Dish TV looks to add 1.7 million subscribers this fiscal

Direct-to-Home service provider Dish TV is looking to add up to 1.7 million net subscribers this fiscal, according to a top company official.

"In FY16 we look forward to adding at a net level in the range of 1.4 to 1.7 million depending on the speed with which digitisation takes off closer to the official sunset date," Dish TV Chief Executive Officer R C Venkateish told PTI.

The government has mandated December 31, 2015, as the deadline for phase III of digitisation.

The company added 1.5 million net subscribers in 2013-14. The Zee Group firm currently enjoys 26% market share with 12.9 million net subscribers.

The company had a capex of Rs 700 crore last fiscal and Venkateish said it would be around the same range for 2015-16.

DTH operators like Tata Sky and Videocon d2h (rpt) Videocon d2h have launched their ultra HD services and Venkateish said Dish TV will soon enter this space.

"As of now we are examining the right timing to enter this space and will do so soon. The content ecosystem for Ultra HD is virtually non-existent and till that develops it will not be a meaningful market," he said.

It had launched a sub-brand Zing, a year back, across seven states and is planning to take it to other regions as well.

"Sensing that the needs of the semi urban consumer are different from the urban lot, we developed a sub-brand that offers the best of regional content at highly competitive prices without enhancing our subsidy burden.

"Zing was launched around a year back and has been a resounding success. It has cemented our supremacy in the digital addressable system (DAS) Phase 3 and 4 markets with custom-made content, hardware and service packages for the regional audience," he said.

Zing is currently available in Orissa, West Bengal, Rural Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and parts of North East.

"We have in place plans to roll it out in other language driven market as well," he said.

Zing accounts for 22% of Dish TV's incremental net additions. Dish TV's net sales/income from operation during FY15 was Rs 2,773.20 crore.