Dish TV becomes first DTH player to post a net profit

The team has delivered on a difficult mandate of growth with profitability, something which I believe is essential for any commerce to be sustainable. Through this milestone to the next and thereafter, Dish TV remains committed to outperform the industry growth rate and create shareholder value while continuing to entertain its subscribers with rich content and compelling value-added services using updated modes of delivery," he said.

Company's operating revenues at Rs 754.7 crore during the fourth quarter increased 18.5% on-year while operating profit (Ebitda) at Rs 221.9 crore was up 72.1%. While subscription revenues increased 24.4% on-year at Rs 682.8 crore, average revenue per user (Arpu), on a sequential basis, grew to Rs 179 as against Rs 177 in the third quarter of fiscal 2015. The company also achieved a strong, sector-leading subscriber growth of 1.5 million net users during the year.

Around the same time last year, Dish TV had introduced its second brand, Zing, in the Indian DTH space, which met with a resounding success. According to the company management, Zing cemented Dish TV's supremacy in the digital addressable system (DAS) Phase III and IV markets with custom-made content, hardware and service packages for the regional audience.

Calling fiscal 2015 a satisfying year, Jawahar Goel, managing director, Dish TV, said a single-minded devotion to being the leader in the DTH industry along with uncompromised financial discipline, enabled to reach the net profitability milestone much ahead of the peers.

"With cost line items under control, the resultant Ebitda for the quarter increased by a strong 72.1% while Ebitda margin improved to 29.4%. The net profit of Rs 35 crore resulted in free cash flow (FCF) of Rs 70.2 crore for the quarter. Churn for the quarter was maintained at 0.7% per month," said Goel.

Post a successful absorption of higher pack prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata, Dish TV initiated another price change during the current month. In less than three months since it was first introduced, differential pricing – an industry first from Dish TV – was rolled out in the balance 38 cities covered under DAS Phases 1 and 2.

"As digitisation spreads far and wide, we continue to believe that there is sufficient headroom to further explore price differentials between key urban markets and their rural counterparts. All pack prices, for new as well as existing subscribers of Dish TV, have been moved by Rs 10 each in the 42 cities under Phase 1 and 2. We are confident that pack price hikes, higher HD uptake, as well as industry level developments such as initiation of packaging in cable will be key contributors to Arpu expansion going forward," said Goel.

With the Union Budget 2015 offering no respite with regard to multiple taxes levied on the DTH industry, all eyes are now on the timely roll-out of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST). The Dish TV management is also hopeful that the DTH licence renewal matter shall be addressed in the near future.

Maintaining a 'buy' on the stock, Abneesh Roy, associate director - institutional equities - research, Edelweiss Securities Ltd, said, Dish TV sales for the fourth quarter came in line, while Ebitda and PAT exceeded estimates.

"Our confidence is anchored by the improved incremental market share, likely increase in Arpu, driven by HD offerings and differential pricing, and likely benefit of GST/new licence fee," Roy said in a company note.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/

Videocon d2h 4K STB Review: Stunning visuals, but wait for more channels to come

We have been hearing about 4K or Ultra HD for a couple of years now. But even as 4K televisions become cheaper and smaller, there is still a serious dearth of content shot and broadcast in resolutions better than Full HD. All of India’s top DTH players have launched 4K set-top-boxes that are capable of streaming 4K quality content, whenever that becomes available in the real sense. Here is our review of the Videocon d2h 4K set-top-box

Videocon d2h 4K set-top-box

Videocon launched its 4K service just before the ICC Cricket World cup and beamed one channel with some of the matches in 4K. However, the World Cup does not seem to have given the expected push for 4K content and televisions. I expect this to really take off around the Olympics next year, by when 4K could well become the standard that FullHD is now.

Price: Rs 6,590 for STB + installation.

Set-top-box

The 4K STB seems a bit larger than regular set-top-boxes and has a gold branding that is hard to miss. Maybe Videocon wants to suggest that this is the gold standard for television content at the moment. The remote too has the gold branding. It is easy to grip and navigate, which is important given that we use the STB remote more than the actual TV remote these days. There is an HDMI port at the back that connects to the TV. What I like about the Videocon service is the fact that the box switches to life almost instantly and there is no latency like in other STBs.

