Dish TV reports a consolidated net loss of Rs 2.85 crore in the third quarter of FY23

Direct-to-home brand Dish TV India has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 2.85 crore in Q3, which ended in December 2022, according to BSE filing. The major reason behind this loss is the decline in revenue and promotion of its OTT platform. A year ago, during the same period, the company had reported a net profit of Rs 80.21 crore. 

The company’s revenue from operations fell 22.31% to Rs 552.09 crore, compared to Rs 710.67 crore in the same period the previous year. Dish TV attributed this decline to several challenges, including a low average revenue per user due to delayed and missing recharges, which caused a loss of revenue. Consumers are moving towards alternatives of DD Free Dish and OTT platforms.

Dish TV’s expenses during the quarter stood at Rs 567.16 crore, down 6.49% compared to Rs 606.56 crore in the same period the previous year. The promotion of its OTT aggregation platform had a negative impact on the company’s EBITDA margin, which came in at 47.4%. As a result, the net loss for the quarter was Rs 2.8 crore.

During the quarter, Dish TV’s subscription revenues were down 33.82%, coming in at Rs 427.4 crore compared to Rs 645.9 crore in Q3 of the previous fiscal year. Subscription revenues accounted for 77.4% of the company’s total revenue, compared to 90.9% in the same period the previous year. 

Dish TV’s advertisement revenue was also down, 24.77%, coming in at Rs 8.5 crore compared to Rs 11.3 crore in the same period the previous year. However, its revenue from marketing and promotional fees was up, over two-fold, to Rs 100.2 crore from Rs 38.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Dish TV stated that the third quarter is traditionally a period of higher consumer spending due to festivals and related celebrations, which helped with subscriber additions. However, the company also noted that fresh additions were not as strong in rural India due to erratic rainfall, which impacted the already fragile rural sentiment and caused consumers to spend cautiously.

Dish TV also said that the popularity of OTT video platforms with personal viewing content remained high, compared to platforms with family content. However, the growing consumption of content on OTT may lead to an impact on data prices in the future. 

Looking ahead, Dish TV is hopeful of an overall recovery in rural and urban consumer spending, driven primarily by the increased disposable income in the hands of the consuming class as outlined in the recently announced Union Budget. The company will continue to monitor market trends and adapt to changing consumer preferences to stay competitive in the industry.