DTH monthly subscription at Rs 100

In order to tempt the existing cable subscribers to shift to the direct-to-home (DTH) platform, the DTH operators have reduced the entry-level price of monthly subscriptions on DTH platform to Rs 100. This means that the average monthly subscription charges of watching the cable channels on DTH platform has come down to Rs 182-249, almost at par with the existing monthly cable charges paid by consumers to their local cable operators.

Earlier, the average monthly outgo for subscribing to the DTH services was Rs 280-300 (inclusive of price of a DTH settop box, hardware and monthly subscriptions).

Leading DTH operator Dish TV (3.75 million subscribers), an Essel Group venture, has now launched the largest offering of channels and services (125 channels) at Rs 100 per month just days after its rival Tata Sky (2.5 million subscribers) launched an entry-level subscription offer of Rs 99 per month (53 channels).

Both these DTH operators have dropped their monthly subscription prices significantly after Big TV from Reliance ADAG launched its services with one of the starting offers at Rs 100 (44 free-to-air channels) last month.

This means that any cable consumer can now shift to Dish TV's DTH connection by paying Rs 2,190 one time (an average of Rs 182 per month) for the Dish TV hardware, set-top box and receive 12 months of subscription of 125 channels that include entertainment channels, movie channels, sports channels and others.

Similarly, to get a Tata Sky connection, a consumer needs to pay Rs 2,999 (monthly average of Rs 249) and will also get an annual subscription of 53 channels including pay channels like Star Plus, Sony TV and active services.

The recently-launched Big TV is also offering the entry-level subscription at Rs 2,490 that includes the hardware, set- top box and various channel packages.

However, if a consumer only wants to watch free-to-air channels, that can be bought by paying a one-time fees for the hardware (Rs 1,490) and a monthly subscription of Rs 100 for 44 free-to-air channels including the Doordarshan.

"Our offer is in line with our overall target of acquiring five million DTH subscribers by March 31, 2009. At Rs 100 per month, we are offering the largest bouquet of channels — something for everyone in the house. This will help us speed up the subscriber acquisitions," Vinay Agarwal, chief executive, Dish TV, told Business Standard.

On its part, Tata Sky is aiming to enter more Hindi-speaking markets with its Rs 99 per month subscription offer. "Tata Sky stands for a premium DTH service. Perhaps, because of this impression, a number of potential subscribers were finding us a little expensive. Now the Rs 99 'super hit pack' will help us get these very subscribers," Vikram Mehra, chief marketing officer, Tata Sky, said.