Dish TV to weed out unwanted channels under new scheme

Customers can now remove channels which they do not wish to watch from their bouquet

Direct-to-Home operator Dish TV has come out with a new initiative "request only basis", in which it will provide flexibility to customers to weed out the channels which they do not want to watch from their bouquet.

 

"Under the scheme, we are providing flexibility to the customers to remove the channels from their bouquet, which they do not wish to watch," Dish TV India Chief Executive R C Venkateish told PTI.

 

He further said that under the scheme which would be applicable on the existing packages, the DTH operators would select some channels and inform its viewers by running scrolls that these channels are on "request only basis".

 

"The viewers would have to send his choice to Dish TV through SMS and within a period of six weeks and that channel would be removed from his package," Venkateish said.

 

Moreover, the Zee Group firm would add 100 bonus points, which are worth Rs 100, in the account of its customers, for the channels which they have removed, he added.

 

"In return, the customer can avail any value-added service from its package and even movie on demand or some ala-carte channel," Venkateish said, adding that the validity of these bonus points would be more than two years.

 

Right now, Dish TV is picking 6 to 9 channels every bouquet and till the end of December this year would add 35 channels and another 35 channels by March 2014.

 

"Within  two years, Dish TV would provide full flexibility to its customers," he said, adding that the company would also save money in this process by not carring the unnecessary channels.

 

According to Venkateish: "Whatever benefit the company would get, it would be passed on to the customers. We would be able to reduce package price as we would be paying only for what the customer is watching. However it would take another 6 to nine months."

 

He further added that now broadcasters tends to add channels in which the viewers do not want to watch and for all those channels now Dish TV would charge carriage fee from the broadcasters.

 

"We would put a tab on its and reduce the packaging price," he added.

 

Venkateish also informed that company's video streaming application 'DishOnline' was doing well and there was over one lakh downloads within 40 days of its launch.

 

"Now we have added two more channels in its and total number is 37. By the end of this year it would be increased to 50," he said.

 

Through DishOnline, launched in the last month, a customer can view programme on devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops.