Marketing Management

Industry Analysis
Direct To Home Market in India

Submitted By
Mayuresh Sharma (Roll No.65)
Raveesh S (Roll No.79)
Sameer Gupta (Roll No.83)
Venkataramana G (Roll No.108)
Vikram Yadav (Roll No.110)
Manoj Jindal (Roll No.114)
 TOPIC Page No.

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Porter’s Five Competitive forces: Direct to Home 5

2.1. Buyers: Bargaining power of buyers 5

2.2 Suppliers: Bargaining power of suppliers 6
2.3 Potential Entrants: Threat of new entrants 6
2.4 Substitutes: Threat of substitutes 6
2.5 Industry competitors: Segment rivalry 6

3.0 DTH Market structure 7

4.0 Consumer Behavior 9

5.0 Strategies to sustain in competitive growth market 9

6.0 Market Segmentation 11

7.0 Brief profile of players in the industry 14

7.1 DD DIRECT 14
7.2 Dish TV 15
7.3 Tata Sky 15
7.4 Sun Direct 16
7.5 BIG TV 17
7.6 Airtel digital TV 17
7.7 Videocon d2h 18

8.0 Bibliography 19

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 Industry Analysis: Direct To Home
After a slow start, the DTH market in India is fuelled by fierce
competition between the incumbent Dish TV and challenger Tata Sky,
plus several new entrants, but pricing and exclusivity remain key
contentious issues.

1.0 Introduction

In earlier days there was only one TV channel in India the “Doordarshan”,
Channel Doordarshan was owned and operated by government of India. In this
era, every home which had a TV set used to have its own antenna to capture the
signals. The Cable Television Ordinance Law was passed in January 1995. This
enabled cable operators to feed channels and later on private companies were
allowed to air their own channels and this led to the explosive growth in number
of TV channels and number of cable operators.
The growth of TV channels & cable operators created a big industry and
market opportunities. There were as many as 1, 00,000 cable operators across
India until few years back. However the services provided by cable operators
were poor. The strikes, increase in tariff plan, selective broadcast and poor
services were major cause of dissatisfaction among the customers. This has
created an opportunity for DTH, which serves an immediate threat to the high-
end cable networks India has about 130 million TV homes of which, Cable &
Satellite (C&S) services are present in 97 million (74%) of the home. The DTH
market in India comprises 11% of the total market with almost 15 million homes.
The DTH industry growth lagged to 10.3% in 2008 from 16.7% a year earlier. But
industry players agree that the digitization drive is expanding by 35-40%
annually. However, industry estimates DTH to touch 35-40 million subscribers
by 2012, and that’s the number that every DTH brand has set its sights on.
By 2015, DTH will enjoy a market share of 40%, digital cable 40% and
analog cable will follow with only 20% market share. The DTH service market in
India has emerged as one of the most lucrative markets which have successfully
resisted the impacts of the current economic slowdown. The slowdown, instead,
proved a boon for the Indian DTH industry as people started to cut on their
entertainment expenditure and instead of viewing movies at theatres, they
preferred to stay at home with their television sets.
The anticipated growth to the efforts of DTH industry players who are all
trying to lure viewers by cutting down prices as well as offering perks even
though it translates into loss of Rs 1,600-2,000 on each new subscriber acquired
by them. They have started to offer a number of value-added services such as
‘movie on demand’, live recording of TV content, matrimonial match-making, etc.
Oct’09 PT-PGPM Page 3
 Share of DTH in TV Household

Still, as DTH is still a relatively new category and most people are hesitant
to experiment with it. It is therefore imperative for companies such as Tata Sky,
Dish TV, and Reliance BIG TV to educate the consumers about the advantages of
the service and in turn create an urge to invest in it.
Pay TV market on Growth Trajectory

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2.0 Porter’s Five Competitive forces: Direct to Home

Porter’s model is based on the insight that a corporate strategy should

meet the opportunities and threats in the organization’s external environment.
Especially, competitive strategy should be based on an understanding of
industry structures and the way they change. Porter has identified five
competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. These forces
determine the intensity of competition and hence the profitability and
attractiveness of an industry.
Threats of New Entrants
Low

DTH market is already

Crowded with 7 operators

Bargaining power of Inter firm Rivalry Bargaining power of

Suppliers Very High Buyers
Very high High

Transponders - Very High

Content - Very High Price Wars Lots of options
CPE - Low Litigations Price Sensitive Buyers

Threat of Substitutes
Very High

Cable TV – High
IPTV – High
Terrestrial - Low

The Five Competitive Forces as applied to Direct to Home industry are described
as follows:

2.1. Buyers: Bargaining power of buyers

With enough options to choose both from the point of alternate mediums
like Cable, IPTV and Terrestrial broadcast and from the point of increasing DTH
operators, the consumer is at his will to decide. Customers will continue to have
a high bargaining power until DTH platforms try to differentiate them as
superior players with better content and clarity.

