A Project Report On

Comparison ofComparison of

DTH & CABLE servicesDTH & CABLE services

In Partial Fulfillment of

Marketing Management

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Contents

1.0 Introduction...............................................................................................2

2.0 Porter’s Five Competitive forces: Direct to Home...................................4

3.0 DTH Market Structure...............................................................................7

4.0 Consumer Behaviour Pattern.....................................................................9

5.0 Strategies to sustain in competitive growth market.................................10

6.0 Market segmentation...............................................................................13

7.0 Brief profile of players in the industry....................................................16

8.0 Rsearch Design........................................................................................22

9.0 Data Analysis & Interpretation................................................................23

10.0 Bibliography…………………………………………………………….33

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1.0 Introduction

In earlier days there was only one TV channel in India the “Doordarshan”, Channel

Doordarshan was owned and operated by government of India. In this era, every home

which had a TV set used to have its own antenna to capture the signals. The Cable

Television Ordinance Law was passed in January 1995. This enabled cable operators to

feed channels and later on private companies were allowed to air their own channels and

this led to the explosive growth in number of TV channels and number of cable

operators.

The growth of TV channels & cable operators created a big industry and market

opportunities. There were as many as 1, 00,000 cable operators across India until few

years back. However the services provided by cable operators were poor. The strikes,

increase in tariff plan, selective broadcast and poor services were major cause of

dissatisfaction among the customers. This has created an opportunity for DTH, which

serves an immediate threat to the high- end cable networks India has about 130 million

TV homes of which, Cable & Satellite (C&S) services are present in 97 million (74%)

of the home. The DTH market in India comprises 11% of the total market with almost

15 million homes. The DTH industry growth lagged to 10.3% in 2008 from 16.7% a

year earlier. But industry players agree that the digitization drive is expanding by 35-

40% annually. However, industry estimates DTH to touch 35-40 million subscribers by

2012, and that’s the number that every DTH brand has set its sights on.

By 2015, DTH will enjoy a market share of 40%, digital cable 40% and analog cable

will follow with only 20% market share. The DTH service market in India has emerged

as one of the most lucrative markets which have successfully resisted the impacts of the

current economic slowdown. The slowdown, instead, proved a boon for the Indian

DTH industry as people started to cut on their entertainment expenditure and instead of

viewing movies at theatres, they preferred to stay at home with their television sets.Page | 2

The anticipated growth to the efforts of DTH industry players who are all trying to lure

viewers by cutting down prices as well as offering perks even though it translates into

loss of Rs 1,600-2,000 on each new subscriber acquired by them. They have started to

offer a number of value-added services such as

‘Movie on demand’, live recording of TV content, matrimonial match-making, etc.

Share of DTH in TV Household

Still, as DTH is still a relatively new category and most people are hesitant to experiment with it. It is 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.

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2.0 Porter’s Five Competitive forces: Direct to Home

2.1. Buyers: Bargaining power of buyers

With enough options to choose both from the point of alternate mediums like Cable,

IPTV and Terrestrial broadcast and from the point of increasing DTH operators, the

consumer is at his will to decide. Customers will continue to have a high bargaining

power until DTH platforms try to differentiate them as superior players with better

content and clarity.

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2.2 Suppliers: Bargaining power of suppliers

DTH industry relies on three major supplies: Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)

comprising of the satellite dish, Set Top Box with the necessary Access card, the Ku band

transponders in the orbiting satellites and content.

With India overtaking Japan as Asia’s largest DTH, the bargaining power of Indian DTH

operators with CPE supplies have increased. However, the availability of transponders is

increasingly becoming difficult. The Ku band transponder is generally provided by Astrix,

the commercial wing of ISRO either through its own satellites or by leasing transponders

from suppliers. With only two domestic satellite launches between 2007 and 2010 and

increasing DTH players, Astrix is in a better position to use DTH as its cash cow for the

next 5 to10 years. Also the crash of INSAT 4C and NSS-8 has worsened the situation of

DTH players. As there is not much of regulation particularly in terms of channel pricing,

acquiring content from the broadcasters is also difficult. DTH vendors are at the mercy of

the broadcasters.

2.3 Potential Entrants: Threat of new entrants

With already 7 players in the DTH space, threat of new entrants is relatively low. There

is already enough competition which will discourage new firms to enter this business.

While getting a license is relatively easy, the barriers to entry are high when it comes to

pricing of CPE and getting the required transponders.

