CHAPTER I

1.1. INTRODUCTION & SIGNIFICANCE OF THE

PROJECT
India is one of the few countries across the globe where economic growth is led by

domestic consumption. Given a very young population, growing consumer class,

increasing spending power, and low media penetration, India continues to be an attractive

market for media and entertainment services. The Indian Media and Entertainment

industry has witnessed a strong growth in recent times and estimates suggest that the rate

of expansion will accelerate and the industry will be worth over a trillion rupees in the

next five years.

Media and entertainment has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors of the

economy. In the last few years there has been an exponential growth in the number of

television channels and also private FM radio operators. These are providing quality

entertainment and information across the country. The boom in the broadcasting industry

is reflective of the dynamism of Indian entrepreneurs and a liberal economic policy

pursued by this Government.

Trends in Entertainment & Media (E&M) Industry

Indian small screen programming started off in the early 1980s. At that time there was

only one national channel Doordarshan, which was government owned.

The Ramayana and Mahabharat (both being Hindu mythological stories based on

religious scriptures of the same names) were the first major television series produced.

This serial notched up the world record in viewership numbers for a single program. By

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the late 1980s more and more people started to own television sets. Though there was a

single channel, television programming had reached saturation. Hence the government

opened up another channel which had part national programming and part regional. This

channel was known as DD 2 later DD Metro. Both channels were broadcasted

terrestrially.

Post Liberalisation Television

The central government launched a series of economic and social reforms in 1991 under

Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Under the new policies the government allowed private

and foreign broadcasters to engage in limited operations in India. This process has been

pursued consistently by all subsequent federal administrations. Foreign channels like

CNN, Star TV and domestic channels such as Zee TV and Sun TV started satellite

broadcasts. Starting with 41 sets in 1962 and one channel, by 1991 India had over 130

million homes with television sets, of which nearly 71 million have access to cable TV.

The overall Cable TV market is growing at a robust 8-10%. The emergence and

notification of the HDVSL standard as a home grown Indian digital cable standard is

likely to open an era of interactivity on cable networks.

Sun TV (India) was launched in 1992 as the first private channel in South India. Today it

has 20 television channels in the four South Indian languages - Kannada, Malayalam,

Tamil and Telugu. Channels of the Sun TV network are also available outside of India.

Recently Sun TV launched a DTH service.

The Raj Television Network was started in 1994 and continues to be an important player

in the South Indian cable TV provider space.

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In 1992, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television. Five

new channels belonging to the Hong Kong-based STAR TV gave Indians a fresh breath

of life. MTV, STAR Plus, Star Movies, BBC, Prime Sports and STAR Chinese

Channel were the 5 channels. Zee TV was the first private owned Indian channel to

broadcast over cable. A few years later CNN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic

Channel made its foray into India. Star expanded its bouquet introducing STAR

World, STAR Sports, ESPN, Channel V and STAR Gold. Regional channels flourished

along with a multitude of Hindi channels and a few English channels. By

2001 HBO and History Channel were the other international channels to enter India. By

1999–2003, other international channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, VH1,

Disney and Toon Disney came into foray. In 2003 news channels started to boom.

The cable services industry in India has come a long way since the government opened

the doors for private cable players in 1992. Since the exponential leap in the Indian

economy in the last decade, the Indian cable television industry has become a large

sector, and is amongst the largest in the world. India now has around 80 million cable

and satellite homes, out of which a dominant 68 million are served by cable.

To meet the needs of a growing and ever evolving audience, the country has seen a

proliferation of new television channels in all genres and across several languages. This

has led to higher demand for capacity in cable distribution and consequently, digitization

of cable platforms has been the natural progression for the industry. It is happy to note

the recent trend of voluntary digitization and the openness of local cable operators to

adapt to newer technologies. Change in technology has been forced on the industry

3
because, of the competitive push of the Direct to Home (DTH) sector, and partly due to

greater awareness of advantages of better infrastructure. Digital cable not only offers

consumers excellent audio- video capabilities but also has added features like two-way

interactivity. The cable plant is the fattest pipe running into the consumer premises and

once converted to digital offers the biggest bandwidth for all possible data, voice and

video applications or triple play services. It has the added advantage of transparency,

which benefits the entire television broadcasting value chain.

The television distribution industry is witnessing a big transformation led by

technological changes, and changing consumer expectations. These changes are posing

new challenges for the industry and also opening up new opportunities. A large relatively

untapped market, easy accessibility of relevant technology.

Indian media and entertainment industry stood at US$ 12.55 billion in 2008.The

phenomenal exponential development witnessed in recent years in media and

entertainment has made these one of the most rapidly performing sectors in our economy.

The emergence of innumerable TV channels has bridged distances and taken

entertainment and information to every nook and corners of the country, specially rural

India.

Government's liberal economic policy paved way for dynamic local entrepreneurs to

spearhead this boom.

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Key Drivers for Entertainment Industry

• Economic growth of the country in general and rising disposable income levels in

particular

• Gradually liberalising attitude of the Government

• Greater interface with international companies

• Privatisation and growth of the radio industry

• Advancement in technology

• Favourable regulatory initiatives

• Liberalized foreign investment regime

Television Sector in India

Television Industry in India has gained new momentum due to liberalization and

enhanced enthusiasm shown by the broadcasters to seize a huge share of the

entertainment and media industry.

Growth of TV Channels in India: The number of private satellite TV channels has grown

astronomically over the years, from 1 TV channel in 2000 to 394 TV channels in

2009.The number of non-news & current affairs TV channels has grown from 0 to 183

and that of news & current affairs TV channels has grown from 1 to 211.

Foreign Broadcasters: A number of foreign broadcasters are down linking their channels

into India. A total of 67 TV channels, uplinked from abroad, have been permitted

registration to be down linked in India during the years 2006-2009.

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DTH Service: DD DIRECT+ is India's first and only FTA Direct-To-Home (DTH)

service being provided by Prasar Bharati (a public service broadcaster). Apart from

Prasar Bharati, Dish TV India Ltd., Tata Sky Ltd, and Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd., Reliance

Big TV Pvt. Ltd., Bharti Telemedia Ltd and Bharat Business Channel Ltd have also been

granted license for operating DTH services.

Digitalization of Cable Services

Digital mode of delivery of content to television viewers has been given a thrust by

Introduction of Conditional Access System (CAS) in parts of four metros using Delhi,

Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The Government is now engaged in the process of

drawing lessons from the first phase of implementation and laying down a path for their

expansion in other areas.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its recent recommendations on

restructuring of cable services has proposed to prescribe a time period of 5 years within

which the existing and new Multi System Operators (MSOs) and Local Cable Operators

(LCOs) will have to digitalise with some incentivisation from the license fee as also

support from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for setting up two way cable

networks for providing broadband services in rural areas. Beyond the five-year period no

new license for cable operation will be given for analog services.

