DTH no threat to cable TV: Tata Sky

Tata Sky, a major player in the Direct To Home (DTH) business, has tried to dispel the cable operators' doubts over DTH and a possibility that the cable operators would be pushed out of the business.

Commenting on the cable operators' opposition and apprehension on the surge in the DTH market, Vikram Mehra, head of consumer marketing, Tata Sky, said, "The cable operators are overreacting to the entry of DTH."

Mehra was in Ahmedabad to announce the special promotional offer of Tata Sky's DTH schemes.

According to him, the Indian television viewership market is large enough to accommodate A new entrant like Tata Sky and there is no threat to any of the players in the market.

Citing the example of the US market, he said that of the 100 million television viewers, DTH players have only 35 per cent of the marketshare.

Tata Sky DTH service has been spread over 277 cities and has 1,416 dealers in Gujarat. The company claims that it had made a world record in DTH by enrolling half a million subscribers nationwide in 22 weeks.

The company expects to benefit largely from the ICC cricket World Cup and will further enroll one million subscribers by the end of 12 months.

It has roped in actor Hrithik Roshan for its marketing campaign where select viewers would get chance to watch the World Cup final match with him.

Tata Sky is also hopeful of tapping the Sun Network channels soon. The dispute between the two is yet to be settled by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

Mehra said, "We are hopeful that we will very soon be able to get Sun Network channels in our basket."

He further said, "We talked to them and are trying to settle the things." Tata Sky is hopeful of beaming Sun Network's all three regional language channels "" Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

Tata Sky has filed an appeal with the TDSAT against the Sun Group accusing the latter of refusing to share signals.