ADAG to launch DTH service on Tuesday

Big TV, the much-awaited direct-to-home service from Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, will be launched on August 19 in Mumbai.

Big TV's entry in the DTH segment is expected to intesify the competition among the three existing DTH operators on the pricing front, industry sources say.

Big TV will be the fourth entrant in the 7-million private DTH subscribers market following Dish TV's launch in 2003, Tata Sky (2006) and Sun Direct (2007). Doordarshan's DD Direct Plus is the fifth player (also launched in 2003) but is a free-to-air service.

"We will launch Big TV in Mumbai on August 19," a senior executive of Reliance ADAG told Business Standard. Big TV has been testing its service since last year and came close to launching the service a few times earlier this year, sources said.

"Big TV will be launched with over 200 channels in the basic bouquet, the largest offering compared with Dish TV and Tata Sky," a company executive said.

Big TV will offer 25 movie channels, 8-10 special interactive offerings, gaming channels among others using the MPEG-4 compression technology (also offered by Sun Direct currently). Under MPEG-4, service providers can compress more channels per transponders (about 30 per cent more channels) compared to those with MPEG-2, which is used by Dish TV and Tata Sky.

Big TV will initially come out with three to four schemes on the set top boxes similar to offers from the rival DTH operators. The company is also likely to offer its monthly subscription fees at aggressive price points of around Rs 200-250.

Big TV is also likely to bundle offers like discounts on 26-inch LCD television sets along with its subscription. Big TV is expected to spend Rs 200 crore on marketing and promotions in the first year of its launch, which is nearly the same as the amount currently spent by the existing players, industry sources said.

Currently, with over 3.4 million subscribers, Essel Group's Dish TV is the market leader with a market share of more than 56 per cent, followed by Tata Sky (2.3 million DTH subscribers) and Sun Direct. Bharti Airtel's DTH venture Airtel Digital and Videocon's DTH service are also expected to be launched.