Government is also working on extending the Conditional Access System (CAS) area

firstly to the remaining parts of the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and then

to the 55 cities as suggested by the TRAI group. Measures are also being considered to

bring down the cost of the Set Top Box by rationalization of tax and duty structure.

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Head-end In The Sky (HITS)

To speed up the process of digitilisation of cable services located in non-CAS areas of the

country, the Government is in the process of taking a view on the recommendations of

TRAI on the issue of the proposed policy framework on the Headend In The Sky (HITS)

mode of delivery of content to the cable operators. This system will enable the packaging

of content in digital form at the level of HITS operator who will uplink it to a satellite to

be received by the cable operators and thereafter distributed in digital mode through cable

network. The key factor in conversion of small time cable operators to the digital mode of

delivery is the investment required to be made in the setting up of digital headend, CAS

and SMS. Introduction of HITS services can help reduce these costs for the small time

cable operators, thus speeding up the transition and will also be beneficial to consumers.

By introduction of addressability it will help bring transparency in cable operations to the

benefit of all stakeholders including the Government.

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)

The policy on Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) was announced on 8th September 2009 by the

Government. This opened up the doors for another mode of distribution of signals by

close to 400 permitted satellite TV channels through the Telecom Networks. This gives a

new digital visual experience to the Indian viewer with added value to cater to the ever-

persisting demand of the subscribers for new and interactive services. This also provides

increasing opportunities to create diverse business models both for the broadcasters as

well as for the platform service providers. The policy on IPTV offers greater clarity on

the issues involved, and both the telecom operators and the cable operators are able to

provide IPTV services which is to be regulated as per their respective licensing

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conditions. Under the Policy, the content will be regulated as per the Programme and

Advertisement Codes as prescribed under the Cable Act, which takes care of several

apprehensions including those with respect to provisioning of obscene content. It defines

the liability for violations of content codes and how they will be dealt with and takes care

of the concerns relating to national security. The policy also enables Multi System

Operators (MSOs) and Cable operators along with broadcasters to provide content to

Telecom licensees providing IPTV services. The policy also enables IPTV service

providers to create its own content except for the news and current affairs. With the

Government committed to expanding the Broadband penetration, IPTV is slated to play a

big role in distribution of content.

Mobile TV

Mobile TV is another mode of distribution of TV channels. A joint Group of Ministry of

I & B and DoT has considered the regulatory and licensing issues of mobile TV and held

that if mobile TV services are to be provided in the broadcasting mode using transmission

of terrestrial or satellite broadcast signals, they will come under the domain of MIB and

will be governed by the applicable laws. If they are provided by using the infrastructure

of telecom service provider, they will fall in the domain of MCIT. The report of the Joint

Group is being examined. The Government has also made a reference to the TRAI for

policy framework for opening up the sector for private participation. TRAI has placed its

draft recommendations on the website to enable the Government put a policy framework

in place. It is also under consideration whether Prasar Bharati infrastructure can also be

shared with Mobile TV service providers for the benefit of both.

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1.2. Project Topic
As the above facts reveal that there is a need for further study and research in the

digitalization of television distribution in India, hence, the topic “Growth & Trends

of Digital Distribution in Television in India.” is chosen.

1.3. Hypotheses

Digital Distribution in Television in India has good prospects & will have the lion

share of the world market, as penetration of digitalization in rural India will be high.

1.4. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

1. To Understand digital distribution & how it evolved in India

2. How digitalization has impacted the television industry & what are the benefits and

problems of digitalization.

3. The future of digitalization.

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1.5. Scope:

This projects aims at how digital distribution evolved in television industry in India &

how it impacts the MSO’s, Channel owners and the consumers. It also would cover the

trends of this industry, who are the players at present & who would enter in the future.

Finally it will touch upon how this industry will grow in future and what will be the

benefits of digital distribution. It would also touch on mobile television.

Brief about the distribution trends in the past and the problems of it. It would also

give a global perspective of digitalization.

1.5. Limitation of the study

The survey is limited to few cities cable networks because, it is

difficult to take up the system in the entire country as it is spread over vast geographical

territory. In a limited time it is possible to study the above topic confining only to cities

like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore which has the highest number of

digital homes i.e., 1393000 homes as per the 1st phase of digitalization.

Digitalization is an order of the day hence, its growth and prospect is a must.

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Chapter II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1. References to information published earlier & Key Findings:

Many articles have been published in leading journals outside India & also in India.

Further the I &B ministry and the leading media personnel and investors have given their

opinions regarding the digitalization which have been summarized as below.

1. The research was undertaken by Jerome Adda & Marco Ottaviani(Bib-1) with the

support of the UK Economic and Social Research Council .The authors have expressed

that they have been greatly benefited from the experience gained while assisting the UK

Department of Trade and Industry on modelling the transition to digital television. This

has been published in Economic Policy January 2005 Printed in Great Britain.

The paper confines only to UK data. However it is applicable to some of the metros

in India. Authors opine that paper studies the role of economic policy for the transition

from analogue to digital television, with particular attention to the switch off of the

analogue terrestrial signal. The analogue signal cannot be credibly switched off until

almost all viewers have migrated to digital, due to the policy objective of universal access

to television. But before switch off, only part of the population can be reached with the

digital signal. In addition, those who are reached need to spend more to upgrade their

reception equipment than after switch off, because the capacity to increase the power

of the digital signal will be made available only then.

After reviewing the competitive structure and the role of government intervention

in television markets, authors present the early experience of a number of industrialized

countries in the transition to digital television. Then they formulate a microeconometric

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model of digital television adoption by individual viewers. The model is calibrated to UK

data and simulated to predict the impact of government policies on the take-up of digital

television. Policy makers can affect the speed of take up of digital television by: (1)

controlling the quality of the signals and the content of public service broadcasters; (2)

intervening in the market for digital equipment with subsidies; and (3) publicizing the

conditions and date of switch off of the analogue signal. They find that if the analogue

terrestrial signal is switched off only when certain aggregate adoption targets are reached,

strategic delays may arise and expectations may affect the success of the switch off

policy.

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2. Alan Breznick, a veteran business journalist and analyst, is the editor of Cable
Digital News(Bib-2) and a frequent contributor to other communications industry

publications opines that After years of disappointing delays and distractions, digital cable

is finally making its long-awaited debut across the vast Indian subcontinent.