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2.2 Suppliers: Bargaining power of suppliers

DTH industry relies on three major supplies: Customer Premise

Equipment (CPE) comprising of the satellite dish, Set Top Box with the necessary
Access card, the Ku band transponders in the orbiting satellites and content.
With India overtaking Japan as Asia’s largest DTH, the bargaining power of
Indian DTH operators with CPE supplies have increased. However, the
availability of transponders is increasingly becoming difficult. The Ku band
transponder is generally provided by Astrix, the commercial wing of ISRO either
through its own satellites or by leasing transponders from suppliers. With only
two domestic satellite launches between 2007 and 2010 and increasing DTH
players, Astrix is in a better position to use DTH as its cash cow for the next 5 to
10 years. Also the crash of INSAT 4C and NSS-8 has worsened the situation of
DTH players. As there is not much of regulation particularly in terms of channel
pricing, acquiring content from the broadcasters is also difficult. DTH vendors
are at the mercy of the broadcasters.

2.3 Potential Entrants: Threat of new entrants

With already 7 players in the DTH space, threat of new entrants is

relatively low. There is already enough competition which will discourage new
firms to enter this business. While getting a license is relatively easy, the barriers
to entry are high when it comes to pricing of CPE and getting the required
transponders.

2.4 Substitutes: Threat of substitutes

DTH faces stiff competition from the terrestrial, cable and IPTV. As per
the industry estimates, there are 130 million TV homes of which 97 million are
served by cable and around 15 million by DTH with the remaining taken by
terrestrial transmission.

2.5 Industry competitors: Segment rivalry

 Presently as on 2010, these are the main DTH service providers in India:
 DD Direct – state owned free service provider
 Dish TV - owned by Essel Group, was the first commercial DTH service
provider.
 TATA Sky – owned by TATA group, largest DTH service provider
presently in India.
 Sun Direct – owned by Sun group, primary focus is on low income groups
and regional viewers.
 Reliance Big TV - Owned by Reliance group, new entrant into the market.

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  Airtel Digital TV – Owned by Bharti group, new entrant with aggressive
marketing strategies.
 Videocon D2H – Owned by Videocon group, new entrant into the market.

Market Share

With 7 operational players, the segment rivalry is quite high. The competition
from state owned DD-Direct to private players is negligible from the content
point of view as the number of channels offered by DD-Direct is very limited.
However, DD-Direct does not charge any monthly subscription fee which poses
a threat to the private players. Between Dish TV and Tata Sky there is an intense
rivalry exhibited by price wars and discount schemes offered to new connections.
Being the first mover, Dish TV has price advantage in both the STB as well as
procuring the transponders. On the other hand, Tata Sky claims its STB having
superior DVD quality video. There is also a competition at acquiring the content.

3.0 DTH Market Structure

The DTH market structure can be classified into three categories; Market leaders,
Market challengers and Market followers. There is intense competition as some
of the leading players have not only succumbed in the sales for acquiring new
customers but has started loosing existing ones to Tata Sky, Big TV and other
new entrants.

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Market Leader:

Dish TV India’s first DTH service provider launched in October 2003 is the
market leader with 6.4 million subscribers. Dish TV continues to be a market
leader with 32% market share in 7 player scenario on date, with sizeable
sales and distribution infrastructure of over 650 distributors and 45,000 dealers
across 6500 towns – once again, the largest in the category. This reach into far
flung markets enables building of a diverse subscriber base across consumer
segments, which are supported by its rich content of regional channel
offerings.

Dishtv has maintained its leadership position through an improved market share
of all DTH subscribers. New offers, extensive marketing campaigns have
contributed to impressive subscriber acquisition and are committed to provide
the best value to our customers and investors by enhancing operational
efficiencies and by leveraging economies of scale.

