International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR)

Volume 4, No. 6, June 2015

ISSN: 2319-4413

Overview of Indian DTH Service Industry

Divyang Tiwari, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management, Shree H.N. Shukla College of Management Studies,
Rajkot

ABSTRACT
Direct-to-home (DTH) service refers to distribution of
multi-channel TV programs in Ku band by using a satellite
system for providing TV signals direct to subscribers'
premises.DTH provides subscribers the advantage of
geographical mobility meaning thereby that once a
customer purchases DTH hardware, he/she can continue
to use the same unit anywhere in India. DTH is defined as
the reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish
in an individual home. In customer point of view, the
reception of satellite programs with a personal dish in an
individual home. And an individual set top box
empowering you to pick & choose you bundles of choice
and pay for what you watch. DTH offers better quality
picture than cable TV and stereophonic sound effects. It
reaches even those places where cable is not available.
This service is also providing value-added services that
include tale-text, dual audio for channels, parental
control, electronic program guide and radio channels.
DTH has also allows for interactive TV services such as
movie-on-demand, internet access, video conferencing and
E-mail. If you want to record your favorite programs you
can get a free DVR (digital video recorder) receiver. Since
the time, it first arrived in India, more and more new
players are joining the bandwagon. Because of arrival of
new entrants, this industry has become very competitive
which ultimately results in customers having more benefits
and options.

Keywords:
CPE (Customer Premises Equipment), Set Top Box, Direct
To Home, Satellite, Value Chain

INTRODUCTION
Buying a DTH connection would involve a sizeable
investment initially. That is likely to be compensated by
lower monthly costs for receiving channels and access to
services that are not offered by cable operators. To receive
pay channels, customers also have the option of buying a
set-top box. This will offer you digital content and access
to a large number of channels. It is, however, only a close
second to DTH. The latter is also not a location specific
facility and you can take the dish along if you shift
residence.

The one risk is of that of theft. Though DTH has its pluses,
waiting for a year will ensure better deals, By postponing
the buy, customers could have on their rooftop a dish that
can eventually make them the master of choosing the
channels they want to pay and watch. Options now
available in DTH do not place them in such a position.
Main disadvantage of DTH is fading of the signal due to
rains. Heavy rains may result into outage for a few
minutes in the DTH signal.

HISTORY OF DTH IN INDIA

DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996.But
they did not pass approval because there were concerns
over national security and a cultural invasion. In 1997, the
government even imposed a ban when the Rupert
Murdoch-Owned Indian SKY Broadcasting was about to
launch its DTH services in India. Indian DTH space is a
rapidly rising industry.
The green signal in November 2000 followed the
deliberations of a group of ministers, which was
constituted on 31 January 2000. Headed by home minister
LK Advani, the group included the then ministers from
information and broadcasting (Arun Jaitley), information
technology (Pramod Mahajan), finance (Yashwant Sinha),
defense (George Fernandes), communications (Ram Vilas
Paswan) and law (Ram Jethmalani).
It came up with the following recommendations
A DTH license should not be given exclusively to
any agency, whether private or public, to avoid
monopoly in the sensitive areas of information and
programme distribution
Since DTH is an alternative to cable for distribution
of TV programmes, the vertical integration of these
two services should be guarded against to avoid
monopoly in distribution services.
Vertical integration and monopoly between DTH
operators and TV channels should be avoided to
ensure fair competition and a level playing field for
all TV channels.
Programmes/channels distributed through a DTH
platform should be uplinked from India to ensure
that they comply with programming and advertising
codes and allay concerns about "national security".

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International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR)

Volume 4, No. 6, June 2015

The new policy requires all operators to set up earth

stations in India within 12 months of getting a license.
This facility will increase the number of channels you
receive. More important, you will enjoy picture and audio
quality of a kind that your present cable connection or
antenna cannot provide. You can also play video games
and watch movies telecast exclusively by the DTH-service
provider. Over time, the DTH console could also provide
you round the clock link to the internet, customized
content and pay-per-view options, to name a few of the
range of services possible.
Zee group promoted Dish TV was the first to start DTH
operations in India. Then Doordarshans APNA DTH
came in market but it is having limited channels. The
another entrant in India is TATA-SKY, which is a joint
venture between the TATA group and News Corporations
Star TV. At this time many major players are fighting for
covering larger market share in order to prolong their
existence in this lucrative Industry. Apart from Tata Sky,
Dish TV, Airtel Digital and Reliance BIG, southern
heavyweight Sun TV has entered the fray with Direct,
while Videocon has entered the market in June 2009.
While Indian consumers were not completely satisfied
with their cable services, they felt the need to switch over
to any other means of entertainment. It was 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.

