05-20-2009, 10:35 AM
New Delhi, May 19 Reliance ADAG’s Big TV is looking to launch an affordable digital video recorder by the end of the year. Big TV says it is in talks with prospective partners and may consider selling stake, but didn’t share details.
Its set top box, other hardware and installation charges cost consumers a base price of Rs 1,490. It is considering two options for the DVR.
“We could look at doubling memory from 80 GB to 160 GB with some modification which would cost under $100 or launch the regular DVR at about $150,” said Mr Sanjay Behl, who heads the DTV and IPTV business of Reliance ADAG.
Big TV is readying for high definition (HD) too, and estimates an opportunity of 2.5 million subscribers, half-a-million of who would have complete HD TVs. It would also look to put together HD content from its end.
Mr Behl says Big TV hasn’t seen a slowdown of growth in number of new consumers, and claims the brand is acquiring 15-20 per cent of the incremental market.
Its targeting 30-35 per cent of new consumers. It is also adding 20 new channels which include Star Jalsha, Mahua TV, TV 99 and free-to-air Doordarshan’s regional channels taking its tally to 225 channels.
The company is also in talks with Fox Entertainment for an action and a movie channel. Its also adding to its line up of pay per view and video on demand library content, and will take its library of 250 movies to 400-500, 10 per cent of titles will be less than a year old, says Mr Behl.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is currently in a consultation paper reviewing value added services in DTH.
“The DTH market has nearly doubled over the last year, and we now have about 1.5 million active subscribers,” says Mr Behl.
According to him, the DTH industry would contribute about Rs 700-800 crore in advertising.
Big TV is believed to have spent Rs 50 crore in the launch month, and according to media buyers has an annual spend of about Rs 160 crore.
Its set top box, other hardware and installation charges cost consumers a base price of Rs 1,490. It is considering two options for the DVR.
“We could look at doubling memory from 80 GB to 160 GB with some modification which would cost under $100 or launch the regular DVR at about $150,” said Mr Sanjay Behl, who heads the DTV and IPTV business of Reliance ADAG.
Big TV is readying for high definition (HD) too, and estimates an opportunity of 2.5 million subscribers, half-a-million of who would have complete HD TVs. It would also look to put together HD content from its end.
Mr Behl says Big TV hasn’t seen a slowdown of growth in number of new consumers, and claims the brand is acquiring 15-20 per cent of the incremental market.
Its targeting 30-35 per cent of new consumers. It is also adding 20 new channels which include Star Jalsha, Mahua TV, TV 99 and free-to-air Doordarshan’s regional channels taking its tally to 225 channels.
The company is also in talks with Fox Entertainment for an action and a movie channel. Its also adding to its line up of pay per view and video on demand library content, and will take its library of 250 movies to 400-500, 10 per cent of titles will be less than a year old, says Mr Behl.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is currently in a consultation paper reviewing value added services in DTH.
“The DTH market has nearly doubled over the last year, and we now have about 1.5 million active subscribers,” says Mr Behl.
According to him, the DTH industry would contribute about Rs 700-800 crore in advertising.
Big TV is believed to have spent Rs 50 crore in the launch month, and according to media buyers has an annual spend of about Rs 160 crore.