Market challengers:

The gap between the leader and the challengers is decreasing because of the
increasing competition and promotion strategy followed by each player.

TATA Sky
In the enormous consumer market that is India, occasionally an opportunity
arises that can create incredible growth and profit—provided those who seek to
capture it can move quickly enough. TATA wanted to capitalize on this
opportunity as there was currently only one player in the DTH market. It was the
second Mover after Dish TV leveraging on brand TATA and high brand recall.

Incorporated in 2004, Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. Tata
Sky endeavors to offer Indian viewers a world-class television viewing
experience through its satellite television service. The key business challenge in a
country like India is meeting customer demands—which are very dynamic—
under the regulatory purview of the country.

Sun DIRECT
Sun Direct is the fastest growing DTH service provider having garnered over 1.9
million subscribers since its launch in December 2007 and aims to become one of
the leading players in the DTH space. Sun Direct challenged the existing players
by involving them in the price war by acting as a discounted brand. It started
offering subscriptions at as low as Rs 99 to reach as much at the bottom of the
market. The biggest differentiator for the brand is the pricing point which is
lesser than the other brands.

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The other point of differentiation is with regard to their distribution channels. It
is being made available in most basic shops such as telephone booths, cycle
repair shops and video parlors.

Sun DTH was the first one to move into the MPEG4 league and soon after the
PAN India launch HD services will be launched. Another first from SUN DTH is
the launch of exclusive comedy channels for its subscribers.

Market followers:

Reliance BIG TV/ Airtel Digital/Videocon d2h

The approach being followed is of Market Follower (as they are late entrant and their
primay objective is to attract max subscribers in shortest span of time.

4.0 Consumer Behaviour Pattern

Major Factors influencing the purchase decision of DTH are as below:

 Price

 Customer Service

 Reception

 Program choices

 New Technology and

 Technical Support

5.0 Strategies to sustain in competitive growth market

Advertising & Promotion:

Indian TV channel broadcast 15.7-mn advertisement every year, which
totals to 362-mn seconds of TV advertisement every year. India currently has
over 400 channels.TV viewer ship has declined by 5% since 2001. TV
broadcasters are expected to increase advertisement rate this year by 16-18%.

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 DTH industry uses different marketing strategies for promotion and sales
of its products. It gives advertisements with their brand ambassadors which
attract customers, door to door selling, on the phone selling, discount and offer
sales, packages, etc. Marketing practices is a continuous process as the
competition keeps increasing among the players in the industry. Each player is
investing lot of money in promoting there brands.
Many players are making advertisement with movie actor and actress as
brand ambassadors for their products because DTH is mainly considered with
entertainment. Some of the companies like Tata sky is having Super Star Aamir
khan as brand ambassador and Airtel is having many film stars like Kareena
Kapoor, A.R. Rahman, Saif Ali khan, etc. Dish TV is also having Super Star
Shahrukh khan as the brand ambassador. Sun direct also use southern actress for
their brand promotion.
Marketing practices are the decisions taken by the manufacturing
company to increase sales, expand themselves into many areas etc. Successful
marketing practices bring sale up, while unsuccessful marketing practices have
no impact on sale or negatively impact sale. Marketing concepts specific to the
industry is primarily targeted at a niche segment who buy the TV sets from the
electronic retail chains.

Product Innovation
The concept of innovation in DTH industry is INCREMENTAL innovation;
everything that is done is due to constant research of many marketing and
analysts to bring many innovations to the existing products in the DTH industry.
Incremental innovation is the apt innovation which is suitable and all the DTH
players are concentrating up on. This innovation makes the business to grow
continuously and brings advantages to the customers using the products and the
service.
There are many sources of innovation for this industry as mentioned in
the above, the technology and the people are the main sources for the innovation.
Customer’s opinions and their needs can be served by providing a service which
is matching to their needs and requirements.
Digital TV, the DTH service from Airtel, has announced India’s first skin
integration innovation on its EPG screen in partnership with Yahoo. Yahoo takes
forward its latest brand campaign “YOU” in this first of its kind partnership
where an online portal will use DTH as a medium to promote itself.
The ‘Electronic Programming Guide’ screen on Airtel digital TV is now
completely integrated with Yahoo India’s homepage. Customers will find a
message ‘Fill your home page with all the things that make YOU’ when they log

