DTH
BSky reaches two million DVR boxes
MUMBAI: UK pay TV service provider BSkyB says that the total number of Sky+ boxes installed in customers’ homes in the UK has broken through two million for the first time.
The milestone was reached after the number of Sky+ boxes grew by more than 50 per cent in 2006, putting Sky on track to pass its target of 25 per cent Sky+ penetration well in advance of the original schedule of 2010.
The company says that the rapid growth of Sky+ highlights increasing demand from customers for the ability to take control over their television viewing. With two million active boxes, almost five million viewers are using Sky+ to record without video tape, pause and rewind live TV, and record all episodes of a favourite series at the touch of a button.
To give customers even more choice and control, Sky plans to introduce a number of new enhancements to Sky+ in 2007 that will revolutionise the TV experience even further. These innovations will include the ability to use the internet to set a recording on your Sky+ box even when you are away from home. Customers will simply log on to www.sky.com to programme their box remotely.
Also in 2007, Sky will introduce a new enhancement giving Sky+ customers the chance to enjoy a selection of the week’s best programmes on-demand. The service will be available to more than one million Sky+ and Sky HD customers from launch, making use of additional recording capacity on the hard drive of more recent boxes.
Sky CFO Jeremy Darroch said, “Sky+ has changed the way millions of people watch TV. In its own way, Sky+ has as dramatic an effect on the experience of TV as the iPod has with music. There’s no going back once you’ve experienced the ability to take control over the TV schedules and we’re planning new innovations in 2007 to make Sky+ even better.
“Passing the milestone of 2 million Sky+ boxes keeps us on track to break through our target of 25 per cent penetration well ahead of schedule. The rapid growth of Sky+ shows strong customer demand for additional services and gives us great confidence as our multi-product strategy moves forward this year.”
Viewing behaviour in Sky+ homes
To coincide with the milestone of two million boxes, Sky has published new research findings highlighting how Sky+ is changing the TV viewing habits of families around the country. The data, garnered from the Sky View research panel, provides an accurate measurement of how customers are using Sky+ to record – or ‘time-shift’ – television programmes.
Drama is the genre of programming most frequently recorded by Sky+ customers, accounting for 39.3 per cent of all time-shifted viewing. Other popular genres are documentaries (14.9 per cent), entertainment (13 per cent) and movies (9.5 per cent). In contrast, some genres of content remain at their most popular when consumed live. News and weather account for just 0.6% of time-shifted viewing by Sky+ viewers, while current affairs programmes account for 1.2%. (Source: Sky View)
These trends are reflected in the ranking of channels whose programming is subject to most time-shifting by Sky+ viewers:
With the ability to record two programmes simultaneously, Sky+ resolves scheduling clashes and allows customers to record peak-time shows to watch at a more convenient time.
Sky View research shows that, in Sky+ households, time-shifting accounts for 22 per cent of all viewing of programmes originally scheduled between 9 pm and 10 pm and 17 per cent of all viewing of programmes scheduled between 10 pm and 11 pm.
DTH Operator
JC Flowers withdraws NCLT plea against Dish TV over EGM demand
Move eases pressure on DTH firm as long-running shareholder dispute cools
MUMBAI: In a breather for Dish TV India, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction has withdrawn its petition before the National Company Law Tribunal seeking directions to convene an extraordinary general meeting.
The development was disclosed by Dish TV in a regulatory filing, confirming that the petitioner chose to withdraw the case during a hearing at the Mumbai bench of the tribunal. A detailed order from the bench is still awaited.
The petition, originally filed under Sections 98 to 100 of the Companies Act, 2013, sought to push for an extraordinary general meeting to address governance issues at the company. The case had its roots in a prolonged shareholder tussle dating back to 2021, when Yes Bank, then the largest shareholder, was at odds with the promoter group led by Subhash Chandra over board reconstitution.
JC Flowers had stepped into the picture as an assignee of Yes Bank’s stressed assets, effectively continuing the legal push initiated earlier. The withdrawal now signals a pause, if not a closure, to that chapter of dispute.
While the reasons behind the withdrawal have not been formally detailed, the move reduces immediate legal pressure on Dish TV, which has been navigating both operational and regulatory challenges in recent years.
For now, the focus shifts back to the company’s business fundamentals, even as the legal dust settles, at least temporarily, on one of its more closely watched shareholder battles.