ISSN: 2319-4413

satellite transmits programming in the Ku frequency range

(12GHz to 14GHz).
(II) The Components
There are five major components involved in a direct to
home satellite system: the programming source, the
broadcast center, the satellite, the satellite dish and the
receiver. Satellite television broadcasts intended for home
reception also referred to more broadly as direct-to-home
signals. In technical point of view: a digital satellite
service that provides television services direct to
subscribers anywhere in the country. Since it makes use of
wireless technology, programs are sent to the subscriber's
television direct from the satellite, eliminating the need for
cables and any cable infrastructure.
(III) Programming
Programming sources are simply the channels that provide
programming for broadcast. That provider doesnt crate
original programming itself; it pays other companies for
the right to broadcast their content via satellite. In this
way, the provider is kind of like a broker between you and
the actual programming sources.
The broadcast center is the central hub of the system. At
the broad cast center, the television provider receives
signals from various programming sources and beams a
broadcast signals to satellites in geostationary orbit.

HOW DTH WORKS

(I) The Overall System
Early satellite TV viewers were explores of sorts. They
used their expensive dishes to discover unique
programming that wasnt necessarily intended for mass
audiences. The dish and receiving equipment gave viewers
the tools to pick up foreign stations live feeds between
different broadcast stations, NASA activities and a lot of
other stuff transmitted using satellites.
Some satellite owners still seek out this sort of
programming on their own, but today, most satellite TV
customers get their programming through a direct
broadcast satellite provider, such as Direct TV or the dish
network. The provider selects program and broadcast them
to subscribers as a set packages. Basically, the providers
goal is to bring dozens or even hundreds of channels to
customers television in a form that approximates the
competition, cable TV. Unlike earlier programming, the
providers broadcast is completely digital, which means it
has much better picture and sound quality. Early satellite
television was broadcast in C-band radio- radio in the 3.4
gigahertz to 7 GHz frequency range. Digital broadcast

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The satellites receive the signals from the broadcast

station and rebroadcast them to the ground.
The viewers dish picks up the signals from the
satellite and passes it on to the receiver in the
viewers house.
The receivers processes the signal and passes it on
to a standard Television

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International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR)

Volume 4, No. 6, June 2015

ABOUT MAJOR COMPANIES IN THE

INDUSTRY
1. Dish TV - Zee group
Dish TV is a venture by the Essel Group and was launched
in 2004. Dish TV is Indias first private player in DTH
industry with a presence in 19 states. It has a subscriber
base
of
7.07
million
(March2015).
(http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/service_provider/1090
80102.asp).It has a bouquet of over 240 channels to
choose from. Dish TV has launched an entry-level
subscription at Rs. 99 per month with the largest offering
of 110 channels.
2. TATA Sky
Tata Sky was incorporated in 2004. It is a Joint venture
between Tata Group and UK-based British Sky
Broadcasting Group. TATA is one of India's largest and
most respected business conglomerates and the SKY
brand, owned by the UK-based British Sky Broadcasting
Group has over 20 years of experience in satellite
broadcasting. It launched its services pan-India in August
2006. It has over 168 channels to choose from. Tata Sky
has launched an entry-level subscription plan called Super
Hit Pack at Rs. 99 per month with a bouquet of 53
channels. Tata Sky frequently comes with innovative
product and services like Tata Sky 4K, Karaoke, Tata Sky
Plus (which use the personal video recording (PVR)
technology that allows consumers to record live.) Tata Sky
Multi TV etc. Tata Sky recently launched a service which
allows a daily recharge of Rs. 8
3. DD-Direct +
DD Direct Plus was launched in December 2004 by
Doordarshan. It is owned by parent company
Doordarshan. It was Indias first DTH service offering
about 59 TV channels and 21 radio stations. DD DTH is a
free service and has acquired a subscriber base of 6070
lakh
connections
(July
2014).
(www.dnaindia.com/money/report_prasar-bharati-dthmoving-to-paymode_ 1277779)
4. Sun Direct
Sun Direct is a DTH service in India headquartered in
Chennai, Tamil. Sun Direct is an 80:20 joint venture
between the Maran family and Astro Group of Malaysia.
With 170+ TV channels and 31 Radio channels, Sun
Direct has a subscriber base of 5 million (April 2014)
(www.topnews.in/sun-direct-launcheshd- services-crosses5-million- activesubscriber-base-mark-2149664). Sun
Direct has a basic pack of Rs 75 monthly subscription
which is the lowest price-point compared to the other
service providers.