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onto to the EPG screen. A prompting ‘Red Button’ will take them to a dedicated
landing page that elaborates the offerings on Yahoo India’s new home page.
The ‘YOU’ campaign enables users to customize the home page as per
their liking and empowers them with the choice to integrate social applications
such as Facebook with their Yahoo homepage. This whole idea was conceived
by Network Play, right from design elements to execution and thanks to
Mindshare for buying into the idea and flawlessly helping people execute it.
Tata Teleservices Limited has announced a technological breakthrough—a
first-of-its-kind innovation in India with the launch of TATA Photon TV, a new
application that allows Tata Photon Plus subscribers to watch live television
channels on their laptops while on the move, and on their personal computers at
home and in the office. The Photon TV service is exclusively available to Photon
Plus users. “With its growing popularity, Photon Plus has caught the admiration
of millions of users across the country, with its high-speed data access
capabilities and the ease of mobility.
TATA Photon TV is a personal computer- and laptop-based video-
streaming application, which allows Tata Photon Plus users to view live TV feed
from various sports, news, entertainment and regional channels, and to watch
recorded TV shows from the library (viz Coffee with Karan, Zoom, Pogo, etc),
movies, music and videos on demand.
Internet Browsing charges will be charged as per your Photon+ tariff plan
and it would be applicable while viewing Photon TV. These charges would be
over and above the subscription charges for the Photon TV. (Approximate data
usage is 1-2MB per Min).
Rate of innovation in this sector is growing at a faster rate in the recent
years where as it is not very impressive before this period. The reason for this is
the fair competition between the all players in this DTH industry. It led to the
development of new products in this sector which also led to the diversification
of products as there is abolition of entry of foreign industries into Indian
industries initially. It also made the industries in this sector to establish their own
R&D departments for successful product innovations like Airtel Live, Videocon
d2h.

6.0 Market segmentation

6.1 GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
In terms of geographical location, North India and Western India together
contribute over 8 million DTH subscribers, while the southern market
contributes 3 million. The states of Maharashtra, Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and
Rajasthan are the leaders in DTH subscription, contributing over 6.5 million DTH
connections to the overall base.

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Urban and Rural:
In order to cater to the diverse taste and needs of both urban and rural people,
operators provide entirely different range of services and offerings. In rural areas,
fleet of vans for demos, installation as well as selling hardware and pre-paid
vouchers are being used. Most players are building up their subscriber base by
targeting viewers outside the big cities, which suggests that about 60 per cent of
DTH subscribers reside in rural areas and towns with a population under a
million.

Region and States:

It has come up with special offers for the southern region where regional and
sports channels are viewed the most. Like Ultimate sports bonanza offer - Rs
1890 with 3 Months of South Silver subscription available in Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Karnataka & Pondicherry only. Ultimate sports bonanza offer - Rs 2490 with 12
Months of Silver subscription available in Andhra Pradesh only. Dish TV has
structured a basic bouquet of customized package of channels which are in
demand in a particular state at a very affordable price pack like North diamond
pack and South diamond pack. Marathi channels namely Star Pravah and Star
Majha for its Marathi speaking customers.

6.2 DEMOGRAPHIC SGMENTATION

AGE and GENDER:

As the market gets fragmented, niche channels will become more and more
desirable. The increased interest in unique content channels is in line with the
international trend, where once the market matures, consumer needs come into
focus. Thus channels on Education, Women, Gardening, a variety of Sports,
Wellness and Religion, etc. make their appearance.
Most of the players in DTH offer niche channels to create a unique and exciting
offering for its viewers of every age and gender segment. DTH industry mainly
concentrates on women who don’t like missing their daily soap and news more
ever women are able to learn English speaking which is a very special feature of
DTH. DTH also concentrates on children also by providing them games,
dictionary, some discovery videos specially inbuilt, maths, and science and social
knowledge. It also focuses on old people as it has updated videos of various
holy and religious places.
Dish TV recently launched ‘Children Films Festival’ with a bouquet of over 25
super-hit films across various categories priced at Rs. 25/- per movie thus

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targeting the children segment. Besides this value added services like Games
Active, Bhakti active services etc carters to needs of customers from various age
groups and gender.