2.4 Substitutes: Threat of substitutes

DTH faces stiff competition from the terrestrial, cable and IPTV. As per the industry

estimates, there are 130 million TV homes of which 97 million are served by cable

and around 15 million by DTH with the remaining taken by terrestrial transmission.

2.5 Industry competitors: Segment rivalry

Presently as on 2010, these are the main DTH service providers in India:

DD Direct – state owned free service providerPage | 5

Dish TV - owned by Essel Group, was the first commercial DTH service

provider.

TATA Sky – owned by TATA group, largest DTH service provider

presently in India.

Sun Direct – owned by Sun group, primary focus is on low income groups and

regional viewers.

Reliance Big TV - Owned by Reliance group, new entrant into the market.

Airtel Digital TV – Owned by Bharti group, new entrant with aggressive

marketing strategies.

Videocon D2H – Owned by Videocon group, new entrant into the market.

Market Share

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1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr0

102030405060708090

East

West

North

With 7 operational players, the segment rivalry is quite high. The competition from state

owned DD-Direct to private players is negligible from the content point of view as the

number of channels offered by DD-Direct is very limited. However, DD-Direct does not

charge any monthly subscription fee which poses

a threat to the private players. Between Dish TV and Tata Sky there is an intense rivalry

exhibited by price wars and discount schemes offered to new connections. Being the

first mover, Dish TV has price advantage in both the STB as well as procuring the

transponders. On the other hand, Tata Sky claims its STB having superior DVD quality

video. There is also a competition at acquiring the content.

3.0 DTH Market Structure

The DTH market structure can be classified into three categories; Market leaders,

Market challengers and Market followers. There is intense competition as some of the

leading players have not only succumbed in the sales for acquiring new customers but has

started loosing existing ones to Tata Sky, Big TV and other new entrants.

Market Leader:

Dish TV India’s first DTH service provider launched in October 2003 is the market

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leader with 6.4 million subscribers. Dish TV continues to be a market leader with

32% market share in 7 player scenario on date, with sizeable

sales and distribution infrastructure of over 650 distributors and 45,000 dealers across

6500 towns – once again, the largest in the category. This reach into far flung markets

enables building of a diverse subscriber base across consumer segments, which are

supported by its rich content of regional channel offerings.

Dishtv has maintained its leadership position through an improved market share of all

DTH subscribers. New offers, extensive marketing campaigns have contributed to

impressive subscriber acquisition and are committed to provide the best value to our

customers and investors by enhancing operational efficiencies and by leveraging

economies of scale.

Market challengers:

The gap between the leader and the challengers is decreasing because of the

increasing competition and promotion strategy followed by each player.

TATA Sky

In the enormous consumer market that is India, occasionally an opportunity arises that

can create incredible growth and profit—provided those who seek to capture it can move

quickly enough. TATA wanted to capitalize on this opportunity as there was currently

only one player in the DTH market. It was the second Mover after Dish TV leveraging

on brand TATA and high brand recall.

Incorporated in 2004, Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. Tata Sky

endeavors to offer Indian viewers a world-class television viewing experience through

its satellite television service. The key business challenge in a country like India is

meeting customer demands—which are very dynamic— under the regulatory purview of

the country.

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Sun DIRECT

Sun Direct is the fastest growing DTH service provider having garnered over 1.9 million

subscribers since its launch in December 2007 and aims to become one of the leading

players in the DTH space. Sun Direct challenged the existing players by involving them

in the price war by acting as a discounted brand. It started offering subscriptions at as

low as Rs 99 to reach as much at the bottom of the market. The biggest differentiator

for the brand is the pricing point which is lesser than the other brands.

The other point of differentiation is with regard to their distribution channels. It is being

made available in most basic shops such as telephone booths, cycle repair shops and

video parlors.

Sun DTH was the first one to move into the MPEG4 league and soon after the PAN India

launch HD services will be launched. Another first from SUN DTH is the launch of

exclusive comedy channels for its subscribers.

Market followers:

Reliance BIG TV/ Airtel Digital/Videocon d2h

The approach being followed is of Market Follower (as they are late entrant and

their primay objective is to attract max subscribers in shortest span of time.

