Direct to Home (DTH) Market - India

The Direct to Home (DTH) market in India has been growing steadily but continues to be a niche segment. Since its inception, DTH service has established its presence on a pan-India basis and is dominated by the northern and western regions. The growing middle-class and rising disposable income coupled with the rising number of television households over the years has assisted growth. Demand for enhanced viewing experience and various interactive services have been attracting investments in this market.

The report begins with an introduction to DTH and its growth story. An overview of the DTH market has been given including figures for the market size, segmented pay television subscriber base and the distribution of DTH across television households. Major geographical regions have been marked. This section also highlights the revenue model adopted by players, the focus areas for players towards expanding revenues as well as the cost structure.

The drivers and challenges explain the factors influencing growth of the industry including the growing middle-class and rising disposable income, increasing television penetration and sale of LCD monitors, price war and different package options which has been attracting consumers and the advantage over traditional cable operators. The key challenges identified encompass the acquisition of a share of the cable driven market and facing the new age IPTV, TRAI's content guidelines, demand supply gap for transponders in a 7 player broadcast market and the cap on foreign investments.

Key characteristics of the market has been highlighted covering technological innovations, shift from price war to offering exclusive value added services, combined retail of LCD and DTH connections and partnerships with movie distributors. The major government regulations such as taxation, custom and excise duty as well as tariff regulations have been mentioned.

The competition section provides a summary of the competitive scenario including the segmented market share. It also includes profiles of the major players in the market. The section includes a brief company overview, various packages offered, business highlights and interactive services provided by each player.