INCOME:
Recognizing the vast differences in tastes and pocket sizes of different consumer
segments, content has been aggregated and classified into 4 different packages
namely MAXI, WELCOME, FREEDOM PLUS and FREEDOM packages .While
the Maxi and Welcome packs are price drivers and target high ARPU consumers,
the value pack offerings in Freedom and Freedom Plus packages are volume
drivers that inspire new subscribers to come on board through a low price point
and basic channel offering. The strategy is to gradually upgrade the low ARPU
subscriber too, through tailor made add on packs on a-la-carte like movies,
business, etc. basis for specific entertainment needs. Keeping income levels of
consumers in mind, operators apprise the consumer of its three tier pricing. It
gives a choice to the consumer to select from a three level flexi plan that bundle
three, six or 12 months of subscription along with the initial box.

6.3 BEHAVIOURIAL SEGMENTATION

OCCASIONS:
DTH operators come out with new offers of channels or new buyer schemes at
relatively cheaper rates on occasions of festivals or major sports events. For
example It offers benefits to customers like: In a cricket match choosing the
language of the commentary, camera angles, know player statistics and watch
match highlights at our will. In the past Dish TV has come with schemes like
‘Diwali Double Dhamaka’ (November 2007), the IPL Pack (April 2010), 'Summer
Sports Bonanza' (June 2008), Special Onam Offer for Kerala (August 2007), World
cup offer (March 2007).

USER STATUS:
Every product has its non users, ex-users, potential users, first time users and
regular users. In order to attract the non users and potential users time and again
competition has forced players to introduce innovative and exciting consumer
promotion offers into the market. Schemes like World Cup Free Offer, Free bhi
Zyaada bhi, Ab Sab Sikandar, and the landmark Set Top Box Free Offer, have not
only added to the pace of acquisitions but attracted specific consumer audiences
like sports lovers and kids into its fold.

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In conclusion, each player has cautiously segmented the market through an
expanded product range at appropriate price points to stay competitive. By
offering packages like cinema active, khel active, movie active, music active is
targeting people with specific lifestyles. Premiering new movies within weeks of
their releases is targeted at people who want to see latest movies at affordable
prices. Latest movies are premiered within weeks of their release. Dish TV has
also targeted the youth segment with offers like “Michael Jackson Live in
Bucharest tour” for just Rs 25, Microsoft Xbox 360 Arcade.

7.0 Brief profile of players in the industry

7.1 DD DIRECT
Doordarshan is the public television broadcaster of India and a division
of Prasar Bharati, a public service broadcaster nominated by the Government of
India. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in the world in terms of
the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital
Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15 2009, Doordarshan celebrated its 50th
anniversary. Doordarshan had a modest beginning with the experimental
telecast starting in Delhi on 15 September 1959 with a small transmitter and a
makeshift studio.
The regular daily transmission started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio.
The television service was extended to Bombay (now Mumbai) and Amritsar in
1972. Till 1975, seven Indian cities had television service and Doordarshan
remained the only television channel in India. Television services were separated
from radio in 1976. Each office of All India Radio and Doordarshan were placed
under the management of two separate Director Generals in New Delhi.
Finally Doordarshan as a National Broadcaster came into existence.
National telecasts were introduced in 1982. In the same year, color TV was
introduced in the Indian market with the live telecast of the Independence Day
speech by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 15 August 1982, followed by the
1982 Asian Games being held in Delhi. Now more than 90 percent of the Indian
population can receive Doordarshan (DD National) programmes through a
network of nearly 1400 terrestrial transmitters and about 46 Doordarshan studios
produce TV programs today.
DD Direct+ is a free Direct to Home (DTH) service that provides satellite
television and audio programming to households and businesses in the Indian
subcontinent. Owned by parent company Doordarshan, DD Direct Plus was
launched on December 16, 2004. Now chairman of DD plus+ is Shri Arun
Bhatnagar and CEO is B S Lalli under the ministry of information and
broadcasting.