4.0 Consumer Behavior Pattern

Major Factors influencing the purchase decision of DTH are as below:

Price

Customer Service

ReceptionPage | 9

Program choices

New Technology and

Technical Support

5.0 Strategies to sustain in competitive growth market

Advertising & Promotion:

Indian TV channel broadcast 15.7-mn advertisement every year, which totals to 362-

mn seconds of TV advertisement every year. India currently has over 400

channels.TV viewer ship has declined by 5% since 2001. TV broadcasters are

expected to increase advertisement rate this year by 16-18%.

DTH industry uses different marketing strategies for promotion and sales of its

products. It gives advertisements with their brand ambassadors which attract customers,

door to door selling, on the phone selling, discount and offer sales, packages, etc.

Marketing practices is a continuous process as the competition keeps increasing among

the players in the industry. Each player is investing lot of money in promoting there

brands.

Many players are making advertisement with movie actor and actress as brand

ambassadors for their products because DTH is mainly considered with entertainment.

Some of the companies like Tata sky is having Super Star Aamir khan as brand

ambassador and Airtel is having many film stars like Kareena Kapoor, A.R. Rahman,

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Saif Ali khan, etc. Dish TV is also having Super Star Shahrukh khan as the brand

ambassador. Sun direct also use southern actress for their brand promotion.

Marketing practices are the decisions taken by the manufacturing company to increase

sales, expand themselves into many areas etc. Successful marketing practices bring

sale up, while unsuccessful marketing practices have no impact on sale or negatively

impact sale. Marketing concepts specific to the industry is primarily targeted at a

niche segment who buy the TV sets from the electronic retail chains.

Product Innovation

The concept of innovation in DTH industry is INCREMENTAL innovation; everything

that is done is due to constant research of many marketing and analysts to bring many

innovations to the existing products in the DTH industry. Incremental innovation is the

apt innovation which is suitable and all the DTH players are concentrating up on. This

innovation makes the business to grow continuously and brings advantages to the

customers using the products and the service.

There are many sources of innovation for this industry as mentioned in the above, the

technology and the people are the main sources for the innovation. Customer’s opinions

and their needs can be served by providing a service which is matching to their needs and

requirements.

Digital TV, the DTH service from Airtel, has announced India’s first skin integration

innovation on its EPG screen in partnership with Yahoo. Yahoo takes forward its latest

brand campaign “YOU” in this first of its kind partnership where an online portal will use

DTH as a medium to promote itself.

The ‘Electronic Programming Guide’ screen on Airtel digital TV is now completely

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integrated with Yahoo India’s homepage. Customers will find a message ‘Fill your home

page with all the things that make YOU’ when they log

onto to the EPG screen. A prompting ‘Red Button’ will take them to a dedicated

landing page that elaborates the offerings on Yahoo India’s new home page.

The ‘YOU’ campaign enables users to customize the home page as per their liking and

empowers them with the choice to integrate social applications such as Facebook with

their Yahoo homepage. This whole idea was conceived by Network Play, right from

design elements to execution and thanks to Mindshare for buying into the idea and

flawlessly helping people execute it.

Tata Teleservices Limited has announced a technological breakthrough—a first-of-its-

kind innovation in India with the launch of TATA Photon TV, a new application that

allows Tata Photon Plus subscribers to watch live television channels on their laptops

while on the move, and on their personal computers at home and in the office. The

Photon TV service is exclusively available to Photon Plus users. “With its growing

popularity, Photon Plus has caught the admiration of millions of users across the country,

with its high-speed data access

capabilities and the ease of mobility.

TATA Photon TV is a personal computer- and laptop-based video- streaming

application, which allows Tata Photon Plus users to view live TV feed from various

sports, news, entertainment and regional channels, and to watch recorded TV shows

from the library (viz Coffee with Karan, Zoom, Pogo, etc), movies, music and videos on

demand.

Internet Browsing charges will be charged as per your Photon+ tariff plan and it would

be applicable while viewing Photon TV. These charges would be over and above the

subscription charges for the Photon TV. (Approximate data usage is 1-2MB per Min).

Rate of innovation in this sector is growing at a faster rate in the recent years where as it

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is not very impressive before this period. The reason for this is the fair competition

between the all players in this DTH industry. It led to the development of new products

in this sector which also led to the diversification of products as there is abolition of entry

of foreign industries into Indian industries initially. It also made the industries in this

sector to establish their own R&D departments for successful product innovations like

Airtel Live, Videocon d2h.

