The battle for market share in the fast-growing direct-to-home (DTH) business is set to hot up with Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) on Tuesday announcing the launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) business — Big TV DTH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Communications. BIG TV DTH’s services will be available across the country starting Tuesday, but expansion through retail outlets will happen in phases. Big TV is the fourth entrant into the DTH business and will compete with the Essel group-owned Dish TV, Tata and Star Group -owned Tata Sky and Sun Connect of Sun TV. The company has an aggressive growth plan to capture 40 per cent of the current DTH market in the next 12 months and is targeting five million customers to begin with. There are 120 million television homes out of which 80 million are cable and satellite (C&S) homes and a measly six million pay TV DTH homes, which is less than 5 per cent of the overall television market in India. “The number of DTH TV homes is likely to grow by an additional 11-12 million in a year from now and we aim to have 40 per cent market share of that,” Reliance Big TV CEO Arun Kapoor said.Many others are getting ready to flex their muscle. Sun Direct is making its presence felt in the southern region. It is finalising plans to scale up operations in the northern market. Then there is the non-commercial DD DTH, the largest player in the segment in terms of the number of subscribers. But that’s not it. The Bharti group is offering branded Bharti Telemedia and Videocon’s proposed venture is almost ready for launch. In the fiercely competitive DTH space, Big TV is hoping to capture market share by seeking to do more than the rivals. While both Dish TV and Tata Sky initially launched their services in 4,400 towns and 3,500 towns respectively, Big TV will be reaching 6,500 towns. Both Dish TV and Tata Sky had 35,000 retail windows to reach to the customers whereas Big TV has one lakh outlets. In addition, Reliance has 2,000 plus branded retail outlets. Also, during the launch period, both Dish TV and Tata Sky offered 150-180 channels, but latest entrant Big TV is offering 200 channels. And in the next couple of months, the company will be adding another 130 channels.While the other Dish TV and Tata Sky offer five to six movie channels, Big TV will offer 32 movie channels. While both operators have Mpeg 2 format, Big TV will be available in Mpeg 4 format, the technology that has the capability to support high-definition television. Interestingly, the three commercial players from the first wave have one common link —their parents are lead broadcasters: Star TV in the case of Tata Sky, Zee TV in case of Dish TV and Sun TV in case of Sun Direct. Like in the telecom space, the DTH market is in the throes of an intense price war between Tata Sky and Dish TV. Now with Reliance joining the fray, the competition is set to hot up. Consumers could be the beneficiaries. As Vikram Kaushik, CEO, Tata Sky, recently said, “With the entry of new players the customer base will only increase. The real winners will be consumers who will get immense choice.”40 per centThe market share Big TV DTH is planning to capture in a year6,500The number of towns Big TV will reach initially. Dish TV and Tata Sky initially launched their services in 4,400 and 3,500 towns respectively200The number of channels Big TV is offering. In the beginning, both Dish TV and Tata Sky offered 150-180 channelsThe leading playersDish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Connect and now Reliance Communication’s Big TV DTH. Doordarshan’s DTH is a non-commercial service. Bharti and Videocon are also getting ready to enter the businessHow Big is DTH Market?Against 120 million TV homes in India, only six million are connected to DTH services being provided by four players. The number is expected to double in a year
