Sun Tv To Enter Dth Business

Sun TV, the largest regional private television channel, plans to enter the direct-to-home (DTH) business as an operator. This business will be spun off later as a separate entity with an identity distinct from that of Sun TV.

Other details of the plan will be finalised once the broadcast bill is finalised and passed, said Kalanidhi Maran, managing director, Sun TV.

The bill in its present form does not allow foreign majority holding in the DTH business and this will work to the advantage of players like Sun who already have an established presence in the region. Besides, explained Maran, the investment involved is so large that no single player will be able to handle it alone.

 

But, any entry of Sun into the DTH business will only be after a minimum of three years as the hardware costs are prohibitive at the present rates, Maran said.

At present, the per household cost works out to a whopping Rs 26,000 and at this level entry will be restricted to the very elite. Unless this is reduced to at least Rs 10,000, the entry into DTH for the company will not be viable. Even at this level, DTH will be accessible only to the upper middle and the middle class.

Immediate plans include a foray into the Malayalam market where Sun will take on Asianet, presently the sole Malayalam channel. The launch is scheduled for Onam by which time Maran hopes to have an agreement with VSNL for a transponder on Intelsat in place.

With this, Sun TV along with the other regional channels like Udaya TV (Kannada) and Gemini TV (Telugu) will extend its reach to cover the entire southern region.

More importantly, advertisement revenues are likely to boom as it claims that this is the first time a private channel will be able to offer a package deal to cover different states just like in the print media.

Sun TV will be marketing the entire package as a bouquet concept, said Maran. Any entry discount for advertisers will, however, be restricted to the Malayalam channel alone.