6.0 Market segmentation

6.1 GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION

In terms of geographical location, North India and Western India together

contribute over 8 million DTH subscribers, while the southern market

contributes 3 million. The states of Maharashtra, Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and

Rajasthan are the leaders in DTH subscription, contributing over 6.5 million DTH

connections to the overall base.

Urban and Rural:

In order to cater to the diverse taste and needs of both urban and rural people, operators

provide entirely different range of services and offerings. In rural areas, fleet of vans for

demos, installation as well as selling hardware and pre-paid vouchers are being used. Most

players are building up their subscriber base by targeting viewers outside the big cities,

which suggests that about 60 per cent of DTH subscribers reside in rural areas and towns

with a population under a million.

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Region and States:

It has come up with special offers for the southern region where regional and sports

channels are viewed the most. Like Ultimate sports bonanza offer – Rs 1890 with 3

Months of South Silver subscription available in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka &

Pondicherry only. Ultimate sports bonanza offer - Rs 2490 with 12 Months of Silver

subscription available in Andhra Pradesh only. Dish TV has structured a basic

bouquet of customized package of channels which are in demand in a particular state

at a very affordable price pack like North diamond pack and South diamond pack.

Marathi channels namely Star Pravah and Star Majha for its Marathi speaking

customers.

6.2 DEMOGRAPHIC SGMENTATION

AGE and GENDER:

As the market gets fragmented, niche channels will become more and more desirable.

The increased interest in unique content channels is in line with the international trend,

where once the market matures, consumer needs come into focus. Thus channels on

Education, Women, Gardening, a variety of Sports, Wellness and Religion, etc. make

their appearance.

Most of the players in DTH offer niche channels to create a unique and exciting offering

for its viewers of every age and gender segment. DTH industry mainly concentrates on

women who don’t like missing their daily soap and news more ever women are able to

learn English speaking which is a very special feature of DTH. DTH also concentrates

on children also by providing them games, dictionary, some discovery videos specially

inbuilt, maths, and science and social knowledge. It also focuses on old people as it has

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updated videos of various holy and religious places.

Dish TV recently launched ‘Children Films Festival’ with a bouquet of over 25 super-

hit films across various categories priced at Rs. 25/- per movie thus

targeting the children segment. Besides this value added services like Games Active,

Bhakti active services etc carters to needs of customers from various age groups and

gender.

INCOME:

Recognizing the vast differences in tastes and pocket sizes of different consumer

segments, content has been aggregated and classified into 4 different packages namely

MAXI, WELCOME, FREEDOM PLUS and FREEDOM packages .While the Maxi and

Welcome packs are price drivers and target high ARPU consumers, the value pack

offerings in Freedom and Freedom Plus packages are volume drivers that inspire new

subscribers to come on board through a low price point and basic channel offering. The

strategy is to gradually upgrade the low ARPU subscriber too, through tailor made add

on packs on a-la-carte like movies, business, etc. basis for specific entertainment needs.

Keeping income levels of consumers in mind, operators apprise the consumer of its

three tier pricing. It gives a choice to the consumer to select from a three level flexi plan

that bundle three, six or 12 months of subscription along with the initial box.

6.3 BEHAVIOURIAL SEGMENTATION

OCCASIONS:

DTH operators come out with new offers of channels or new buyer schemes at

relatively cheaper rates on occasions of festivals or major sports events. For example It

offers benefits to customers like: In a cricket match choosing the language of the

commentary, camera angles, know player statistics and watch match highlights at our

will. In the past Dish TV has come with schemes like

‘Diwali Double Dhamaka’ (November 2007), the IPL Pack (April 2010), 'Summer

Sports Bonanza' (June 2008), Special Onam Offer for Kerala (August 2007), World cup

offer (March 2007).

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USER STATUS:

Every product has its non users, ex-users, potential users, first time users and regular

users. In order to attract the non users and potential users time and again competition has

forced players to introduce innovative and exciting consumer promotion offers into the

market. Schemes like World Cup Free Offer, Free bhi Zyaada bhi, Ab Sab Sikandar, and

the landmark Set Top Box Free Offer, have not only added to the pace of acquisitions but

attracted specific consumer audiences like sports lovers and kids into its fold.

