Doordarshan’s DTH service plans next cycle of growth

Dinesh jain

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Doordarshan’s free direct-to-home
(DTH) service Freedish, which completed 10
years on 16 December, is gearing up for the next
cycle of growth.

On the agenda is adding more channels and
offering MPEG-4 set-top boxes (STBs). Freedish
has already got an additional transponder from
ISRO, taking the total number of transponders to
six.

Doordarshan deputy director general CK Jain
said that the DTH operator is planning to
increase its offering from 59 to 112 channels.
MPEG-4 STBs will allow Freedish to offer a
maximum of 112 channels to its customers.
The free-to-air DTH service provider is planning
to offer 65 channels through MPEG-2 STBs and
112 channels through MPEG-4 STBs. The MPEG4
STBs, unlike the MPEG2 ones, will be encrypted
and made available only through authorised
dealers. Jain, however, declined to disclose when
the MPEG4 STBs will be launched.

“Those who have MPEG-2 STBs will be able to
watch 65 channels while those who have
MPEG-4 STBs will have access to 112 channels,”
Jain said.

The pubcaster will work closely with Indian STB
manufacturers to manufacture MPEG-4 STBs in
India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
‘Make in India’ campaign.

“With the increase in the number of channels,
the popularity of the platform will also grow as
customers will get to watch many channels
without having to pay any subscription fee for
life,” Jain averred.

Having started its services with mostly
Doordarshan channels, the platform now boasts
channels spanning general entertainment, movie,
news and regional genre.

More new channels add zing to Freedish
Freedish (DD Direct+ in its earlier avatar) is the
second DTH service to launch in India after Dish
TV. But the addition of channels like Star Utsav,
Rishtey, Zee Anmol, India TV and ABP News has
added zing to the platform that has been the
only source of entertainment for people living in
media-dark areas.

Since DD does not have authorised dealers for
STBs, Jain does not have the exact count of
Freedish subscribers. He, however, reckons that
the FTA channel has 20 million subscribers
based on the information provided by STB
suppliers and its own survey.

Doordarshan’s DTH service plans next cycle of growth | TelevisionPost.com
 
Hmm... gud think is that, 65 chnls will still be FTA, while for watching few chnls, new STBs wud be required... atleast they wont change the 'FREE' image of theirs :tup

Also, not forgetting DishTV's 1 TP gift to DDD+ ;)
 
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