Sun TV Network expects DTH business to grow due to Phase II digitisation

Sun TV Network is expecting its Direct-to-Home business, which posted a revenue of Rs 95 crore in the third quarter of the fiscal year, to grow in the current momentum with the Phase II digitisation starts from April, this year. It has shown a 12% growth in the third quarter and the growth trajectory will be strong in the current quarter, said S L Narayanan, Group CFO, Sun Group.

The company's DTH revenues have grown from Rs 84 crore to Rs 94.5 crore. The outlook for this is pretty good because of the second phase of digitisation, which is on the way in 38 cities from April, this year.

Subscription revenues of the company has also grown on the back of the digitisation initiative. Pay channel revenues which is cable revenues, has grown by 25%.

"This growth trajectory will be pretty strong because as the digitisation implementation becomes even more committed, we will see a lot more of faster conversion from analogue to digital, which then gives us the benefit of better subscription revenues," said Narayanan.

During the quarter ended December 2012, the advertisement revenues, which is a major constituent of our revenue basket, has grown 20% year-on-year. The advertisement revenues grew up from Rs 244 crore in the quarter ended December 2011 to Rs 293 crore in the quarter ended December 2012, he said.

He added that the growth in advertisement revenue is because that the business confidence is generally on the upswing due to various measures from the government. The improvement in business confidence immediately impacts on the Group's revenue, he said.

He reiterated that the financial impact on the Group's team in Indian Premier League (IPL) would only come in the next fiscal year, since the season is starting from April, 2013.