In conclusion, each player has cautiously segmented the market through an expanded

product range at appropriate price points to stay competitive. By offering packages like

cinema active, khel active, movie active, music active is targeting people with specific

lifestyles. Premiering new movies within weeks of their releases is targeted at people

who want to see latest movies at affordable prices. Latest movies are premiered within

weeks of their release. Dish TV has also targeted the youth segment with offers like

“Michael Jackson Live in Bucharest tour” for just Rs 25, Microsoft Xbox 360 Arcade.

7.0 Brief profile of players in the industry

7.1 DD DIRECT

Doordarshan is the public television broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar

Bharati, a public service broadcaster nominated by the Government of India. It is one of

the largest broadcasting organizations in the world in terms of

the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital

Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15 2009, Doordarshan celebrated its 50th

anniversary. Doordarshan had a modest beginning with the experimental telecast starting

in Delhi on 15 September 1959 with a small transmitter and a makeshift studio.

The regular daily transmission started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio. The

television service was extended to Bombay (now Mumbai) and Amritsar in

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1972. Till 1975, seven Indian cities had television service and Doordarshan remained the

only television channel in India. Television services were separated from radio in 1976.

Each office of All India Radio and Doordarshan were placed under the management of

two separate Director Generals in New Delhi.

Finally Doordarshan as a National Broadcaster came into existence. National

telecasts were introduced in 1982. In the same year, color TV was

introduced in the Indian market with the live telecast of the Independence Day speech by

then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 15 August 1982, followed by the

1982 Asian Games being held in Delhi. Now more than 90 percent of the Indian

population can receive Doordarshan (DD National) programmes through a network of

nearly 1400 terrestrial transmitters and about 46 Doordarshan studios produce TV

programs today.

DD Direct+ is a free Direct to Home (DTH) service that provides satellite television and

audio programming to households and businesses in the Indian subcontinent. Owned by

parent company Doordarshan, DD Direct Plus was launched on December 16, 2004.

7.2 Dish TV

Dish TV is the first private DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2

digital compression technology, transmitting using NSS Satellite at 95.0. Dish TV's

managing director and Head of Business is Jawahar Goel who is also the promoter of

Essel Group and is also the President of Indian Broadcasting Foundation and Mr.

Subhash Chandra is the Chairman of Dish TV.

Dish TV is a division of Zee Network Enterprise (Essel Group Venture). EGV has

national and global presence with business interests in media programming,

broadcasting & distribution, specialty packaging and entertainment. Zee Network

incorporated dishtv to modernize TV viewing. By digitalizing Indian entertainment, this

enterprise brought best television viewing technology to the living room. It not only

transmits high quality programmes through satellite but also gives a complete control of

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selecting channels and paying.

DTH service was launched back in 2004 by launching of Dish TV by Essel Group's

Enterprises. Dish TV is on the same satellite where DD Direct+ is. Dish TV started its

service in Pakistan with the collaboration of Budget Communication. Dish TV was only

DTH operator in India to carry the two Turner channels, Turner Classic Movies and

Boomerang. Both the channels were removed from the platform due to unknown

reasons in March 2009. \

Dish TV uses NSS-6 to broadcast its programmes. NSS-6 was launched on 17 December,

2002 by European-based satellite provider, New Skies. Dish TV hopped on to NSS-6 from

an INSAT satellite in July 2004. The change in the satellite was to increase the channel

offering as NSS 6 offered more transponder capacity.

7.3 Tata Sky

Tata Sky is a DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2 digital

compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4A at 83.0°. Tata sky was

incorporated in 2004.

Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. Tata Sky DTH endeavors to offer

Indian viewers a world-class television viewing experience through its satellite television

service. Vikram Kaushik is present CEO of Tata Sky Ltd. The TATA Group is one of

India's largest and most respected business conglomerates. It comprises 93 operating

companies in sevenbusiness sectors and diversified group information systems and

communications, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and

chemicals.

The TATA Group has operations in more than 40 countries across six continents and its

companies export products and services to 140 nations. The Group and its enterprises

have been steadfast and distinctive in its adherence to

business ethics and their commitment to corporate social responsibility. This is a legacy

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that has earned the Group the trust of many millions of stakeholders in measure few

business houses anywhere in the world can match.

The SKY brand, owned by the UK-based British Sky Broadcasting Group, brings to Tata

Sky the reputation of more than 20 years experience of satellite broadcasting. SKY is well

known for the innovative products and services launched by BSky, such as DTH

broadcasting in 1989, digital satellite broadcasting in 1998, interactive television services

in 1999 and the SKY+ personal video recorder in 2001. Tata Sky joins an international

group of DTH businesses that includes platforms as far apart as the UK and Italy in

Europe, and Mexico and Brazil in Latin America.