4K content

Yes, you have an expensive 4K television. Yes, you have a costly 4K set top box. But no, there is no 4K content that you will love watching. Videocon service has one channel that constantly breaks 4K content. But there is a limit to how much snowboarding you can watch a day. The entire channel is a rerun sung plays the same videos on loop.

However, it is a great showcase of the what 4K offers. I have always considered 4K content a bit better than what the human eye sees and there is something eerily ethereal about watching pictures that are so clear. And the Videocon d2h 4K gives you a good sneak peak into what the future of television holds for us. It is stunning, it is how television should be. For the record, I tested the service on a 55-inch Philips 8500 series — a separate review of the TV will follow soon.

Right now the single channel is easy to access on a single click. But maybe when more channels come, the UI will need to show that more for users with the 4K set top box. They will not want to watch even full HD content on 4K televisions and that experience is far from good.

Should you buy?

Maybe not now. At the moment it does not make much sense for you to get a 4K STB unless you have already invested in a 4K television.

Source: http://indianexpress.com

Tata Sky in talks with private equity firms to raise up to Rs 1,800 crore post shelving plans for IPO

MUMBAI: Tata Group's joint venture DTH company Tata Sky has initiated talks with bulge bracket private equity firms to raise up toRs 1,800 crore ($300 million) after shelving its plans for an initial public offering (IPO). The loss-making venture will use the capital for its technology upgradation and expansion, said four people with direct knowledge of the process.In 2013, Tata Sky had planned to list the venture and raise Rs 2,000 crore by selling 25% stake. It had even shortlisted investment banks Citigroup Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley India Equities and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co to manage the issue.

Citi and Morgan Stanley have been retained but now the mandate is to raise PE funding, a person, who is a part of the process, said. The company has been bleeding under high debt and slower sales pick-up, and has revised its valuation expectations after the bankers didn't get initial demand from global institutional investors."The company will now tap private equity players who can offer patient capital and can wait till the company turns profitable,"another person said. "Most of the global investors such as Bain, Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, TPG and General Atlantic have been approached."

ET could not independently verify these names. Confirming that the company has shelved its listing plans, Harit Nagpal, chief executive officer of Tata Sky in an SMS response said: "All our cash requirements have been and will continue to be met by existing shareholders."

Data from Capitaline shows that in 2013-14, at a standalone basis, the company made a loss of Rs 280.4 crore on net sales of Rs 3,023.2 crore compared with a net loss of Rs 378.9 crore on sales of Rs 2,286 crore recorded in the previous fiscal. Finacials for FY15 were not available.In comparison, Dish TV, Asia's largest direct-to-home service operator, has a market capitalisation ofRs 10,319.56 crore. In FY14-15, it clocked Rs 2,781.64 crore of revenues and a Rs 796-crore EBITDA and aRs 1.01-crore net profit on a consolidated basis.

Tata Group holds 60% stake in Tata Sky along with Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox owning around 30% stake. PE firm Temasek, through its arm Bay Tree Investments and Tata Opportunities Fund (TOF) holds the residual stake in the company.

TOF was the last to come on board at an estimated valuation of Rs 5,000 crore, which was almost three times the value at which Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek invested to pick up a stake in 2007. Over 10 years, DTH has successfully challenged the might of cable television with superior quality of broadcasting and a clear technological edge.

There are an estimated 47 million DTH customers in India today, which is 36% of the Indian TV households. DTH is adding about 8.5 million customers a year, four times more than cable additions. According to Hong Kongbased consultancy Media Partners Asia, 42% of all TV homes in the world will be on DTH by 2020."With that kind of potential growth, a lot of global private equity investors will be willing to back the right candidate,"a senior consultant with a global consultancy said adding: "However, the high amount of debt and cash burnout continues to be a worry."

Indian DTH companies have spent high amount of cash on setting up the infrastructure in the last 12 years since digistisation was first introduced in 2003. The companies are highly leveraged as they have been fighting hard from to keep rising prices under control. The historical losses have been on account of investments in set top boxes."It is to be seen how the next decade plays out for these companies who have to now make deeper inroads into the vast rural market,"the consultant added. With compulsory digitisation in the country and the spur in consumption of mass media, companies such as Tata Sky and Videocon d2h the satellite television arm of Videocon Group, had plans to raise capital from the public market.

