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The digitisation drive is turning into a battle royale between cable and DTH players. Who will win the war?
Watching analog signal on my 40-inch LED TV was nothing short of a sin,” laughs Amit Mishra. The 30-year-old Delhi-based media professional bought his new television set two months before the digitisation diktat was executed in his locality, but a week with regular cable was enough to make the Discovery channel buff switch. “With DTH (direct-to-home) I could explore HD (high definition) stuff,” he reasons.
Some 1,600 km south, in Hyderabad, AP Narasimha Rao isn’t particularly concerned about picture and service quality. The 57-year-old professor spends a couple of hours a day watching the news, and when the local cable operator offered him a set-top box, he didn’t bother shopping around. “I had to make a one-time payment and the monthly bill is slightly higher, but other things remain the same,” says Rao. “Small dish antennas have sprung up on some roofs in our locality, but most have stayed with Hathway.”
If those examples are from opposite ends of the spectrum, consider Tejesvi Puri. He has two TVs in his Gurgaon flat and the total monthly cable bill from Digicable ranges from Rs 300 to Rs 350. “Rs 500 is the limit I have set mentally. If the bill jumps that, I will move to DTH,” says Puri. And no, he won’t mind forgoing the Rs 2,000 he’s already paid Digicable for the set-top boxes.
It is over two years since the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, was amended to prescribe a nationwide, phased switchover to digital cable services by December 2014. Both, DTH operators and multi-system operators (MSOs) welcomed the move, believing it would create a level playing field as well as provide a never-before opportunity to lure existing cable customers to a higher tariff regime. Analysts and industry experts, meanwhile, looked forward to a revolution in TV viewing habits of Indians (the power to cherrypick channels, better quality images, transparent billing, faster and better customer service) as well as a knock-down, drag-out battle between cable operators and DTH that would be as epic as the cola and detergent wars. Has it turned out that way?
More at: business.outlookindia.com | Cable Wars
.
Watching analog signal on my 40-inch LED TV was nothing short of a sin,” laughs Amit Mishra. The 30-year-old Delhi-based media professional bought his new television set two months before the digitisation diktat was executed in his locality, but a week with regular cable was enough to make the Discovery channel buff switch. “With DTH (direct-to-home) I could explore HD (high definition) stuff,” he reasons.
Some 1,600 km south, in Hyderabad, AP Narasimha Rao isn’t particularly concerned about picture and service quality. The 57-year-old professor spends a couple of hours a day watching the news, and when the local cable operator offered him a set-top box, he didn’t bother shopping around. “I had to make a one-time payment and the monthly bill is slightly higher, but other things remain the same,” says Rao. “Small dish antennas have sprung up on some roofs in our locality, but most have stayed with Hathway.”
If those examples are from opposite ends of the spectrum, consider Tejesvi Puri. He has two TVs in his Gurgaon flat and the total monthly cable bill from Digicable ranges from Rs 300 to Rs 350. “Rs 500 is the limit I have set mentally. If the bill jumps that, I will move to DTH,” says Puri. And no, he won’t mind forgoing the Rs 2,000 he’s already paid Digicable for the set-top boxes.
It is over two years since the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, was amended to prescribe a nationwide, phased switchover to digital cable services by December 2014. Both, DTH operators and multi-system operators (MSOs) welcomed the move, believing it would create a level playing field as well as provide a never-before opportunity to lure existing cable customers to a higher tariff regime. Analysts and industry experts, meanwhile, looked forward to a revolution in TV viewing habits of Indians (the power to cherrypick channels, better quality images, transparent billing, faster and better customer service) as well as a knock-down, drag-out battle between cable operators and DTH that would be as epic as the cola and detergent wars. Has it turned out that way?
More at: business.outlookindia.com | Cable Wars
.
