to suit their needs. It has been found that for popularity of Pay TV the content is the most important factor. Also it was found that the local language and regional content are important factors to attract the viewers. In the developed countries, where per capita income is high, people are ready to pay more to access high quality contents like HDTV, Pay per View, and Interactive services.
Present status of DTH in the country
At present, Doordarshan DTH is free to air with no subscription charges, whereas the other DTH services such as "Dish TV" and "Tata Sky" available in the country are operating on purely commercial basis. Also, more commercial DTH services like Reliance, Bharati Telecom and Sun are in the offing. There had been delay in launching of these services due to some problem in the INSAT series 4 and NSS satellites that provide the Ku Band transponders for transmission of DTH signal
In India, to regulate these services Ministry of I&B have issued guidelines. These guidelines for DTH services are prima-facie on a subscription-based (Pay-Channels) business model. Essential features of these guidelines, therefore, envisage mandatory encryption of signals, use of Conditional Access (CA) and Subscriber Management System (SMS) to enable the subscribers access to signals directly and the broadcasters to realize subscription revenues from the service providers / customers. The guidelines neither envisage nor make it financially viable to run a free to air DTH service.
The private DTH operators are charging a monthly subscription according to the bouquet subscribed by the viewers. The rates are purely subjective on the part of DTH service provider and the schemes floated by them from time to time are also as per their discretion. Apart from regular subscription extra charges are levied for accessing premium services like Movie on demand, interactive sports programmes etc. It was mandated in Doordarshan's pilot project of Ku-band transmission that the service should be self-sustainable and carriage fee would be charged from the private channel operators for coming to the DD DTH platform. However, this did not proceed as expected and there was reluctance on the part of private operators to pay carriage fee as asked by Prasar Bharati, which carried these channels free of cost for more than two years and they started moving to Pay DTH platforms run by private operators to earn revenue from subscription fee. This has been a setback for DD DTH and the loyalty of the viewers was at stake.
Doordarshan proposal for pay channels
A successful Pay DTH has been proved to be a highly paying business in any corner of the world. Doordarshan will have to turn Pay DTH for providing private channels in its bouquet, in addition to meet its commitment to provide its signal free of charge to people as a public broadcaster, to regain its popularity and to sustain the service.
The following options can be considered to meet the requirements of both FTA and Pay channels over the Doordarshan DTH platform;
A hybrid model consisting of both FTA and Pay TV channels, where the FTA channels would be available to the public without any subscription, while `niche' services would be provided on paid basis through CAS enabled set top boxes (STB).
Value added and interactive services like video on demand and pay per view with addressability of the subscriber.
Transmission of HDTV programmes (Pay Channel). Many popular movies can be transmitted in HDTV format over DTH as Pay channel.
By deploying new compression format i.e. MPEG-4 which is now becoming more and more popular, Doordarshan plans to use this new technology. With this format, as compared to the presently available 10 channels per transponder, nearly 16 channels can be accommodated. Providing HDTV over satellite is more convenient and suitable by using this better compression technique.
Also, in the interest of consumer and the success of DD DTH service another most important point to be kept in mind is that any new proposed MPEG 4 system should have backward compatibility. In fact DVB has already developed the second generation DTH standard called DVB S2 standard with backward compatibility mode. This means that the DVB S2 standard enables combining of both MPEG2 and MPEG4 compressed streams into a common emitted stream, which can be decoded by both the existing MPEG2 boxes as well as new MPEG4 boxes. The service provider has to ensure this compatibility by using standard equipment.
There are three major components of Pay DTH, which are as under:
DTH Centre (Head End - Uplink / Turn around station) - This is required to receive the programmes through satellite, cable, play-out system etc. and then uplink on Ku-band.
SMS (Subscriber Management System) and Call centre - This is for managing the accounts of the customers / subscribers of the Pay- DTH / and to address complaints of viewers.
System for distribution of Receive Segment to the subscriber - This is to distribute the special receive systems (with interactivity) to receive the Pay TV.
Doordarshan is already having the DTH Centre (Head End) but SMS and the system for distribution of Receive Segment to the subscribers was not established because presently DD DTH is free to air and there are no Pay channels. For including Pay channels in Doordarshan DTH platform and making it financially viable, the DTH Centre (Head End) will have to be upgraded, which can be taken up by Doordarshan, while the other two tasks viz. SMS / Call centre and system for Receive Segment distribution may be outsourced. Doordarshan has proposed to upgrade the present DTH platform by turning out 50 free to air channels, 144 Pay channels, 4 HDTV channels and 50 radio channels. The proposal is under consideration.
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