DTH players gear up ahead of the World Cup

[SarfaRaZ]

MUMBAI: The upcoming ICC Cricket
World Cup is this year’s biggest
sporting event that promises to not
just entertain fans of the sport but
also provide windfall gain to
advertisers and sponsors. Not be left
out are direct to home (DTH) players,
who are planning to rake in some
moolah through various initiatives.
DTH operator Tata Sky recently
launched India’s first 4K set top box
(STB) for its existing customers as
well as to entice a new bunch of
subscribers.

When asked if the move will help
increase its subscriber base, Tata Sky
CEO Harit Nagpal says, “Those who
have invested in 4K television will
need a 4K set top box to watch the
matches. So it will help the
customers who already have 4K TV,
to watch the 4K transmission with
the help of the STB.”

For Rs 6,400 subscribers can
purchase the Tata Sky 4K STB while
existing subscribers can buy it for Rs
5,900. Apart from relaying 4K
content, the box can also showcase
Standard Definition (SD) and High
Definition (HD) channels. The STB has
the capability of delivering Ultra High
Definition picture quality and Dolby
Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound. 4K
at 8.3 megapixels (3840x2160) has
approximately four times the pixels
as that of 2K (1920x1080) - the
current HD standard.

Sun Direct managing director Mahesh
Kumar too agrees that the World Cup
will help increase its existing
subscriber base. He reasons, “One,
cricket is a religion in India and given
that the first few days of the
tournament starts off with an India
Pakistan match – the fervour is going
to be high from the start of the
tournament. Two, even though the
months of February and March are
traditionally dull for DTH due to
exam fever, we expect the cricket
fever to take prominence and more
new connections to come in during
this period. Post IPL the love of
cricket has transcended countries
with the foreign player participation
in local leagues, hence viewer
interest will be high not only in India
playing matches but also in matches
with other countries.”

The DTH operator is offering the Star
Sports bouquet on its bestselling
Cinema + Sports packs. “This is
indeed a big plus for our subscribers
who can watch the world cup and
best of sports during the World Cup
and beyond with Sun Direct,” added
Kumar.
Sun Direct is offering its Cinema +
Sports package at Rs 195 per month.

It will be focusing mainly on this
pack for the World Cup as it feels
this covers most of the requirements
of its customers. It will be coming
out with high decibel campaigns on
TV and print supported with BTL
initiatives and digital media to give a
360 degree communication ahead of
the World Cup, informs Kumar.

Airtel Digital TV too has jumped on
the World Cup bandwagon. For all
customers buying Samsung Curve and
UHD TV, it will offer HD DVR
connection at the same cost as that
of an HD connection. Customers will
receive discount coupons worth Rs
2650. Customers can enjoy watching
the matches on an HD DVR by just
paying Rs 2350. This box, which has
an inbuilt hard disk of 500 GB can
record content up to 750 hours
enabling a customer to record and
watch the world cup matches at a
convenient time. Also customers will
get free subscription for up to 12
months through a scratch card offer.

On other Samsung models, it is
offering a discount coupon of Rs 660
on its HD+ variant. This comes along
with an eight GB pen drive worth Rs
399, which is offered free.

Additionally customers will get free
subscription for up to 12 months
through a scratch card offer.

This edition of the World Cup will
see the first global broadcast of
cricket in 4K. Official broadcaster Star
will telecast select matches, including
India’s opening match against arch-
rivals Pakistan, in the 4K format.

Online shopping websites like
Snapdeal, Amazon and Flipkart have
priced the 4K TV’s between the range
of Rs 60,000 (lower end) while the
higher end categories are priced at
an upwards of Rs one lakh.

Videocon d2h too has launched 4K
Ultra HD services. It has priced its
STB at Rs 6590 for new customers
while existing customers can upgrade
to 4K DTH for Rs 5990. In addition to
4K channels and content, subscribers
can use the STB to view Standard
Definition (SD) and High Definition
(HD) channels. While the website of
Videocon d2h states that delivery of
the STB will be made within two
weeks from the date of booking, a
call made to a customer care
executive revealed that it would take
around 48 hours.

Dish TV chief operating officer Salil
Kapoor expects the cricket World Cup
to help further increase its existing
customer base and therefore has
tweaked its packaging. “Our
packaging is very sports centric.

Every
tier of our packaging has the
maximum number of sports
channels. We have also kept in mind
that HD will play a big role in the
World Cup and therefore have
maximum number of HD sports
channels,” he says.

Indian Television Dot Com | DTH players gear up ahead of the World Cup