We all know that the DTH market in India is going to see increased action in the coming months. Apart from Tata, Dish & Sun who are already in the fray, Reliance, Bharti and Videocon are expected to join the fight. There is no official word yet on Reliance’s Big TV launch, but if this video is anything to go by we can expect a jaw-droppingly mega launch.
This is the ‘making of Big TV commercial’ which has come up on YouTube. Surprised that this has surfaced before the main commercial going on air (or has it?). The TVC seems like a mini feature film production, what with international technicians and Hollywood-style stunts.
Given that the market is still nascent, it will be interesting to see what strategies the players adopt. As this article on the DTH wars points out, the name of the game will no longer be ‘superior picture quality’ – it will only be relevant for a small part of the audience. Many switched to a DTH brand when the cablewalla’s attitude was indifferent. Now that the cable guys have woken up with set top boxes of their own, the extras a DTH brand can offer has to be something else. While Reliance claims use of mpeg-4 technology, its biggest strength could be its distribution, thanks to the mobile & web world businesses.
Parallel to the effort of getting in new consumers ( a bigger market to go after) is the task of making the current consumers spend more. I use a Tata Sky and have rarely ‘pressed the red button’ or paid for movies. A beginning has already been made with the DTH player signing up with matrimonial services like Actve Matrimony and Shaadi Activ. More cross media services addressing specialist needs will pan out soon: real estate, automobiles, gadgets are all potential offerings on the DTH platform. There are several blogs following the launch of Big TV and one such has Big TV’s features listed out here.
In the months to come, DTH is likely to see more action. And Reliance is thinking really BIG, at least going by the commercial they have plannned.
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