The digital television viewing dream is all set to become a reality this July. With four top metros-Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai-all set to embrace the all exclusive Digital Addressability System (DAS), media consumers are there are in for a real treat.
Of all the estimated 15 crore television viewers in India one crore are said to reside in these four metros.The government announced last year all analogue signals to go dead by June end 2012 as part of its mandate to usher in digitisation across India in a phased manner, ideally to be completed by end 2013. This in turn would usher India into the big global League of Nations offering cent per cent digital quality television.
An ecstatic JS Sarma, who demitted office as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman on May 14 this year, told DNA: “It (digitalisation) is quite a happy solution for everybody — consumer, industry and the government. The consumer gets unmatched choice and a much better quality service.” Allaying any possible fears, Sarma asserted: “I am confident that every stakeholder is committed to digitisation. This is the key to its success. And the earlier it happens the better it is.”
Endorsing Sarma’s go digital call, Jawahar Goel, managing director, Dish TV, opined, “Today only 60-65 channels are on offer in the analogue cable regime. Digitisation will increase this number manifold and cable operators would be in a position to show roughly around 2,000 channels due to bandwidth expansion.”
He pointed out that digitisation would also lead to a considerable reduction in carriage fees that broadcasters’ pay to reach out to their audiences.
The commitment to digitisationis vocal. “Digitisation will bring in accountability and transparency and better quality service for the end consumer,” said Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom 18. He believed that the entire value chain including the government would benefit due to the initiative.
India is said to be placed disadvantageously when it comes to subscription revenue accruals primarily due to the unorganised nature of the cable industry and its reluctance to embrace transparency. This has resulted in overdependence on the advertiser revenue, which is cyclical in nature. The obvious broadcaster focus on maximising ad space results in the viewer being denied an undisturbed date with high quality content. Globally subscription revenues add up to about a maximum of 80% of aggregate revenues while as in India it could be as low as 20%.
Under declaration also hits adversely government tax receipts. On digitisation leading to better and transparent tax compliance, Goel at Dish said, “There will be all round clarity. For, example, an RTI with the Income Tax Commissioner of Mumbai on profile of service tax receipt from the cable, DTH operators and other entertainment verticals like cinema, events, etc. in the last three years will help understand and compare the extent of tax compliance practiced by various operators.”
Quelling the analyst debate over which business segment would stand to gain more or less due to digitisation, Nayak at Viacom 18 explained, “I think in the long run, this is the right thing to do and it is a win- win situation for everybody.”
Of all the estimated 15 crore television viewers in India one crore are said to reside in these four metros.The government announced last year all analogue signals to go dead by June end 2012 as part of its mandate to usher in digitisation across India in a phased manner, ideally to be completed by end 2013. This in turn would usher India into the big global League of Nations offering cent per cent digital quality television.
An ecstatic JS Sarma, who demitted office as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman on May 14 this year, told DNA: “It (digitalisation) is quite a happy solution for everybody — consumer, industry and the government. The consumer gets unmatched choice and a much better quality service.” Allaying any possible fears, Sarma asserted: “I am confident that every stakeholder is committed to digitisation. This is the key to its success. And the earlier it happens the better it is.”
Endorsing Sarma’s go digital call, Jawahar Goel, managing director, Dish TV, opined, “Today only 60-65 channels are on offer in the analogue cable regime. Digitisation will increase this number manifold and cable operators would be in a position to show roughly around 2,000 channels due to bandwidth expansion.”
He pointed out that digitisation would also lead to a considerable reduction in carriage fees that broadcasters’ pay to reach out to their audiences.
The commitment to digitisationis vocal. “Digitisation will bring in accountability and transparency and better quality service for the end consumer,” said Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom 18. He believed that the entire value chain including the government would benefit due to the initiative.
India is said to be placed disadvantageously when it comes to subscription revenue accruals primarily due to the unorganised nature of the cable industry and its reluctance to embrace transparency. This has resulted in overdependence on the advertiser revenue, which is cyclical in nature. The obvious broadcaster focus on maximising ad space results in the viewer being denied an undisturbed date with high quality content. Globally subscription revenues add up to about a maximum of 80% of aggregate revenues while as in India it could be as low as 20%.
Under declaration also hits adversely government tax receipts. On digitisation leading to better and transparent tax compliance, Goel at Dish said, “There will be all round clarity. For, example, an RTI with the Income Tax Commissioner of Mumbai on profile of service tax receipt from the cable, DTH operators and other entertainment verticals like cinema, events, etc. in the last three years will help understand and compare the extent of tax compliance practiced by various operators.”
Quelling the analyst debate over which business segment would stand to gain more or less due to digitisation, Nayak at Viacom 18 explained, “I think in the long run, this is the right thing to do and it is a win- win situation for everybody.”