DTH
Videocon d2h lines up new 4K UHD content across genres
MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Videocon d2h has revamped its 4K content being shown on its 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) channel – d2h Life 4K, which is India’s only 24 hours DTH channel service in 4K.
D2h Life 4K will now offer a plethora of 4K UHD services and will telecast fresh new content spread across genres like movies, cricket, extreme sports, travel destinations, infotainment, nature, lifestyle, fitness and cooking amongst others.
Videocon d2h has been revamping its 4K library for nearly a year to deliver a comprehensive collection of 4K entertainment. D2h Life 4K offers a unique combination of rich pictures with custom soundtracks. The programming is created to delight viewers every moment of the day. The channel will offer premium UHD movies exclusively on High 4K, premium Fashion Reality, premium Ultra HD Fights, from Extreme Amateur Fighting to Ultimate Power lifting Championships, music videos and intimate interviews from some of the top names in music today in 4K. High 4K will also take you into the kitchen of some of the world’s most famous chefs, open the doors to innovation of Automotive Technology in 4K, exciting lessons in 4K from a top fitness trainer.
Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot said, “Our focus is on creating the highest-quality consumer experience possible. We will be focusing on providing a variety of content as the demand for 4K Ultra HD content continues to increase and evolve. 4K content is the future and with this development we are completely geared up and future ready. Our new 4K UHD content is another way for our customers to enjoy stunning premium 4K content on our active 4K UHD channel 4K Life.”
Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera added, “We are committed to continuously enhancing our products that make consumers interaction with content a greater experience. Our goal is to provide premium experience of quality 4K UHD content across various genres. We would be offering Ultra HD movies, sports and various other programs that raise the bar on quality and innovation that customers have come to expect from Videocon d2h.”
DTH
Prasar Bharati’s WAVES earns Rs 2.9 crore in first year
Platform scales content, users but monetisation gaps limit revenue growth.
MUMBAI: Big waves, small ripples at least for now. When Prasar Bharati launched its OTT platform WAVES at the 55th International Film Festival of India in November 2024, it pitched a bold vision: a homegrown rival to global and domestic streaming giants, blending video, audio, gaming and commerce into a single digital ecosystem. Five months into FY2024–25, however, the platform’s revenue stands at just Rs 2.90 crore, a figure that underscores the gap between ambition and monetisation.
On paper, WAVES looks anything but modest. The platform has ingested 13,608 titles, totalling 9,495 hours of content, with over 13,000 titles already live. It has streamed more than 575 live events from the Mahakumbh Amrit Snan and the 76th Republic Day parade to the Hockey India League, Kabaddi World Cup and Mann Ki Baat while offering 74 live TV channels and 12 radio channels. With over 10 lakh registered users and more than 200 content partners onboarded, the scale resembles that of a fully operational streaming service rather than a pilot project.
The architecture supporting this scale is equally robust. Built under Prasar Bharati’s Central Archives vertical, WAVES runs on a cloud-based infrastructure with DRM, encryption and an integrated analytics dashboard. It includes dedicated units for content ingestion, quality control, publishing, graphics, marketing and billing, and is distributed across platforms such as OTTplay, Tata Play and BSNL. The offering extends beyond video to include audio-on-demand, e-games and even e-commerce via ONDC integration.
Yet, the numbers reveal a core disconnect. Despite its scale, WAVES generated just Rs 2.90 crore in a market where India’s OTT industry crossed Rs 23,000 crore in 2024. A key bottleneck lies in monetisation infrastructure: subscriptions cannot currently be purchased within the app and must be completed via an external website. In a mobile-first country where over 95 per cent of OTT consumption happens on smartphones, this extra step creates friction that most users are unlikely to overcome.
Ironically, content is not the problem, it is the platform’s biggest strength. Prasar Bharati holds one of the world’s richest broadcast archives, including 45,154 hours of digitised Akashvani programming and 35,723 hours from Doordarshan. For WAVES alone, over 3,800 hours of archival content have been made OTT-ready, including classics such as Ramayan and Shaktimaan, alongside rare cultural recordings and historical broadcasts.
There are early signs that this library holds commercial potential. Revenue from archival content licensing rose sharply to Rs 3.38 crore in FY24, up from Rs 67 lakh the previous year. Meanwhile, free digital platforms continue to drive massive reach, the PB Archives Youtube channel clocked 119.78 million views and added 4,02,000 subscribers in FY2024–25, crossing 1.7 million in total, while DD News has over 5.84 million subscribers.
That, however, presents a strategic dilemma. While free distribution builds scale, it also conditions audiences to expect content at zero cost making it harder to transition to paid models. WAVES, designed as a hybrid AVOD-SVOD platform with advertising and subscription layers, is yet to fully crack this balance.
The broader challenge is not technological but strategic. In an ecosystem dominated by platforms offering seamless payments, aggressive pricing and high-budget originals, WAVES is still bridging the gap between being a content repository and a commercially viable product.
For now, the platform reflects both promise and paradox. It has the scale, the content and the infrastructure but until monetisation catches up, WAVES remains less a revenue engine and more a digital showcase of what India’s public broadcaster could become.
