DTH
Dish TV plans to raise $200 mn via equity
MUMBAI: Dish TV, India’s largest DTH operator in terms of subscribers, plans to raise up to $200 million via the equity route to fund its expansion programme.
The promoter holding stands at 64.8 per cent, providing enough leverage to raise capital by either issuing equity shares or through equity-linked instruments.
Dish TV had earlier taken an enabling resolution to raise up to $200 million, following which it had got US-based Apollo Management to invest $100 million in November 2009.
“We do not have any plans to raise this amount in the near future. It is an enabling resolution that we have taken,” Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish tells Indiantelevision.com.
Dish TV has a cash balance of Rs 4.5 billion and is looking at ramping up 3.1 million subscribers this fiscal to take its total base to the 10 million mark. The customer acquisition cost for the direct-to-home (DTH) service provider has dropped from Rs 2147 in the first quarter of FY’11, but still stands at Rs 2083 in Q2.
“The company does not have any fund requirement at this stage. Perhaps, it wants to build a war chest and utilise the cash if there is a business opportunity. Dish TV may not raise capital in the short run,” says a media analyst who tracks the DTH sector.
In a cricket-heavy year, the DTH sector expects to mop up 11 million subscribers this fiscal. Dish TV expects the trend to continue in the next fiscal as well.
For the second-quarter this fiscal, Dish TV has added 0.76 million subscribers and claims to have a robust 27 per cent incremental market share. In the first six months of this fiscal, Dish TV has mopped up 1.4 million new subscribers.
Says Dish TV India chairman Subhash Chandra, “With 2.8 million subscribers added in the second quarter, the overall market for DTH in the country has already grown to more than 26 million households. In a strong six player market, incremental share over and above a secular number is laudable. Dish TV with an incremental market share of 27 per cent continues to deliver industry leading performance.”
The company’s net loss has narrowed to Rs 452 million for the three-month period ended September, from Rs 631 million in the trailing quarter. In the year-ago period, the DTH operator had posted a net loss of Rs 562 million.
Dish TV’s revenues stand at Rs 3.29 billion, representing a six per cent growth over the trailing quarter and a 27.4 per cent growth over the year-ago period. While subscription revenue accounts for Rs 2.7 billion (up 8 per cent from previous quarter), lease rental is at Rs 550 million.
The Ebitda for the quarter under review stands at Rs 523 million, up from Rs 391 million posted in the previous quarter.
Dish TV has been able to maintain its ARPU (average revenue per user) at Rs 139 million despite sizeable customer acquisitions. Low ARPUs, however, remain a matter of concern.
Says Chandra, “While ARPUs in India remain significantly under-priced compared to similar economies in the world, there exists substantial headroom for growth. Dish TV’s efforts to enhance them with a trade-off between ARPUs and subscriber acquisition is heartening.”
Dish TV is making efforts to lift its ARPUs. Says Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel, “Our game changing initiatives and strategic marketing resulted in increased stickiness on the higher value packs and maintenance of ARPUs despite huge activations. In our endeavor to strengthen the overall ARPU levels, amongst other things, a price hike across two popular packs was announced towards the end of the second quarter, the impact of which should be visible in the forthcoming quarters.”
Dish TV has reduced its content cost as a percentage of subscription revenue to an all time low of 39 per cent. In the previous quarter, the content cost stood at 41 per cent.
Dish TV’s gross subscriber base stood at 8.3 million for the quarter ended September 2010, while the net subscriber base was 6.8 million. Subscriber churn remained constant at 0.7 per cent per month.
Advertising expenditure for the first six months was at Rs 430 million, well in line with the overall fiscal’s budget of Rs 950 million.
“We remain on track to meet our guided acquisition target as well as budgeted revenue and profitability. With recent pricing and operational initiatives, our focus on driving margin improvements and cash generation gets further strengthened,” says Goel.
DTH
DD Free Dish e-auction revenue dips to Rs 642 crore as slot sales fall
Revenue dips as revised norms reshape bidding in 94th round
NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati’s DD Free Dish has closed its 8th annual, and 94th overall, e-auction for MPEG-2 slots with total collections of Rs 642 crore for the period April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.
That is lower than last year’s Rs 780 crore haul, with 55 slots sold compared with 61 in FY25–26. The softer topline reflects both a slimmer inventory and a recalibrated auction framework.
This was the first auction conducted after amendments to the e-auction methodology, including tighter eligibility norms and a revised reserve price structure for MPEG-2 slots. The stated aim was greater transparency and more serious participation. The immediate outcome appears to be more measured bidding in certain categories.
Day one set the tone. Eight slots were sold, six in the premium Bucket A+ and two in Bucket A. The strong early action in A+, which typically houses Hindi GECs and movie channels, reaffirmed the enduring appeal of mass Hindi programming on the platform.
Among the broadcasters securing slots in the initial rounds were Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Sony Pictures Networks India, Viacom18’s Colors network, Sun Network and Shemaroo Entertainment. Their continued presence signals that, despite the pull of digital platforms, Free Dish remains a strategic must have for legacy networks chasing scale in price sensitive markets.
The final bouquet of 55 channels leans heavily towards Hindi news, movies, devotional fare, Bhojpuri and regional programming.
In Hindi news, familiar heavyweights such as Aaj Tak, ABP News, India TV, News18 India, Republic Bharat and Zee News made the cut. Entertainment and movie offerings include Colors Rishtey, Star Utsav, Dangal TV, Sony Pal, Shemaroo TV, Goldmines, B4U Movies and Zee Biskope. Devotional viewers will find Aastha, Sanskar and Sadhna Gold among the selected channels.
Regional representation includes Sun Marathi, Fakt Marathi, PTC Punjabi and GTC Punjabi.
Equally telling were the absences. Broadcasters such as Big Magic, Filamchi Bhojpuri, India News, Bharat Express, Movieplex Maithili, TV9 Marathi, Shemaroo Marathibana, Zee Chitra Mandir and Satsang did not participate. The pullback is particularly visible across Marathi, Bhojpuri, Maithili and spiritual programming. Industry observers point to the revised reserve prices, tighter eligibility norms and a reassessment of commercial viability as possible factors.
DD Free Dish continues to beam into over 40 million homes, largely in rural and semi urban India. For advertisers and broadcasters alike, it offers efficient access to Bharat markets where pay TV penetration remains uneven and OTT subscriptions are limited.
The moderation in revenue this year may be read as a pause rather than a retreat. Fewer slots, a reworked auction playbook and evolving broadcaster strategies have clearly shaped outcomes. Yet premium Hindi entertainment retains its pull, and the platform’s mass reach remains hard to ignore.
As the FY26–27 line-up settles in, the mix of winners and walkaways will define the private satellite channel landscape on DD Free Dish for the year ahead.
