ADAG's Big TV set to make big splash in DTH mkt

TELE-TUBBIES: Big TV is the fifth player in the four-year-old Direct-to-Home television industry.

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New Delhi: Reliance - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Big TV is all set to make a big splash in the four-year-old Direct-to-Home (DTH) television industry.

Big TV, the fifth player in the segment, plans to leverage its telecom and entertainment businesses to make up for the lost time. Of its 200 channels, there will be 32 tailor-made movie and 20 music channels.

The service will target brand new customers rather than win over existing ones and is priced at current market rates, that is, between Rs 250 and Rs 300 a month.

"Our strategy at launch will be to offer superior service at competitive market pricing. The aim is to develop the largest distribution channel over the next 12 months," President, Big TV, Arun Kapoor.

Big TV will be retailed out of Reliance World and one lakh other retail outlets across 6500 towns. The company says that this will help corner 40 per cent of the market in its first year of launch.

The huge retail presence and 700 distributors will be supported by an aggressive media campaign with Big TV spending up to Rs 200 crore in the launch year. ADAG has already spent Rs 137 crore to sponsor the Indian Premier League matches for four years.

But Tata Sky, the second largest DTH player with 2.25 million subscribers, says that Big TV's goal of leveraging existing businesses for their DTH venture is easier said than done.

"Convergence is more in people's minds currently. The technologies are different and it's very important to see what you can deliver. By mixing up both these things you can make a mess. We could have also launched our DTH service with Tata Teleservices if this were the case. You have to wait and watch how this convergence will work out. Ultimately, it requires domain experience," CEO, Tata Sky, Vikram Kaushik, says.

While Tata Sky has slashed prices, current market leader Dish TV has launched a new south India package to compete with regional channel Sun TV.

Bharti Airtel's digital TV and Videocon's service will soon follow Big TV. Although estimates say competition will grow the industry to 30 million users in six years, the DTH sector is plagued by a slow recovery rate.

And so, brands say they are banking on value-added services to generate revenue.

(With Ramya Ramamurthy)