Tata Sky Ltd is the First Indian DTH provider to be awarded the ISO 27001:2005

accreditation, the ultimate benchmark for information security. The assessment for the

certification was conducted by Intertek Systems Certification, the management systems

registration business unit of Intertek Group plc and is accredited by several internationally-

recognized accreditation bodies worldwide.

In October 2008, Tata Sky announced launching of DVR service Tata Sky+ which

allowed 45 hours of recording in a MPEG-4 compatible Set Top Box. The remote is

provided with playback control keys and is being sold with special offers for existing

subscribers. Tata Sky was selected as a SUPER BRAND for the year 2009-2010 by an

independent and voluntary council of experts known as Super brands Council. It is the

only Indian DTH to have won this distinction.

7.4 Sun Direct

Sun Direct is a DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-4 digital

compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4B at 93.5°E. It is the country's first

MPEG 4 technology DTH service provider. Sun Direct is a DTH service in India

headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Sun Direct TV was registered in February 16, 2005. However, the failed launch of

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INSAT 4C resulted in a lack of transponders, delaying the launch. The service was finally

launched on December 2007 after availability of transponders from INSAT 4CR.

Because of the lowest pricing of any DTH in India Sun Direct spread rapidly all over the

country. On December Sun Direct was launched in Mumbai and announced its pan India

launch. By 2009 it became leading DTH provider with 3 million subscribers. This makes

it 4th largest DTH service provider of India.

In April 2009 Sun Direct officially launched its High-Definition service in India. Sun

Direct uses the latest MPEG-4 based technology to increase broadcast capacity.

Sun Direct provide next-generation services in fast-growing and emerging markets

quickly and efficiently. Sun Direct selected Oracle based on its convergent multi-

service capabilities and proven real-time scalability allowing it to consolidate billing

operations, enables powerful new service offerings and improves visibility into customer

information across services.

7.5 BIG TV

Reliance BIG TV is a DTH satellite television provider in India based in Navi Mumbai,

using MPEG-4 digital compression technology, transmitting using MEASAT-3

91.5°east. It is the 5th DTH service launched in India. Reliance BIG TV limited is a

part of Reliance Communications Ltd., a subsidiary of

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group founded by the Late Dhirubhai Ambani, the

Indian business tycoon and owned by his son Anil Ambani.

BIG TV started operations from 19 August 2008 with the slogan "TV ho Tho BIG Ho"

("If you have a TV, make it BIG"). It currently offers close to 200 channels and many

interactive ones, 32 cinema halls (i.e. Pay Per View Cinema Channels) as well as many

Radio channels. The company plans to increase the number of channels in the near

future to 400 and begin High Definition (HD) broadcast. It is the first Pan-India DTH

provider that uses MPEG-4 for broadcasting. There are also plans to introduce services

like i-Stock, i-News and other such interactive services in the future.

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Reliance BIG TV was launched on August 19, 2008 with the sole aim of providing the

consumer with quality and enriched home entertainment service at value-driven pricing.

Reliance BIG TV's launch in August was probably the biggest roll-out in home

entertainment ever and deployed the most advanced MPEG4 technology that enabled

them to deliver best quality digital audio-video to the consumer. It also got prepared for

the future when Hi-Definition TV will be launched in India because only MPEG4

technology can support HD TV and not MPEG2 which is used by the earlier entrants in

the DTH industry.

Reliance BIG TV's retailer network is spread across 100,000 outlets in 6,500 towns in

India. This was literally unheard of in the DTH industry. They had effectively out-

stripped the competition here. When it came to pricing – packaging, their introductory

offer stood at Rs. 1,490/- with 3 to 6 months of free subscription. They also introduced

32 Pay-Per-View Movie Channels, the highest by any DTH player.

7.6 Airtel digital TV

Bharti Airtel Limited is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises and is India’s largest

integrated and the first private telecom services provider with a

footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. As India's leading telecommunications

company, the Airtel brand has played the role of a major catalyst in India's reforms,

contributing to its economic resurgence. Airtel since its inception has been at the

forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom sector in the country

with its world class products and services.