Two of India's larger cable operators, namely Hathaway Cable & Datacom and InCable

Net, are now rolling out digital video service in select markets throughout the booming

country. The much-anticipated commercial rollouts by the two large MSOs follow

several field trials earlier in the year and in 2005, as well as much discussion about the

industry's digital deployment plans in prior years. Seeking to follow in their footsteps,

several other cable operators are now conducting digital service trials.

while digital cable is expected to grow steadily in India over the next few years, market

watchers don't believe the service will take off nearly as quickly it has in the U.S. and

other TV-loving countries. Instead, they see digital cable gaining ground mostly in the

nation's handful of very big cities. For the reason, India has a huge amount of cable

systems, many, if not most, of them tiny local operations with just hundreds, or even

scores, of subscribers.

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3. The New York Times News Report Collections(Bib-3)
i) Mr. Bhagat explained that some set-top boxes, which had been sitting in warehouses

for months in advance of a government-mandated change to digital television, had proved

a weak match for the heat and humidity of Mumbai. “Sometimes we have teething

problems,” he said.

Growing pains like these are common throughout India’s booming television industry.

Deregulation and new technology have combined to produce an explosion of new

offerings. Before the early 1990s, a single government broadcaster provided a handful of

channels. Now a crowded field of domestic and global media companies, including

the News Corporation, Sony Entertainmentand Walt Disney, offer hundreds of

channels.

ii) Television ownership is growing fast here, and it has plenty more room to expand.

There are roughly 105 million homes with televisions in India, up from 88 million in

2000. The current number of television households is about the same as in the United

States, though for India that amounts to only about half of the country’s households,

compared with 98 percent in the United States.

iii) The pace of change in India is supercharged because the country is catching up to,

and in some cases leapfrogging, developments that took decades to play out elsewhere.

“Everything that happened in the rest of the world in 10 years, is happening here in

two years,” said Vikram Kaushik, the chief executive of Tata Sky, a satellite-TV

14
company that is jointly owned by the News Corporation and the Tata Group, the Indian

industrial conglomerate.

iv) To keep up with changing times, Doordarshan has retooled its programming, adding

genres like soap operas and musical contests to a lineup that is still dominated by more

high-minded — and what some critics would call staid — cultural programming. It has

also started a satellite-TV service that has no subscription fees but also does not

include the most popular private channels.

v) About 60 percent of the nation’s television households subscribe to the cable or

satellite services that carry private channels. Though Indians theoretically have dozens of

channels to choose from, a handful dominate the ratings and earn most of the profits. A

fragmented cable business is straining to reshape itself in response to new regulations and

competition from satellite television services.

The transition to digital cable, meanwhile, has so far occurred only in parts of India’s

four most populous cities. The changeover has been troubled by technical problems,

weak enforcement of a Jan. 1 deadline and a shortage of set-top boxes.

At the same time, the newest technology operates alongside the often stark economic and

social realities of India. Black-and-white televisions still account for an estimated 40

percent of all TV’s in use, and about 56 percent of rural households do not have

electricity, according to India’s 2001 census. And because most homes in India that have

a television have just one set, watching TV can be a communal activity that brings

together the entire family, and often the neighbors, too.

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Perhaps the most striking of the changes in Indian television is what is starting to show

up on the screen.

vi) In the last decade television has attained influence over the popular culture that is

starting to rival that of the film business. And whereas filmmakers have traditionally

worked in close-knit networks that operate in a single language, media companies have

been exploiting the large and growing capacity of cable and satellite networks to cheaply

develop customized channels and shows for different parts of the country. Zee, for

instance, operates several regional-language entertainment and news channels.

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4. Media NewsLine News collection(Bib-4)

PricewaterhouseCoopers in its “Indian entertainment and media outlook 2009" report has

estimated that the Indian Entertainment & Media industry will return to double digit

growth in 2010 .

India’s E&M industry witnessed remarkable growth in recent years having consistently

outpaced growth in domestic GDP. While annual average growth in nominal GDP was

14.48% over the period 2004-08, overall E&M growth in 2008 slowed, reflecting weaker

overall economic conditions. This is expected to continue in 2009.

Timmy Kandhari, leader India Entertainment and Media practice,

PricewaterhouseCoopers said, “The slowdown in growth requires the E&M industry to

revisit their short term business plans and strategies. However, double digit growth is

expected to return over the forecast period with India recording one of the highest growth

in the E&M industry as well as in advertising spending in the world, along with China.”

Television industry is projected to continue to be the major contributor to the overall

industry revenue pie and is estimated to grow at a stable rate of 11.4% cumulatively over

the next five years, from an estimated Rs. 244.7 billion in 2008. The overall television

industry is projected to reach Rs. 420.0 billion by 2013. In the Television pie, television

distribution is projected to garner a share of 60% in 2013. On the other hand, television

advertising industry is projected to command a share of 41.0% in 2013, having increased

from a present share of 39.0% in the total ad industry pie. The relative share of the

television content industry is expected to remain constant at 4%.

Timmy Kandhari added, “Against the backdrop of volatility in advertising spending, we

are also experiencing increased fragmentation of media and its audiences. This will

17
result in a structural change in the advertising world with advertising becoming more

targeted, interactive and accountable.”

5. Mr. Sunder Raju(Bib-5) highlights that the year 2009 has been a dynamic one for

the Indian cable industry. Continuing its boom, it is all set to ensure that the TV is not an

'idiot box' anymore!

Cable business has undergone a change from being extremely fragmented earlier, has

now become more systematic and corporatised. With a growing market share, digital

cable is becoming a larger chunk of the pie and is on its way to give DTH a run for its

money.

Further he hints the problems faced by the operators.

i) One of the challenges faced by them is that vis-à-vis digital, DTH has a larger

geographical presence. Despite DTH being much more expensive than cable, it has

higher penetration because digital runs through a cable network and that limits any

player's footprint to the area already cabled by them.

ii) Also, though the cable industry has changed massively, it is still fragmented. Hence,

any operator going national needs to accommodate a number of industry-specific issues,

such as adjusting to rapid technological change, working and accommodating with

different workforce demographics, changing and restructuring the entire face of the

organisation.

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iii) Another challenge lies in the fact that since a large part of the cable industry is still

unorganised, the corporate players within the industry at times face content related

challenges

iv) There is an oversupply of service providers in the Indian market, with various small

players present everywhere. This is also because starting an analogue business requires

small investments. In addition to this, with growing inflation, there is less advertising to

support the services. Domestic regulations limit advertising to just 10 minutes per hour.

v) With DTH penetrating in every corner of the country, analogue service providers are

now facing a major roadblock where profitability is concerned. Consolidation is the way

of the future and will bail them out.

He observes that during 2009 the industry has not only improved customers' TV viewing

experience with better picture quality, consistent network and improved content on local

channels, but it has also drastically improved the quality of overall customer service.

Towards the end of 2009, HITS (Headend-in-the-Sky) was approved. HITS will allow

use of satellites to distribute cable signals instead of the traditional cables that operators

use. This is similar to the DTH system - the only difference being that in this case, cable

operators will download signals for further distribution in homes. A quick decision soon

on compulsory digitalisation for pay channels will ensure that the advantage of digital

would be experienced by the customer.

Parts of India have recently been exposed to the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)

services. Companies offering IPTV are mostly conducting pilots in bigger cities of India,

such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore.

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Mr. Sunder Raju opines that with 111 million Television Homes of which 51 million are

urban households and 60 million are rural households and 85 million C&S Homes, India

is bound to see many changes in the coming year and years ahead. Indian

cable TV industry has a huge potential and that is being recognized by people.

More and more customers are demanding better picture quality, more channels and better

customer service - all at affordable prices. Hence, digitalisation is inevitable and seems to

be the only way forward for analog service Providers. Also the need of the hour is clearly

training and a reminder that "the customer is King."

Not only this, cable TV has become a great platform for providing, entertainment,

information and also education. Strategic partnerships with various content houses will

determine how any service provider progresses. This will also put an end in the near

future to broadcast of pirated content.

Building a robust subscription income, digitising rapidly and developing broadband as a

revenue stream seems to be the business model all the leading multi-system operators

(MSOs) are going to chase after having spread their tentacles across the country. Apart

from this 'Value Added Services' are a definite means to generating revenues. Services

like education on TV, web browsing, gaming and ticket booking have a huge potential in

the Indian market.

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6. According to a study done by the Hong Kong-based Media Partners Asia (MPA),

(Bib-6) in the Asia-Pacific region, India is set to emerge as Asia's leading revenue

generating pay-TV market by 2015 with multichannel video industry (cable, DTH and

IPTV) turnover growing from $3.6 billion in 2005 to $7.2 billion by 2010 and $10.5

billion by 2015. As far as India is concerned, economic growth, higher multichannel

penetration, DTH growth and the emergence of IPTV will boost C&S advertising from

$1.02 billion in 2005 to $1.8 billion by 2010 and $2.4 billion by 2015.

In Asia-Pacific region, the regional pay TV sector, an $18 billion revenue opportunity in

2005, could grow at a CAGR of 13 per cent over the next five years and 10 per cent over

the next decade to reach $32 billion by 2010 and over $45 billion by 2015.

The other highlights of the report are

• Multiple digital distribution pipes to drive pay-TV and broadband in Japan

• Competition and digitisation to grow in China with long-term liberalization

• Pay TV penetration grows to 36 per cent; Korea, Taiwan, India and Hong Kong

lead in penetration

• Digital pay TV subscribers were up 37 year on year to 14.4 million, boosted by

aggressive two-way deployments in Australia, Japan and Singapore and robust

growth in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

• Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Korea dominate operator rankings

• China, India and Korea continued to lead in terms of critical mass with an

aggregate of 198 million cable & satellite TV homes, though only 98 per cent of

these homes have been penetrated by addressable digital pay TV systems.

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 7. AK Sekhar, CTO,(Bib-7) You Telecom India Pvt Ltd. Said "Digitisation of video

implies stopping analog transmission altogether, including free-to-air channels. With

this requirement for digitisation, the cable TV industry will go through a

consolidation process where the fragmented, unorganised cable TV operators will

have to tie-up with triple play service providers to form corporatised entities of a

meaningful size. This means, through one connection, cable TV customers can now

access broadband, make voice calls through Internet (VoIP) and watch videos (digital

cable TV) in their residences or in their offices, making triple play services more

accessible to all."

Anuj Gandhi, CEO, Digital Entertainment Network. said currently while most cable TV

operators are offering dual services -channel transmissions and internet services, the next

six months would see the rollout of various online value-added services like 'pay-per-

view,' 'red button initiatives' and 'video on demand.' However, "It will take a few more

years for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to become a reality," he added.

According to survey, conducted by TAM Media Research, the penetration of digital

services in rural areas is four times higher than in the urban areas of the country,

22
8. India Television Summit, held in Mumbai on 29 September 2009,(Bib-8) endorsed by

the Information & Broadcasting Ministry; hosted by Indian Television Dot Com (ITV)

and Media Partners Asia (MPA); was attended by regulators, media owners and

distributors, media buyers, brands, leading technologists, investment banks and private

equity firms. Regulation, competition and digitalisation dominated the day's discussions

with a reality check provided on all forecasts on the potential growth of the TV

distribution and advertising segments.

The following are the experts opinion in the summit

SK Arora secretary Information & broadcasting ministry favored macro regulation rather

than micro regulation. TV industry has to be self-regulated. He further added that "We

will look to continue to provide a framework that supports competition and development.

We certainly envisage greater consumer choice and competition from the rollout of, and

investment, in free-to-air and pay direct-to-home satellite services along with the gradual

introduction of mobile telephony and broadband TV. And, if market forecasts are

anything to go by, the market for digital services could grow to 8 - 12 million subscribers

by 2010."

9. The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) (Bib-9) has said
that the growth of Direct to Home (DTH) platform in India is slowly wiping off the Grey
TV market.
Marcel Fenez, Chairman , CASBAA said. “India’s digital pay-TV market has been

driven by the recent exceptional growth in the digital DTH market but, at last, with 1.7

million digital cable subscriptions, India is finally taking off . The increase in digital pay-

TV market penetration represents a tipping point for our industry in Asia.,”

Lee Beasley, Head of Media & Entertainment at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.

Said “with control of revenue leakage since digital pay-TV creates far greater

23
transparency – what might be termed a ‘digital cushion’ — which can slow the growth of

pay-TV piracy, while accurately tracking pay-TV subscriptions. Foe instance Australia,

Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and New Zealand are almost 100% digital and

have the lowest piracy levels.”

10. Cable and satellite (C&S) households is anticipated to touch the 103 million mark in

2010,(Bib-10) one-fifth of which is expected to be digital homes.

Thus, according to the latest Tam research that gives a quick snapshot of the

demographic proportions and the universe changes in the television sector, digital homes

in 2010 is expected to reach 20 million as against 15 million in 2009. The total number of

C&S households in 2009 stood at 90 million.

The study also states that TV owning households in 2010 will see a 9 per cent growth in

the year to become 134 million, as against 123 million in 2009.

The study further suggests that while digital growth will come from both rural and urban

markets, digital will primarily be driven by pay DTH wherein growth rate of the same

will be higher in the rural zone.