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7.2 Dish TV
Dish TV is the first private DTH satellite television provider in India,
using MPEG-2 digital compression technology, transmitting using NSS Satellite
at 95.0. Dish TV's managing director and Head of Business is Jawahar Goel who
is also the promoter of Essel Group and is also the President of Indian
Broadcasting Foundation and Mr. Subhash Chandra is the Chairman of Dish TV.
Dish TV is a division of Zee Network Enterprise (Essel Group Venture).
EGV has national and global presence with business interests in media
programming, broadcasting & distribution, specialty packaging and
entertainment. Zee Network incorporated dishtv to modernize TV viewing. By
digitalizing Indian entertainment, this enterprise brought best television viewing
technology to the living room. It not only transmits high quality programmes
through satellite but also gives a complete control of selecting channels and
paying.
DTH service was launched back in 2004 by launching of Dish TV by Essel
Group's Enterprises. Dish TV is on the same satellite where DD Direct+ is. Dish
TV started its service in Pakistan with the collaboration of Budget
Communication. Dish TV was only DTH operator in India to carry the two
Turner channels, Turner Classic Movies and Boomerang. Both the channels were
removed from the platform due to unknown reasons in March 2009. \
Dish TV uses NSS-6 to broadcast its programmes. NSS-6 was launched on
17 December, 2002 by European-based satellite provider, New Skies. Dish TV
hopped on to NSS-6 from an INSAT satellite in July 2004. The change in the
satellite was to increase the channel offering as NSS 6 offered more transponder
capacity.

7.3 Tata Sky

Tata Sky is a DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2
digital compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4A at 83.0°. Tata sky
was incorporated in 2004.
Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. Tata Sky
DTH endeavors to offer Indian viewers a world-class television viewing
experience through its satellite television service. Vikram Kaushik is present
CEO of Tata Sky Ltd. The TATA Group is one of India's largest and most
respected business conglomerates. It comprises 93 operating companies in seven
business sectors and diversified group information systems and communications,
engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals.
The TATA Group has operations in more than 40 countries across six
continents and its companies export products and services to 140 nations. The
Group and its enterprises have been steadfast and distinctive in its adherence to

Oct’09 PT-PGPM Page 15

business ethics and their commitment to corporate social responsibility. This is a
legacy that has earned the Group the trust of many millions of stakeholders in
measure few business houses anywhere in the world can match.
The SKY brand, owned by the UK-based British Sky Broadcasting Group,
brings to Tata Sky the reputation of more than 20 years experience of satellite
broadcasting. SKY is well known for the innovative products and services
launched by BSky, such as DTH broadcasting in 1989, digital satellite
broadcasting in 1998, interactive television services in 1999 and the SKY+
personal video recorder in 2001. Tata Sky joins an international group of DTH
businesses that includes platforms as far apart as the UK and Italy in Europe, and
Mexico and Brazil in Latin America.
Tata Sky Ltd is the First Indian DTH provider to be awarded the ISO
27001:2005 accreditation, the ultimate benchmark for information security. The
assessment for the certification was conducted by Intertek Systems Certification,
the management systems registration business unit of Intertek Group plc and is
accredited by several internationally-recognized accreditation bodies worldwide.
In October 2008, Tata Sky announced launching of DVR service Tata Sky+
which allowed 45 hours of recording in a MPEG-4 compatible Set Top Box. The
remote is provided with playback control keys and is being sold with special
offers for existing subscribers. Tata Sky was selected as a SUPER BRAND for the
year 2009-2010 by an independent and voluntary council of experts known as
Super brands Council. It is the only Indian DTH to have won this distinction.

7.4 Sun Direct

Sun Direct is a DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-4

digital compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4B at 93.5°E. It is the
country's first MPEG 4 technology DTH service provider. Sun Direct is a DTH
service in India headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Sun Direct TV was registered in February 16, 2005. However, the failed
launch of INSAT 4C resulted in a lack of transponders, delaying the launch. The
service was finally launched on December 2007 after availability of transponders
from INSAT 4CR. Because of the lowest pricing of any DTH in India Sun Direct
spread rapidly all over the country. On December Sun Direct was launched in
Mumbai and announced its pan India launch. By 2009 it became leading DTH
provider with 3 million subscribers. This makes it 4th largest DTH service
provider of India.
In April 2009 Sun Direct officially launched its High-Definition service in
India. Sun Direct uses the latest MPEG-4 based technology to increase broadcast
capacity.

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Sun Direct provide next-generation services in fast-growing and emerging
markets quickly and efficiently. Sun Direct selected Oracle based on its
convergent multi-service capabilities and proven real-time scalability allowing it
to consolidate billing operations, enables powerful new service offerings and
improves visibility into customer information across services.

