Tata Sky eyes channel bouquet boost; backs it up with big investment plans for 2014

[M.J.Sadiq]

The DTH operator will pump in Rs 900 crore into the operation, and targets a 30% growth in subscriber base.

In a bid to claw back some of the lost marketshare, Direct to Home (DTH) operator Tata Sky is planning a major investment boost for 2014. While speaking with the Press Trust of India, CEO Harit Nagpal says that they are targeting a 30% growth in the subscriber base.

At the moment, Tata Sky’s subscriber base stands at 10 million. There are around 56 million DTH subscribers in India, serviced by six DTH operators.

"We will invest around Rs 900 crore to shift to new technology that will help us expand our channel offerings," Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal told PTI. "We have already started the process of moving over to the new technology. This is likely to be completed by July 2014. We have to change set-top boxes of each of our customers, hence it will take so long."

At the moment, Tata Sky is switching over from the MPEG-2 broadcast standard to the space efficient MPEG-4 one, which will enable it to offer more than 300 channels in the current transponder space, up from the current 230 channels and services it offers. The channels are being shifted in a phased manner, and all subscribers still using the older MPEG-2 standard definition boxes are getting the MPEG-4 compatible hardware. This process, for all channels relevant across regions, should be completed by the summer of 2014. The process was moved forwards, some say, because ISRO has been silent on providing Tata Sky with more transponder space, even though the application has been with the government since 2007.

Recently, Tata Sky started the shift over when they launched Star Sports 2 channel on the platform with the MPEG-4 standard. Now, many regional channels have been shifted over.

This news comes just days after reports have emerged that Sky Italia’s VP of partner channels Paolo Agostinelli is expected to join Tata Sky as the chief programming and strategy officer. That is yet to be finalized, since government and regulatory permissions need to be sought before the appointment is made official.


Tata Sky eyes channel bouquet boost; backs it up with big investment plans for 2014 - LCD TVs | Plasma TV & Televisions | ThinkDigit News


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[Devesh]

Good info.

 

[soorya_g]

Good info.

 

[soorya_g]

The DTH operator will pump in Rs 900 crore into the operation, and targets a 30% growth in subscriber base.

In a bid to claw back some of the lost marketshare, Direct to Home (DTH) operator Tata Sky is planning a major investment boost for 2014. While speaking with the Press Trust of India, CEO Harit Nagpal says that they are targeting a 30% growth in the subscriber base.

At the moment, Tata Sky’s subscriber base stands at 10 million. There are around 56 million DTH subscribers in India, serviced by six DTH operators.

"We will invest around Rs 900 crore to shift to new technology that will help us expand our channel offerings," Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal told PTI. "We have already started the process of moving over to the new technology. This is likely to be completed by July 2014. We have to change set-top boxes of each of our customers, hence it will take so long."

At the moment, Tata Sky is switching over from the MPEG-2 broadcast standard to the space efficient MPEG-4 one, which will enable it to offer more than 300 channels in the current transponder space, up from the current 230 channels and services it offers. The channels are being shifted in a phased manner, and all subscribers still using the older MPEG-2 standard definition boxes are getting the MPEG-4 compatible hardware. This process, for all channels relevant across regions, should be completed by the summer of 2014. The process was moved forwards, some say, because ISRO has been silent on providing Tata Sky with more transponder space, even though the application has been with the government since 2007.

Recently, Tata Sky started the shift over when they launched Star Sports 2 channel on the platform with the MPEG-4 standard. Now, many regional channels have been shifted over.

This news comes just days after reports have emerged that Sky Italia’s VP of partner channels Paolo Agostinelli is expected to join Tata Sky as the chief programming and strategy officer. That is yet to be finalized, since government and regulatory permissions need to be sought before the appointment is made official.


Tata Sky eyes channel bouquet boost; backs it up with big investment plans for 2014 - LCD TVs | Plasma TV & Televisions | ThinkDigit News


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When I commented about lost market share, and this migration should have taken place much earlier, it attracted irritation from some members.
The answer is lack of vision.
People who move from one DTH to another DTH is very very limited because of investments in STBs. Even if the Govt. pass an order like mobile number portability , software issues will be there.

 

[Sarkar]

When I commented about lost market share, and this migration should have taken place much earlier, it attracted irritation from some members.
The answer is lack of vision.
People who move from one DTH to another DTH is very very limited because of investments in STBs. Even if the Govt. pass an order like mobile number portability , software issues will be there.

But time has not gone and actually I think they have chosen the right time for migration to MPEG 4 as Cable TV digitization will be completed only after 31 Dec 2014. And DTH will capture a large number subscriber of analog Cable as there is lack of infrastructure for Digital cable in countryside. :clap

 

[Devesh]

@dipayan

Yeah bro u r right.

 

[soorya_g]

When Tatasky entered in the market there was only one DTH ie. Dish TV. People with conscious on quality and service preferred TS and those who calculated cost and numbers preferred DishTV. TS brand image also supplemented for their growth. But now there are many players in the market, some are very strong in particular regions. It is also common that the market share will be distributed whenever new players enter the market and the existing players share will go down to some extant but not like the present situation .

 

[Sarkar]

I think T(S Subscriber base is not so bad. Just after DishTv :clap

 

[soorya_g]

I think T(S Subscriber base is not so bad. Just after DishTv :clap

You are right. But we are talking about market share not mere numbers.

 

[me_saket]

Which DTH is having stong presence in region?

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