As per Tam, digital homes in the rural market will grow to 14 million while digital homes

in the urban markets will touch about six million.

11. Indian direct-to-home (DTH) industry is set to become the largest market in the world
by 2012 in terms of subscriber base, according to Media Partners Asia.(Bib-11)
India’s subscriber base in 2009 stood at 17 million and will overtake US by 2012, said
the report titled ‘India specific pay-TV and broadband markets 2010’.
India’s DTH subscriber base is expected to reach 45 million by 2014 and 58 million by
2020.

24
The report also predicts digital cable to grow to 17 million subscribers by 2014 and 29
million by 2020.
In 2009, 15 per cent of India’s pay-TV homes had at least one set-top box. This number
will grow to 38 per cent by 2014 and almost 50 per cent by 2020 with HDTV gaining
more traction after 2010, driven by DTH satellite networks.
Cable broadband, a key driver of future cable sector profits, will grow from 850,000
homes in 2009 to three million by 2014, MPA said.
Commenting on the report, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “Cable MSOs
probably face the most challenging future as capital intensity and competitive dynamics
are such that the premium placed on funding and execution skills is growing at an
alarming rate. Nonetheless, most national MSOs will be able to forge stronger last-mile
links with the consumer long-term, with positive implications for future funding as well
as large-scale deployment of digital pay-TV and broadband.”
MPA is more positive on India’s DTH opportunity than previously, especially when
anchored to consolidation and improved pricing power with continued growth, Couto
added.
“We suspect the DTH market will consolidate from six to four platforms within three to
five years, and estimate four will be making money at the EBITDA level by FYE March
2013. Finally, the combination of a strong economy, a larger pay-TV audience and
digitization will also boost the market for broadcast groups. Competition will remain
intense, as the main theater of war shifts to regional markets. The major risk to all our
growth assumptions is regulation, which continues to commoditize and destroy industry
value.”
The future of pay-TV in India will be driven by media owners and distributors expanding
market share with an eye on profits.
Projections from MPA suggest that Indian pay-TV subscribers will grow from 105
million in 2009 to 149 million by 2014, and 173 million by 2020. This means pay-TV
penetration will grow from 78 per cent in 2009 to more than 90 per cent long-term. Cable
will retain 70 per cent market share by 2014, falling to 64 per cent by 2020, while DTH
will scale up to almost 35 per cent share long-term.
Total pay-TV subscription revenues will grow at an average annual rate of 14 per cent
over the next five years and 10 per cent over the next decade, reaching $8 billion by 2014
and more than $12 billion by 2020.
Revenues from HDTV and VAS (including VOD, HDTV and PVR) will contribute more
than $500 million by 2014, rising to $1.5 billion by 2020.
A resurgent economy, an expanded pay-TV market and the growth of regional media
should help bolster pay-TV advertising growth to an average annual rate of 14 per cent
over the next five years, and 10.5 per cent over the next decade.

25
MPA expects the total pay-TV advertising market to reach $3.2 billion in 2014, and $5.1
billion by 2020.
The Indian pay-TV sector generated sales of $6.5 billion for FYE March 2010, while
EBITDA profits for the sector reached $800 million, implying a modest profit margin of
13 per cent. MPA sees industry sales growing to $12.1 billion by 2014 and $18.5 billion
by 2020; margins will improve to 15 per cent and 23 per cent over the same period, with
EBITDA profits reaching $2.3 billion and $4.4 billion.

2.2. Findings from above Literature

The above literature and findings reveal in general that digitalization of television

distribution is on a progressing trend in other countries & in particular it will be booming

in Indian market with regulatory measures, competition, more investments & high profits.

With 100% digitalization grey TV market will vanish. Therefore this research will

provide an analytical view of the growth of digitalization in television distribution to the

industry in general and cable operators in particular.

26
 Chapter III

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

3.1. Concepts:

As it is a relatively new industry compared to other industries the different

terms and concepts used are explained below. (Bib-12)

1. Television (TV) - Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for

transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white")

or color, usually accompanied by sound.

2. Cable television- It is a system of providing television to consumers via radio

frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial

cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television

broadcasting (via radio waves) in which a television antenna is required.

3. Cable Operators- Are the agencies which provide the cable television through
different distribution platforms.

4. MSO- A multiple system operator or multi system operator (MSO) is an operator

of multiple cable television systems. Though in the strictest sense any cable company

that serves multiple communities is thus an MSO, the term today is usually reserved for

companies that own a very large number of cable systems

5. Terrestrial television- It is a mode of television broadcasting which does not

involve satellite transmission or underground cables — typically using radio

27
waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or aerials. it is also referred

as broadcast television or sometimes over-the-air television.

6. Satellite transmission- It is television delivered by the means of communications

satellite and received by a satellite dish and set-top box. In many areas of the world it

provides a wide range of channels and services, often to areas that are not serviced

by terrestrial or cable providers.

7. Analog television- Analog (or analogue) television encodes television picture and

sound information and transmits it as an analog signal: one in which the message

conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude

and/or frequency of the signal.

8. Digital Transmission- signal is received using a dish antenna installed at the

operators premises. This dish antenna receives the signal in encrypted form from the

satellite and is installed with in direct line of sight of the satellite. A Set Top Box (STB)

is placed inside the viewer’s home. From this antenna, a cable connects the STB for

signal transmission.

9. Set top Box- A set-top box (STB) or set-top unit (STU) is a device that connects to

a television and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then

displayed on the television screen or other display device.

10. Direct to home- Typically refers to satellite TV broadcasting directly to a dish

antenna on the roof of a house. DTH is defined as the reception of satellite programmes

with a personal dish in an individual home.DTH is wireless, reaching direct to the

consumer through a small dish and a set-top box.

28
11.HITS- Headend In The Sky (HITS), is a digital distribution platform. HITS serves

the whole country providing its signals through satellite to many Multi System Operator

(MSO)/cable operators who can further send the signals to the customers using their

network. The essential difference between a HITS operator and a Multi System Operator

(MSO) is that the former transmits the bundle of channels to the cable operators using a

satellite, whereas the latter does the same through cable.

12. CAS- CAS or conditional access system, is a digital mode of transmitting TV

channels through a set-top box (STB). The transmission signals are encrypted and

viewers need to buy a set-top box to receive and decrypt the signal. The STB is required

to watch only pay channels.

13. IPTV- . It is a mechanism of viewing the regular television channels over IP. Similar

to satellite TV and cable TV, the signal is encrypted using vendor specific security

mechanisms and can only be decrypted by a receiver (STB). The video is sent in the form

of IP packets over the existing broadband infrastructure and is assembled at the viewers’

end with the help of a Set Top Box.