Airtel Digital TV is a DTH (Direct to Home) service from Bharti Airtel. It uses MPEG-

4 digital compression with DVB-S2 technology, transmitting using INSAT 4CR 74°E

Airtel digital launched on 8 October, 2008 with a 360 degree mega campaign 'Come

Home to the Magic. Since then it has launched 2 other campaigns: ‘Stars come home’

(March 2009) and ‘DTH Picture Clarity (August 2009) has increased its channel base to

183+ channels.

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Airtel digital TV is now amongst the fastest growing DTH brands in the country and is

available across 5000+ towns in India. It has also been ranked as the best DTH service

by “Living Digital” magazine.

Airtel chief Sunil Mittal said that Airtel digital TV and other DTH players have a bright

future in Indian market as the people are getting more attracted towards DTH because of

its quality and affordability.

7.7 Videocon d2h

Videocon d2h is a DTH satellite television provider in India based in Mumbai,

using MPEG-4 with DVB S2 digital compression technology. Videocon Leasing &

Industrial Finance Limited was incorporated on 4th September, 1986 as Adhigam

Trading Private Limited. In terms of the necessary resolutions Passed under Sec. 21 of

the Companies Act, 1956, the name of the Company was changed to Videocon Leasing

& Industrial Finance Limited on 14th February,

1991. The Company received a fresh certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of

Companies, Gujarat at Ahmedabad on 14thFebruary, 1991.

Videocon d2h launched May 1, 2009. it came with a very good strategy for

selling both of its electronic products like TV’s DVD’s along with the new set top box.

This is offering direct to TV without any set top box also. Only the antenna is enough, it

also came with DVD which is connected directly to the TV or antenna is connected to

DVD which gives a best quality of out put.

“There is only one winning strategy. It is to carefully define the target market and

direct a superior offering to that target market.”

Philip Kotler

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8.0 Rsearch Design

Research Method: Exploratory Research

Sample Selection: Vadodara, Nadiad and V. VidyaNagar

Sample Size: 200

Sampling Method: Convenience Sampling

Survey Method: Personal Interview

Respondents: Households having DTH or Cable service

Research Instrument: structured Questionnaire

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9.0 Data Analysis & InterpretationTools Used:

Type of Data: Primary Data

Primary Scale of Measurement: Interval Scale

Scaling Technique: Likert Scale

Analytical Tools:

# Use of Percentages

# Frequency tables

# Bar charts

# Pie charts

Question wise Analysis:

1. Which type of broadcasting service do you use?

Cable DTH

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CABLE63%

DTH37%

Share of DTH & Cable in Household in %

Out of 200 respondents, 126 (63%) were using cable service and 74(37%) were using DTH

service. DTH users are increasing day by day but Cable service providers are still having

higher market share.

2. Which DTH brand of service do you use?

Dish T.V. Tata Sky Big T.V.

Sun Direct Airtel Digital Videocon D2H

Highest market share was found to be 24% of Dish TV which entered in market earlier

than other competitors. Dish TV has maintained its majority since its entrance in DTH

service providers. Lowest market share was found to be 8% for Sun Direct TV.

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Dish TV; 24%

Tata Sky; 19%Airtel; 10%

Big TV; 9%

Video-con; 8%

Sun Direct; 4%

Market Share

3. How did you come to know about the above DTH brand?

T.V. Radio Outdoor hoardings

Friends Internet Print Advertising

Media Contribution in Awareness in %

TV Radio Outdoor Hordings Friends Internet Print Advertising0

10

20

30

40

50

60 57

38

14

6

12

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Most of the people were attracted to purchase DTH through TV advertisements which

indicates TV advertising as a strong tool for marketing of DTH products. Radio listeners

were least attracted for using DTH services.

4. How did you purchase the DTH service?

Tele calling Leading electronic stores online booking

Tele calling9%

Leading electronic stores87%

Online booking4%

Purchase Source

As mentioned in pie chart, Most of the DTH users used leading electronic store to purchase

DTH. Out of 74 DTH users, 64 have purchased it from electronic store which indicates

higher leading electronic stores as a strong distribution channel.

5. Since how long have you been using DTH service?

Less than 6 months 6 months to 1 year 1 year to 2 years

2 years to 3 years More than 3 years

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The data collected from this question clearly indicates rising trend in use of DTH services.

Among all DTH users, most of them have purchased DTH within last six months. Given

chart represents increasing usage of DTH services.