ISSN: 2319-4413

5. Reliance BIG TV Limited

Reliance BIG TV Limited is a part of Reliance Anil
Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Reliance Communication in the
DTH space has the brand name Big TV. It has
aggressively priced packages as low as Rs. 1490 with an
offering of 64 channels and a three month free
subscription in addition to 20 video-on-demand movie
channels. Within a short span of time it garnered a
subscriber base of nearly 2.8 million (Aug 2014)
(www.livemint.com/2014/06/21231941/Big-TV-to-go-ona-content- acqu.html). Big TV currently offers 202
channels. BIG TV focuses on VAS and claims to have a
next generation user guide which is indexed.
6. Airtel DTH - Bharti Airtel Limited
The well known and much talked about player in the
market is Bharti- Airtel. A teaser campaign See you at
home was followed up by a multi-starrer campaign with
celebrities like Saif Ali Khan and Kareena, Vidya Balan
and Madhavan and Indian cricketers Gautam Gambhir etc.
It has a subscriber base of 2.8 million (June 2014)
(www.indiandth.com/2014/08/airtel-digital-tv-mopsupone- million.html) and has a bouquet of over 138
channels and world space satellite radio to choose from.
Airtel Digital has a basic pack of Rs 99 monthly for South
and Rs 125 monthly for north.
7. Videocon D2H
Videocon the big Indian consumer durable player
launched itself in the DTH market in June 2009 through its
media arm Bharat Business Channel (BBCL). Right now it
has offered services in Punjab, J&K, Chandigarh,
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and many other cities with
packages as low as 150 per month. Advantage over other
players is that Videocon already makes analog set top box
hence they are likely to manufacture Set Top Box for their
DTH service as well.

VALUE CHAIN OF INDUSTRY

Value chain analysis
Value chain analysis helps companies to analyze specific
activities, through which firms can create a competitive
advantage; it is also useful to model the firm as a chain of
value creating activities. Michael porter identified a set of
interrelated generic activities common to a wide range of
firms. The resulting model is known as the value chain
and is depicted below. The goal of these activities is to
create value that exceeds the cost of providing the product
or services, thus generating a profit margin.
The following diagram contained value chain of the
industry, which includes primary as well as supporting
activity. Contribution of each and every activity has been
mentioned as follow as particularly for DTH industry.

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International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR)

Volume 4, No. 6, June 2015

ISSN: 2319-4413

Value chain of DTH

The direct-to-home (DTH) satellite industry has come on
strongly worldwide. It has grown from a niche delivery
mechanism into a mainstream business. The spread of
subscription-based DTH satellite TV promises to enhance
choices for many households in developing countries.
With the government throwing open the DTH sector in the
country, a handful of players have come up with grandiose
plans to enter the market. Given the stiff level of
competition this premium services will face from the
existing multi- channel cable network, possible entrants
need to clearly grasp a few of the winning rules of the
game.

PRIMARY ACTIVITIES
(I) Inbounds Logistic:Inbound logistics Include receiving, warehousing, and
inventory control of input materials.
Raw material sourcing
In DTH service provider companies generally has no any
kind of raw material but sometimes given CPE (customer
premises equipment) are already supplied by CPE (dish,
set top box, cable) manufacturer company have to store it
or direct supply to retailer or outlet.
(II) Operation:The value creating activates that perform input into final
product. DTH service provider collect private channel
from their collaborated channel. System which has
specially designed program to provide service as per
customer package as well as request send a signal to the
Ku-band satellite which transfer signals to subscribers set
top box through dish antenna and serve the service as
consumer require whether it is private channel or service
providers interactive service. System is similar like mobile
service system so it is very easy task for cellular service
provider.

(III) Outbound Logistics:The activities required getting product service to the

customers, installation, ordering fulfillment, quarry
solution, new technology and service updates (may free or
minor charges apply).The most important asset is arguably
an ability to play a unique role in the DTH value chain.
This advantage may reside in business that has little or no
obvious connection with DTH. A company that has
pioneered a business offering credit for consumer durables
in a developing country, for instance, might be well placed
to supply finance to purchasers of CPE.
(IV) Sales & Marketing:Those activities associated with getting buyers to purchase
the product, including channel selection, advertising
pricing, etc. in India demand is over pacing the supply. So,
generally we find less focus on the marketing activities
from the companies side.
Two types of customers are there, one retail & second
industrial or government. To attract business / industrial
customer special commercial and news channel packages
are there in some players. Retail customer can be attracted
by providing sales promotion or advertising.