14. Mobile TV- Mobile television usually means television watched on a

small handheld device. It may be a pay TV service broadcast on mobile phone networks

or received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations from either regular broadcast or a

special mobile TV transmission format.

15. TRAI- The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI (established 1997) is

the independent regulator established by the Government of India to regulate

the telecommunications business in India.

16. Digitalization- digitizing means simply capturing an analog signal in digital form.

29
17. TAM- Television audience measurement TAM Media Research is the TV

Viewership analysis firm of India.

18. TAM People meter- it is a system developed by Arbitron to measure how many

people are listening (or at least exposed) to individual radio stations and television

stations, including cable TV.

19. MPA- Media partners Asia is a leading independent provider of information

services, focusing on media and communications.

These are the common terms used in television industry which has been extracted

from different journals and literature pertaining to digitalization. The study incorporates

many of these terms to explain the digitalization in television distribution. Digitalization

is need of the hour, even a common man will come across most of these concepts.

30
 Chapter IV

METHODOLOGY

4. Methods of data collection & sampling methods adopted

The study is restricted only to Indian market, wherein metros like Mumbai, Delhi,

Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore and 10 lakh + TRP towns have been taken.

However a global scenario is also taken into account and compared with India on the

basis of secondary data.

4.1. Primary data is collected through questionnaire given to the cable operators in

above mentioned metros and 10 lakh+ TRP towns, to derive inferences to compare

with secondary data. The sample size of the cable operators is 200 and interviews

with 2 distribution heads of different TV channels.

4.2. Sampling Method

In nut shell both primary and secondary data have been collected with random sampling

method. Data collected pertains to purposive sampling.

4.3. Secondary data have been collected through articles published in business

magazines, reports from media summits and media research agencies, expert opinions

and news reports.

4.4. Description of data collection tools & Validity and reliability of data

Primary data is collected through questionnaire which were given personally and

also sent through e-mails to cable operators.

The cable operators were selected & contacted based on the area and the networks

they have. Their past service to the customers is the reliability on the data collected.

31
 Secondary data are collected from various media journals and articles from well know

business magazines in the industry. The reports are taken from the recognized media

research agencies like MPA, TAM etc., and there are reports from the media summits

held in the past & current year. There are articles containing expert opinions from this

field. Study also contains articles published by government agencies like I & B

ministry.

32
 CHAPTER V

DATA ANALYSIS

5.1 Analysis of Primary data based on Questionnaire & Secondary Data

based on TAM Report 2010

1. Cable TV service:

All the 200 respondents are providing both Analog and Digital services. None of the

respondent is providing Internet, IPTV and Video on Demand.

2. Linked to MSO/ Independent Head end:

181 respondents are MSOs and only 19 are independents head ends who are from

10 Lakh+ TRP towns. It means 90% is covered by MSO.

3. Number of Subscribers:

Table 5.1

No.of
Area Respondents Subscribers
Analog Digital
% %
Beginning Present Growth Beginning Present Growth
Metros 120 124315 445500 258.36 121650 675750 455.49
10L+
TRP 80 50925 93900 84.39 50925 162400 218.9
Over All 200 175240 539400 207.81 172575 838150 385.57

Table 5.1 explains that number of subscribers both in Analog and Digital is on

increase over the years. It is more in metros than TRP towns. The overall growth in

Analog subscriber which accounts for 207.81% is less compared with Digital

subscriber which contributes 385.67%. Within the TRP towns Digital which

33
 accounts for 218.90% scores over Analog which is 84.39%. It is concluded that

Digitalization in small towns are happening at a faster rate.

Analysis of Secondary Data based on TAM Report 2010 (bib-15)

Chart 5.1

Chart 5.1 Shows TV owning households are on increase from 123 Million in 2009 to 134

million in 2010 which accounts for 9% growth. Similarly C & S households among the

TV owning households are on increase from 90 million in 2009 to 103 million in 2010

which accounts for increase of 15.2%. Non C & S population has been reduced from 33

million in 2009 to 30 million in 2010, this trend reflects that people are switching to cable

services. There is a sharp increase in Digital services from 15 million in 2009 to 20

million in 2010 which accounts for 28% growth, it is clear from the table that

Digitalization is in upward trend.

34
 Chart 5.2.

Explains comparison between Urban Vs Rural market for the year 2010. TV owning are

more in Rural area i.e., 70 million compared to Urban i.e., 64 million, further C & S

households are more in urban i.e., 54 million as compared to 49 million in Rural market.

Non C & S homes are more in Rural i.e., 21 million as compared to 10 million in Urban

area. The special feature in the table is Digital service accounts for 14 million in Rural

area whereas it accounts for only 6 million in Urban market. Digitalization is penetrating

the Rural India which is a more potential market in TV industry.

35
 Chart 5.3

7%

54%

Chart 5.3 Explains the growth in TV population between 2009 & 2010 with different

modes. C & S analog population which was 148.1 million in 2009 has gone upto 158.9

million in 2010 which accounts for only 7% growth, where as C & S digital population

has increased from 13.2 million in 2009 to 20.3 million in 2010, there is enormous

growth of 54%. Non C & S population has remained more or less the same. It is

concluded Digitalization is spreading at a faster rate.

The results of analysis from primary and secondary data coincide i.e., Digitalization

is picking up in India overall and is faster in semi-urban and rural areas.

4. Number of channels and subscription fees:

36
 Table 5.2

No.of
Area Respondents Analog Digital
No.of No.of
Channels Fees(Rs) Channels Fees(Rs)
Metro 5 per
CAS 25 80 120 90 Ch+Tax
Metros 95 80-90 120-300 90-190 250-300
10L+
TRP 80 80 150 150 200
Overall 200 80-90 120-300 90-190 200-450

Table 5.2 depicts that all the areas are providing almost same number of channel in

analog i.e., 80-90 and the subscription fee is ranging between Rs.120-300 but in Digital

metro CAS areas are providing 90 channels and are charging Rs.5 per pay channel + tax.

The CAS areas are confined to overall Chennai, some parts of Delhi and Mumbai.

Customers in CAS areas are free to choose the pay channels they wish to subscribe. This

reveals that revenue in Digitalization in all areas is more compared to analog.

Chart 5.4.

37
The above chart reveals Urban & Rural digital growth especially Pay DTH. Digital
establishment of Pay DTH in Urban area has increased from 73% in 2008 to 86% which
accounts for 13% increase. Where as in rural area it has gone up from 34% in 2008 to
64% in 2010 which is 30% increase. Therefore the Pay DTH penetration is higher &
faster than free DTH and Digital cables in Rural than Urban market.
The results of the above data show that subscribers are ready to pay higher for Digital

services which in turn proves that the revenue from Digitalization is higher compared to

Analog.