Less than 6 months 6 months to 1

year 1 year to 2 years 2 years to 3

years More than 3 years

0

5

10

15

20

2521

1618

12

7

Duration of Usage in %

7. Are you interested in switching over to Cable service?

Yes 9

No 65

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010203040506070

YesNo

As chart suggest that there are more respondents who are not interested in switching over

to cable services. There are around 88% of the respondent who have DTH connection,

choose not switching over to cable connection.

8. Since how long have you been using cable service?

Less than 6 months 96 months to 1 year 111 year to 2 years 222 years to 3 years 30More than 3 years 54

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05

1015202530354045

Less than 6 months

6 months to 1 year

1 year to 2 years

2 years to 3 years

More than 3 years

This question is for respondents who have cable connection. As we know that DTH

service new to India compare to cable services, more respondents have cable connection

for more than three years. Around 43% of the respondents are connected with cable

service for more than three years and around 24% of the respondents have cable

connection for 2 to 3 years.

10. Are you interested in switch over to DTH service?

Yes 89No 37

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0102030405060708090

Yes

No

This question is for respondents who have cable connection. Out of 126 respondents 89

respondents wants to switch over to DTH service providers. Around 71% of the

respondents want to switch over to DTH service that shows the increasing popularity of

DTH services

11. Are you aware of any other DTH brand?

Reliance Big TV 37Tata sky 41Airtel 56Dish TV 27Videocon 34Others 5

Relience Big TVTata skyAirtelDish TVVideoconOthers

All the respondents are aware of the DTH service providers.

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12. How did you come to know about the above DTH brand?

T.V. 67Radio 4Outdoor hordings 43Friends 11Internet 9Print advertisement 66

T.V.

Radio

Outdoor hordings

Friends

Internet

Print advertisement

As chart suggest that most of the respondents came to know about the DTH service

provider through T.V. and print advertisement. Around 67% of the respondents came to

know about DTH service by T.V. and print advertisement. Around 22% came to by

outdoor hoardings. So from this it becomes clearer that T.V. and print media are most

effective tool for promotion.

13. What are the parameters that a DTH brands should posses to be successful?

The consumers mostly prefer a “Service” as an important parameter in choosing DTH

connections. The least considered parameter is discount. Following details were found

from market research.

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Parameter % preference

Service 35

Quality 20

Price 18

Promotion 15

Brand 7

Discounts 5

Likert Scale Analysis for Question 6 & 9

The likert scale is most frequently used variation of the summated rating scale. Following

steps were followed and analysis was done for Item analysis of each question’s options

using likert scale.

1) Different numbers were allocated to each person’s responses as:

a. 1 = Strongly disagree

b. 2 = Disagree

c. 3 = can’t say

d. 4 = Agree

e. 5 = Strongly agree

2) Each person’s responses were then added to secure a total score.

3) All total score were arrayed and portions representing the highest and lowest total

scores were selected.

a. Question 6

Total 50% of 74 = 37 was selected for likert analysis.

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b. Question 9

Total 50% of 126 = 63 was selected for likert analysis.

4) The mean scores for the high score & low score groups were then used for computing t-

values.

5) As an indicator of statement’s discrimination power, those statements are suggested

which have t value greater than 1.75. In all item analysis, t values were found to be

more than 1.75 which indicates high discrimination power of statement.

Most of the respondents of DTH users have considered “Services” and “Audio visual

Quality” as a strong stand to stick on use of DTH service. In case of cable users, they

consider “satisfactory service” from cable operators for use of cable connection.

Following pages includes likert scale evaluation through item analysis for questions 6 & 9.

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Bibliography

1. http://www.tamindia.com/tamindia

2. http://www.dishtv.in/

3. http://www.ibef.org/ “India Brand Equity foundation”

4. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/big-tv-launch-to-intensify-dth-battle/351013/

5. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dth-space-hots-up-tata-sky-launched/10184/

6. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/dth-subscribers-double-in-7-mnths/379548/

7. http://ibscdc.org/index.asp

8. http://www.dth.co/408/cable-tv-vs-dth-growth/

9. http://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/5481-New-Members-FAQ.aspx

10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_India

11. Cooper Donald R. & Schindler Pamela S, Business research methods, Tata McGraw

Hill, 9th Edition.

12. Malhotra Naresh K., Marketing Research, Eastern Economy Edition, 4th Edition.

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