DishTV does away with HD access fee

Direct to home (DTH) service provider DishTV, as part of its festive offers announced the ‘HD for All initiative’, which gives popular HD channels access to all subscribers. DishTV also unveiled its new generation HD STB (Set-top Box), ‘DishNXT HD’. With this move, all boxes provided by DishTV are now HD enabled to eliminate the SD- HD divide. 

Currently, all DTH companies charge an HD access fee to customers who wish to avail HD variants of any channel. DishTV is the first to do away with the same. 

HD access for all follows the recent launch of ‘Mera Apna Pack’ that allowed customers to choose their favourite HD channel for just Rs 17 + GST. Now, effectively for as low as at Rs.169+ tax, customers can experience HD viewing.

DishTV's latest STB is a cardless unit with the ability to give 5 times better picture quality, upgraded User Interface and graphics and multilingual support. The STB card is also equipped with an integrated smart chip technology to enable users to interact and tune-in to their television in a smarter way. The cardless feature eliminates the need of a separate viewing card for clutter-free experience and faster performance.

Anil Dua, Group Chief Executive Officer, DishTV said, “HD space has been fast evolving, making significant in-roads into Indian households. With a sharp focus on HD, this move aims at bridging the gap between the SD and HD subscribers and taking away the inhibitions involved in switching from SD to HD. Our endeavour is to increase affinity with our audiences by providing them HD viewing experience. This launch of ‘HD for all initiative’ and also the new DishNXT HD STB will lead to a rapid rise in HD consumption. It will also encourage subsequent upgradation to full HD experience, thereby expanding overall HD viewership and boosting our revenues."

At present, there are 12.8 million HD households. With the potential of having 25-30 million HD subscribers in the next five to six years, this presents a huge opportunity for DTH players.

Sukhpreet Singh, Senior Vice President, Marketing, DishTV said, “As part of our festive offering, this latest innovation has been designed keeping in mind the evolving needs of our discerning customers and to enable an end to end entertainment experience. With new clean, intuitive user Interface, fast navigation and ease of controls, DishNXT HD is a game changer in the Direct to Home entertainment, offering unmatched HD TV viewing experience.”