5. Preference of Digital services over Analog services:

All the 200 respondents have given there preference for Digital service over Analog,

Even the interview with distribution heads opine that Digital service has an edge

over analog. All the respondents & distribution heads have given the following

reasons for preference.

 Analog provides limited channels i.e., 90 channels out of 500 channels

available in India, whereas Digital provides more than 200 channels.

38
  Quality of picture and sound is poor in Analog due to its limited band width,

but it is superior & uniform in all the channels provided in Digital.

 Fees charged for Analog and Digital has minor difference, hence customers

prefer Digital service over Analog.

6. Digitalization benefits to Business:

All the respondents agree that Digitalization has benefited their business, it has

also benefited the broadcasters as per the opinion of distribution head. This is mainly on

account of

 Low investment for cable operators.

 Low maintenance cost.

 High subscription fees and more number of subscribers.

 In case of broadcasters the huge carriage fees which was paid for analog operators

has come down in case of Digital which means they save money by providing

channel to Digital operators.

As a result cost is less & revenue is more and profit margins have increased. It is

concluded that Digitalization has enhanced the business.

39
7. Whether DTH service has affected the Digital Cable service:

Out of 200 respondents 171 have given that DTH services have not affected their

business which forms 85%. Only 29 are of the opinion that DTH has affected their

business, which accounts for only 15%. Among 29, 19 are from TRP towns & they

are of the opinion that charges in Digital cable are less compared to DTH. 10

respondents are from metros who opine that DTH has more features compared to

Digital Cable service like pausing the live TV and recording of TV serials etc.,.

Hence, general opinion is that DTH services have not affected the business of

Digital cable service.

8. Is Digital cable better than DTH?

All respondents are of the opinion that Digital cable is better than DTH on account of

following reasons.

 Less investment

 No hidden charges.

 Low subscription fees hence more subscribers.

 Quick and better maintenance and services.

 Installation charges are low.

Hence, it is concluded that Digital cable is better than DTH services.

40
9. Future of Digitalization:

All respondent have given a green signal for better future of Digitalization, it

correlates with the similar opinion of the distribution heads on account of the following

reasons.

 More number of channels are provided

 The subscriber base is on increase.

 Better quality of picture and sound

 Less investment

 In case of broadcasters it gives them an option to reach more regional customers

with facility like option to view channels like discovery in regional language.

Revenue for broadcasters is higher from Digital services, Better quality of channel

reception.

On account of all the above reasons digitalization has a better future which will

eliminate Grey TV from the market.

41
Analysis of Secondary Data based on TAM Report 2010 (bib-15)

Table 5.3.(a)

Table 5.3.(a)

indicates that

between 2009

and 2010 TV

owning

households in

all India has

9% growth,

whereas it is

8% in 6

metros, 9% in rest of states with 1 million+ population and 10% in Rural market which is

more. Similarly in the same period C & S has (% growth in 6 metros, 11% in rest of

states & 13% in smaller towns which is higher than all India growth of 11%

Digital growth during 2009-2010 is 23% in 6 metros, 74% in rest of the states & 102%

in small towns which is nearly double of all India growth of 54%.

It is very clear that growth is higher in smaller towns on population strata wise across

TV Owning, C&S and Digital platforms. It has grown more than 100% with Digital

service in case of Rural areas, which is fastest.

42
 Table 5.3 (b)

Table 5.3.(b) depicts Digitalization on the basis of Socioeconomic classification during

2009-2010. It indicates that Digital growth rate at all India in case of SEC C is 57.3 %

and SEC D & E is 68.1% which is higher than SEC A & B it means non-metros have

witnessed a significant Digital growth.

Chart 5.5

43
Table 5.5 shows that all India Digital penetration has increased from 9% in 2009 to 11%

in 2010, where as it has increased at higher rate during 2009-2010 in small town and

Rural area like Orissa 8% - 19% in 2010, Assam 10-19% , Gujarat 5%-10%, MP 5%-

10%, TN 7%-10%, AP 2%- 4%. Non-metro markets are having more potential in Digital

penetration in years to come.

Results of primary data and secondary data are similar. Which shows that Digitalization

has better future, Especially in rural areas.

CHAPTER VI

RESEARCH FINDINGS & CONCLUSION

44
6.1 Research Findings

The following are the findings concluded from the study of primary data and
secondary data.

 Analog Services(C&S) is being provided by all cable operators.

 Digital service is on increase in all areas and there is a marked increase in rural

areas which accounts for more than 100% growth.

 Analog services are more in number, but DTH (pay TV) are yielding more

revenue.

 Services through internet/ IPTV will increase from 4.2%-13.4% in 2013 and VOD

is yet to pick up the market, however as per research done by MPA shows that

revenue fro HDTV and VAS like VOD will contribute more than $500 million by

2014, rising to $1.5 billion by 2020.

 Customers prefer Digital services over Analog especially in Non-metro markets

on account of better picture quality, more number of channels & also due to their

changed habits of spending.

 Digitalization has benefited business of cable operators as well as DTH services.

 Digital cable is better than DTH services because, fee charged by cable operators

are lesser than DTH. DTH provides basic channels and channels like sports etc.,

will be charged extra (package).

 Digital cable has better future in India. Even TRAI’s mandatory law for

conversion to digitalization will help to grow at a faster rate.

 With the introduction of 3G, Mobile TV market in India will open up.

45
6.2 Conclusion

The digitalization is growing much faster and will yield higher revenues. It

should tap the Rural market which has more potential. With Digitalization Grey TV

market (Piracy) in India will vanish, this is possible with the implementation of TRAI

mandatory law.

6.3 Recommendations & Policy Implications

The following are the recommendations made to help the cable operators &

broadcasters with Digitalization

 Digital cable operators need to spread their services to Rural market because,

metros are cluttered with huge number of digital players. At present the Rural

market is dominated only by DTH.

 Digitalization in India is lagging behind when compared to countries like UK,

USA, Australia and Hong Kong where 100% Digitalization exists and Piracy is

nil. India needs to speed up the process & the TRAI law of compulsory

Digitization should be implemented as early as possible.

 Media investment bankers feel that the FDI at present in cable TV, DTH and pay

TV is lesser as compared to other industries like Telecom and Internet service

which have 74% and 100% FDI respectively. Hence FDI limit in TV industry

should be increased.

 With the entry of Digital cable TV to Rural market revenue generation will

increase which is very less at present in India as compared to China & Korea.

46
 To eliminate unhealthy competition among cable operators and DTH service the

broadcasters must make available all channels on a non discriminatory basis.

Competition must be for providing good and qualitative services.

 There should be a reasonable increase in subscription fee which will provide an

incentive to cable operators to upgrade there systems and provide better quality

service.

 To attract more subscribers to Digital, TV entertainment should be innovative,

effective and interactive.

 IPTV providers need to scale up their services because in other countries IPTV is

100%.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

47
1. The transition to digital television

by Jérôme Adda and Marco Ottaviani

University College London; London Business School

Economic Policy January 2005 pp. 159–209 Printed in Great Britain

© CEPR, CES, MSH, 2005.

2. www.cablelabs.com

Digital Cable Makes Debut in India

By Alan Breznick

Vol. 18, No. 5 — November/December 2006

3. The New York Times

In India, the Golden Age of Television Is Now

By VIKAS BAJAJ

Published: February 11, 2007

MUMBAI, India. News Report Collections

4. Media NewsLine

India's Media industry to grow 10.5 % by 2013 : PWC

Anubhav Goyal

Wed, 29 Jul 2009

5. 2009 a dynamic year for Indian cable industry

48
 By Mr. Sunder Raju M.D. of Act television

Indiantelevision.com

6. Indian pay TV market to be $7 billion+ by 2010: MPA

Indiantelevision.com Team

(2 March 2006 )

7. Cable TV set for major transformation soon

Vipin Bajaj - Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai

Monday - Aug 04, 2008

8. Report on Indian Television summit(MPA & ITV)

Mumbai

29th Sep 2009

9. DTH Growth Killing Grey TV Market in India : CASBAA

By Mediadir DTH News

November 15th, 2008

10. Digital homes to see 28% growth in 2010: study

By Mediadir DTH News

49
 January 5th, 2010

11. India to be the largest DTH market by 2012: MPA

By Mediadir DTH News

April 22nd, 2010

12. www.wikipedia.com

13. TRAI Report.

24th July 2007

14. FICCI- KPMG Report

March 2010

15. TAM annual universe update 2010

www.tamindia.com

Annexure- I
50
 Subject: “Growth & Trends of Digital Distribution in Television
in India.”

Survey by: Sushma. P. Adavi

MBA M & E, Sem II, Manipal University

THIS QUESTIONNAIRE SHALL HELP US TO

SERVE YOU BETTER
Place: - _____________________ TRP Town: -_________________________

Name of the Cable TV Network & Address:-

_______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Telephone/Mobile No.:____________________________

Email Id:- _____________________________________

1. As Cable Operator what are services you are offering to your subscribers?

Kindly tick the followings.

Cable TV Service:- Analog / Digital / Internet / IPTV / VOD

2. Linked to which MSO/IND Headend? Kindly tick any one.

Hathway/ IN Cable/ WWIL/ Youtelcom / DEN / Kable First / DIGI Cable /

Other (specify)

___________________________

3. How many Digital Cable Subscribers you have :-

51
 When started ___________ Present (As on date) ______________

How many Analog Subscribers you have:-

When started ___________ Present (As on date) ______________

4. How many Channels do you provide in Analog & the subscription fee :-

__________________

How many Channels do you provide in Digital & the subscription fee:-

___________________

5. Do customers prefer Digital Service over Analog service? Yes / No

If yes give reasons

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

6. Has Digitalisation benefited your business? Yes / No

If yes give reasons

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

7. Whether DTH Service has affected your business? Yes / No

If yes give reasons

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

52
8. Do you feel that Digital Cable is better than DTH service? Yes / No

If yes give reasons

____________________________________________________________

9. Is there a better future for digital cable service in India? Yes / No

If yes give reasons

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

10. Any suggestions

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

ANNEXTURE II (1)

53
Subject: “Growth & Trends of Digital Distribution in Television in

India.”

INTERVIEW WITH THE DISTRIBUTION HEADS

Name & Designation :-_Vijay Simha R.S.

Name of the Organization:- _B4U Televison Network ( India ) Pvt.Ltd.

Telephone/Mobile No.: 09886299399

Email Id:- vijay.simha@b4uworld.com

 How long have you been in the distribution field?

10 Years

 What is your opinion about the analog services?

Analog service is very important as on date because all the Ad Agency & TAM is

based on analog service & it’s very constrain to 90+ Channels in a spectrum &

they are around 500 + channels in India, And to get placed the channels in analog

with 90 Channels will be difficult & we have pay huge carriage fees for placing

our channels.

And Picture & Sound clarity also is not good in Analog when compared with

Digital.

 What is your opinion about Digitalization of Television distribution?

Digitalization In Cable TV is very important for every one ( Broadcaster / Ad

Agency / MSO / Cable TV Operators / Customers ). First the Digital Spectrum

can accommodate upto 1200 Channels with very good picture & stereo sound

quality & For Ad Agency they can get directly TAM report from the end-

user/customer. For Mso they can accommodate more channels with better clarity.

54
 Cable Tv Opterators can compete with other digital media like DTH/IPTV. And

finally viewers/customers can view all the channels without upgrading their

television sets/ shall have choice to choose their wish of channels with good

picture & sound quality.

 Has Digitalisation benefited your business ?

It has definitely helped us as a Hindi channel because down south Hindi is non-savvy

market & to place the channel in analog is difficult & huge carriage money is

involved. When digital was introduced in South all non-Hindi channels got benefited

& even customer who were willing to view Hindi channels got the option. And now

TAM has also monitoring TAM for Digital, due to this our channels ratting have gone

up & we are benefited by AD Sales because AD Agency is depending on TAM for

their Media Planning.

 Do you feel that Digital Cable is better than Analog service?

Yes, Digital has more option for the broadcaster, We can accommodate more no

of audio channels for the regional users like Dicovery Channel has Same Video

But Customers can choose the Audio of their choice (English/Hindi/Tamil /

Telegu Or Kannada) With better picture & stereo . We can also have the

technology where voting for the reality show can happen real time. We can also

offer HD Quality in Digital Service. As a broadcaster we can get the actual no. of

subscriber fees where as in analog we have fixed subscriber base which is lesser

than the actual subscriber base which is declare by MSO / Cable TV Opts. The

Digital has so many advantages for all.

55
 Is there a better future for digital cable service in India ?

Yes, digitalization has made more players to enter in Cable TV Industry & for us

more revenues / viewers. Viewing experience shall change with better Picture &

Sound & its shall be interactive / Gaming / VOD ( Video On Demand ) We as

broadcasters can put our library & we can generate money out of this service.

 Do you feel Digitalization is profitable?

Yes, cost involved to maintain Analog is more than Digital, Where as in Digital

Cost factor is less, better clarity & many more to add up.

 Any Comments/ Suggestions

This is required for the industry & this shall help all to understand about

digitalization in India.

56