7.5 BIG TV

Reliance BIG TV is a DTH satellite television provider in India based in

Navi Mumbai, using MPEG-4 digital compression technology, transmitting
using MEASAT-3 91.5°east. It is the 5th DTH service launched in India. Reliance
BIG TV limited is a part of Reliance Communications Ltd., a subsidiary of
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group founded by the Late Dhirubhai Ambani,
the Indian business tycoon and owned by his son Anil Ambani.
BIG TV started operations from 19 August 2008 with the slogan "TV ho
Tho BIG Ho" ("If you have a TV, make it BIG"). It currently offers close to 200
channels and many interactive ones, 32 cinema halls (i.e. Pay Per View Cinema
Channels) as well as many Radio channels. The company plans to increase the
number of channels in the near future to 400 and begin High Definition (HD)
broadcast. It is the first Pan-India DTH provider that uses MPEG-4 for
broadcasting. There are also plans to introduce services like i-Stock, i-News and
other such interactive services in the future.
Reliance BIG TV was launched on August 19, 2008 with the sole aim of
providing the consumer with quality and enriched home entertainment service
at value-driven pricing. Reliance BIG TV's launch in August was probably the
biggest roll-out in home entertainment ever and deployed the most advanced
MPEG4 technology that enabled them to deliver best quality digital audio-video
to the consumer. It also got prepared for the future when Hi-Definition TV will
be launched in India because only MPEG4 technology can support HD TV and
not MPEG2 which is used by the earlier entrants in the DTH industry.
Reliance BIG TV's retailer network is spread across 100,000 outlets in 6,500 towns
in India. This was literally unheard of in the DTH industry. They had effectively
out-stripped the competition here. When it came to pricing – packaging, their
introductory offer stood at Rs. 1,490/- with 3 to 6 months of free subscription.
They also introduced 32 Pay-Per-View Movie Channels, the highest by any DTH
player.

7.6 Airtel digital TV

Bharti Airtel Limited is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises and is

India’s largest integrated and the first private telecom services provider with a

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footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. As India's leading telecommunications
company, the Airtel brand has played the role of a major catalyst in India's
reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Airtel since its inception has
been at the forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom
sector in the country with its world class products and services.
Airtel Digital TV is a DTH (Direct to Home) service from Bharti Airtel. It
uses MPEG-4 digital compression with DVB-S2 technology, transmitting using
INSAT 4CR 74°E
Airtel digital launched on 8 October, 2008 with a 360 degree mega campaign
'Come Home to the Magic. Since then it has launched 2 other campaigns: ‘Stars
come home’ (March 2009) and ‘DTH Picture Clarity (August 2009) has increased
its channel base to 183+ channels.
Airtel digital TV is now amongst the fastest growing DTH brands in the
country and is available across 5000+ towns in India. It has also been ranked as
the best DTH service by “Living Digital” magazine.
Airtel chief Sunil Mittal said that Airtel digital TV and other DTH players
have a bright future in Indian market as the people are getting more attracted
towards DTH because of its quality and affordability.

7.7 Videocon d2h

Videocon d2h is a DTH satellite television provider in India based in
Mumbai, using MPEG-4 with DVB S2 digital compression technology. Videocon
Leasing & Industrial Finance Limited was incorporated on 4th September, 1986
as Adhigam Trading Private Limited. In terms of the necessary resolutions
Passed under Sec. 21 of the Companies Act, 1956, the name of the Company was
changed to Videocon Leasing & Industrial Finance Limited on 14th February,
1991. The Company received a fresh certificate of incorporation from the
Registrar of Companies, Gujarat at Ahmedabad on 14thFebruary, 1991.
Videocon d2h launched May 1, 2009. it came with a very good strategy for
selling both of its electronic products like TV’s DVD’s along with the new set top
box. This is offering direct to TV without any set top box also. Only the antenna
is enough, it also came with DVD which is connected directly to the TV or
antenna is connected to DVD which gives a best quality of out put.

“There is only one winning strategy. It is to carefully define

the target market and direct a superior offering to that
target market.”
Philip Kotler

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Bibliography
1. http://www.tamindia.com/tamindia
2. http://www.dishtv.in/
3. http://www.ibef.org/ “India Brand Equity foundation”
4. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/big-tv-launch-to-intensify-dth-
battle/351013/
5. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dth-space-hots-up-tata-sky-
launched/10184/
6. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/dth-subscribers-double-in-7-
mnths/379548/
7. Google

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