Source: http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com

PM Modi launches DD Kisan; MIB makes it must-carry channel for DTH and cable operators

The Narendra Modi led NDA government launched DD Kisan to mark its one year in government celebrations on May 26. He used the occasion to make a strong pitch for the growth in agriculture and this TV channel would provide farms with information and knowledge about the best practices and related content.PM Modi said, “Why experts from various fields including seed, soil and fertilizer cannot come together to help farmers and increase productivity. The farming community is a big one. And, if we have to take India forward, we will have to take the villages forward.”He further said that the country cannot move forward without the progress of farmers and called for an increase in crop production by 50 per cent. Farmers of the country have ensured stomachs are filled without thinking about their own pockets the PM had said.

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DD Kisan is a mandatory channel for cable and DTH operators have to carry the government has said.Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said, “Since there are farmers in every state, so under the Cable Act, the Kisan channel has been made a must-carry channel. Must carry means that it is compulsory for every cable network or DTH network to carry it.”

Minister of State for I&B, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore said “This channel would inform, educate and update the farmers with the latest developments in the area of farming on a 24x7 basis. Rathore added that it was the first such initiative of a Public Broadcaster to start a 24 hour channel exclusively dedicated to the farmers.”Prasar Bharti Chairman, Dr. Surya Prakash stated that the non-Hindi speaking farming community would also be benefitted by the launch of Kisan channel as the various programmes would also be available in other regional languages.

While on the other hand MIB issued a office memorandum MIB said it’s mandatory to carry this channel for all the DTH Operators and IPTV Operators. The memorandum says, “lt shall be obligatory for every DTH operator to provide "DD Kisan" channel to the subscribers, irrespective of any bouquet(s) or a-la-carte channel (s) being subscribed by them. The DTH operator shall also place the "DD Kisan" channel in the "lnfotainment (Hindi)" genre and shall display it on full television screen.”

Source: http://www.exchange4media.com

Cable Operators Insist DTH Is Not An Option

DTH technicians avoid some localities in the city, including Doddakallasandra and JP Nagar, fearing attacks

Mahesh Kumar, a software engineer residing in an apartment in Doddakallasandra, had not imagined that installing a DTH service at home would be a tough task. But local cable operators threatened the DTH technicians who turned up at his house for installation and chased them away. Mr. Kumar contacted several DTH operators but no one was willing to come fearing the local cable operators. After struggling for over three weeks, he managed to get the service last Sunday.

“I did not want a cable connection since the quality is poor and was adamant about having a DTH service,” Mr. Kumar said. Eventually, he convinced one DTH operator but had to smuggle the technician in his car in the middle of the night, concealing the dish antenna in the boot. “I got this idea from one of my neighbours who had done the same thing,” he said. He even fixed the antenna in such a way that it is not easily visible to the cable operator.This is not an isolated case. Instances of DTH operators refusing services in JP Nagar and Doddakallasandra, fearing attacks by local cable operators, have been reported before. Though many people prefer DTH, service providers are not coming forward for installation fearing attacks by cable operators, another resident said

Taking strong objections to this nuisance, Mr. Kumar tweeted his complaint to Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi, who immediately directed the jurisdictional police to look into the matter and initiate necessary action.The South Division police, who are probing this issue, termed this as business rivalry. “We are probing this matter and a detailed report would be submitted to the commissioner for further action,” a senior police officer said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com

Vserv Forays Into Commerce; To Offer Solutions For Telcos, DTH Operators

Mobile advertising technology provider Vserv is foraying into the commerce space. The company will now provide an end-to-end solution for telcos and DTH operators, right from discovery of customers to transaction of services.

With this added capability, Vserv will enable telcos to promote segmented offers across data and voice. "By driving these transactions, Vserv enhances ARPU for telcos. While for DTH operators, this translates into selling segmented channel packs leading to a major jump in subscriptions and higher revenue," the company claimed.“Vserv’s massive reach of 120 million unique users in India, combined with this commerce solution, creates a disruptive development in the mobile Internet ecosystem,” Dippak Khurana, Co-Founder & CEO, Vserv said.

“While our Smart Data platform is a revolutionary offering for mobile marketing, with our commerce solution, we now complete a user’s journey from intent to purchase. This unique proposition provides a powerful opportunity for consumer-facing companies, who are seeking to tap into the growing mobile internet user base."The total revenue of telco and DTH services in India stood at around $31 billion last year 2014, and is  currently growing at a rate of 10% per annum. Within this, the share of digital commerce is close to 10% and is expected to grow by 300% in the next 4 years, Vserv said.

Source:  http://www.firstpost.com