What does harvesting have to do with Direct-to-Home TV? The Prasar Bharati Corporation has figured out the connection, marketing its DTH in rural and semi-rural areas with an eye on the Rabi crop. The rationale — purchasing power is on the rise when harvesting season is on.So, while Dish TV (from Zee), the only other DTH player in the country, concentrates on city dwellers, the public-funded Corporation says its mandate is different. It is already gearing up to spend Rs 60 lakh on hoardings alone while targeting 130 small towns and villages (in media planners’ parlance, socio-economic categories C and D households). Of Rs 164 crore allocated to DTH, officials say Rs 2 crore has been set aside for the publicity drive in rural areas, likely to kicked off mid-March. Sceptics in the organisation, however, say the publicity blitz has more to do with finishing the allocated funds before the end of the fiscal.Scepticism aside, the viewer has a prime deal on his hands — Rs 3,500 is all it takes for 33 channels and 12 FM radio channels. Prasar Bharati claims to have already sold 2.07 million set-top boxes since DTH was launched on December 16.The Corporation is also planning to boost the campaign after a period of lapse. After the initial hype, the interest in DTH had sagged. Now, bus stands of district headquarters carry a hoarding with a simple message — You only have to pay for the set-top box to access the channels. This campaign will be followed by video-vans with live demonstrations of DTH.