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International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR)

Volume 4, No. 6, June 2015

Promotion:Currently companies are using marketing tool like free

STB or installation, customize channel package, special
package to attract the special customer segment like
business class. And also interactive services like
educational program, same other time program recording,
pay-per-view and also MDU (multi Dwelling Unit) for
multi user service.

Build an appropriate content offer:

This is the single most crucial choice a DTH company will
make. In a remote town with no access to television, for
example, even a DTH bouquet of just two channels might
seem attractive. Transponder costs are also a factor in an
appropriate content offer. It is the bouquet size that
determines how many transponders are needed, creating a
tradeoff between the cost of transponders and the richness
of the offering.

Advertising:Ad revenue is also available to a DTH service provider, so

the existence of a robust or growing ad market is
important. For that have special movie time commercial,
20:20 and other sports live telecasting time commercial
and also some special program like educational, own TV
serial production. DTH service provider companies are
using emotional approaches in advertising. but right now
they are started to endorse brand ambassadors like
Shahrukh khan in is Dish TV, Amir khan & gul panag in
Tata sky, Saif,Kareena, A.R.Rehman, Gautam Gambhir,
R. Madhvan and Zaheer khan in Airtel digital and
television serial celebrities for big TV.

Installation:Generally players are providing installation service but in

some cases (DD direct+) may happen customer purchase
their own CPE from the market. Service provider are
always try to provide Indian standard CPE. Doordarshan
always prefer to serve 90 MHz and 120 MHz dish antenna
as well as good quality STB.
(V) Service:After provide an application equipment of DTH service
companies should have to provide a better broadcasting
service like interactive service, PPV (pay-per-view),
movie- on-demand and also a query of the service users.

SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
The primary activates described above are facilitated by
following support activities.
(I) Firm Infrastructure:Infrastructure includes strategic location in term of nearby
suppliers or nearby market, adequate space to run the
business, technological resources, transportation facility.

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All of these will lead to improve the performance. So, all

of the players have to develop this.
(II) Human Resource Management:The activities associated with recruiting, development,
compensation of employees. One in each of the four
regions north, east, south and west for setting up regional
training centers (RTCs) with commitment to human
resource development. The RTCs are equipped with stateof-the-art (high-tech) technologies, teaching aids and
equipment and specially made need based training
packages. High quality technical guidance has been
translated into local languages also. Computer based
training is given to personnel even at operator level. There
are specially trained employee for installation and service
guide. And also they provide good remuneration to their
employees.
Offer superior services
Cable companies are frequently criticized for installation
delays, billing errors and surly staff and the nature of cable
plant makes signals prone to disruption. Staff and
customer service issues relating to CPE installation and
maintenance may yield a fine of differentiation above and
beyond picture quality.
(III) Technological Development:As this is crucial factor which affecting this service most.
Company has to develop new technology as it helps not
only him but also to customer. Customer can get good
quality of pictures through good technology.
Implication
A few things are assured in the DTH industry even in the
face of paradigm shifts. First, the value of transponders is
likely to fall as compression allows more and more content
to go through the same satellite, and as more satellite are
launched. Obscure sports and the like will become more
valuable; conversely, much of the content that is currently
valuable will face downward pricing pressure. Niche
content providers will emerge. The industry is likely to be
characterized first by a period of fragmentation and then
by an increasing concentration of global consortia as
unprofitable participants fold. What is clearer than ever is
that satellite TV is here to stay and will play role in
bringing television to mass around the world?

CONCLUSION
Innovation in service provided by DTH industry is must
and it has a significant impact on growth of DTH.
Intensive distribution must be used by all players because
of cut-throat competition. Availability of product
everywhere is very important and for that strong
distribution network is required. All the players of the
DTH industry provide their CPE through retailer and their

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International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR)

Volume 4, No. 6, June 2015

ISSN: 2319-4413

outlets. Dish TV provide CPE through retailer only and

big TV, Airtel digital and Tata sky provide through both
retailer and their own outlay.

REFERENCES
[1] http://www.tatasky.com/wps/portal/TataSky/footerp
ages/abouttatasky
[2] www.Mib.Nic.In
[3] www.Dishtv.In
[4] www.Sundirect.In
[5] www.Airtel.In/Digitaltv
[6] www.Bigtv.Co.In
[7] www.Videocond2h.Com
[8] www.Indiabroadband.Net
[9] www.Indiatelevision.Com
[10] www.Indiainbusiness.Nic.In

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