DTH
Q2-17: Dish TV adds 2.59 lakh subscribers
BENGALURU: Indian direct to home (DTH) company Dish TV India Limited (Dish TV) has reported growth across important financial and operational parameters including operating revenues (TIO) , EBIDTA and subscription numbers. The company reported addition of 2.59 lakh net subscribers for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current). It closed the quarter with 151 lakh subscribers. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for Q2-17 was Rs 162 in the current quarter versus Rs 161 in the corresponding year ago quarter..
Dish TV reported 11.9 per cent higher y-o-y subscription revenue of Rs 728.8 crore for Q2-17, as compared to Rs 651.4 crore. Operating revenue in the current quarter increased 9.6 per cent y-o-y to Rs 779.6 crore from Rs 711.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. (Refer Note 2.1 and 2.2 below)
Segment Revenue
Three segments contribute to Dish TV’s numbers – DTH; Infra Support Services; and ‘Others’.
DTH segment revenue in Q2-17 declined 14.2 per cent to Rs 509.55 crore from Rs 594.16 crore in Q2-16. The segment reported 15.5 per cent lower operating profit in the current quarter at Rs 86.43 crore as compared to Rs 102.24 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.
Infra Support services segment reported 13.7 higher y-o-y revenue of Rs 280.65 crore in Q2-17 vis-à-vis Rs 246.91 crore in Q2-16. The segment’s operating profit declined 39.3 per cent in the current quarter to Rs 12.30 crore from Rs 20.26 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.
‘Others’ segment revenue increased 3.5 per cent in Q2-17 to Rs 5.59 crore from Rs 5.40 crore in Q2-16. The segment’s operating profit grew 5.3 per cent in the current quarter to Rs 2.80 crore from Rs 2.6 6 crore in Q2-16.
A look at the other numbers reported by Dish TV
Dish TV reported PAT of Rs. 70.1 crore in Q2-17, down 19.4 per cent as compared to Rs 87 crore in Q2-16.
EBIDTA in the current quarter increased 3.6 per cent to Rs 264.2 crore from Rs 255 crore in Q2-16.
Expense in the current quarter increased 12.9 per cent y-o-y to Rs 51.51 crore from Rs 456.2 crore. Employee Benefits Expense increased 23.1 per cent y-o-y to Rs 36.4 crore from Rs 29.58 crore. Other operating expenses in the current quarter declined 30.8 per cent to Rs 70.14 crore from Rs 101.30 crore in Q2-16..
Licensing fees in the current quarter increased 1.3 per cent to Rs 54.52 crore from Rs 53.81 crore in Q2-17. Programming/Content and other costs in Q2-17 increased 17.4 per cent to Rs 238.92 crore from Rs 203.54 crore in Q2-16.
Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “Torrential rains in many parts of the country often force consumers to defer buying a new DTH connection while the existing ones may delay recharging if the going gets too tough. Both sales and recharge however normalize subsequently if the festival season hits early. Targeting phase 3 & 4 markets, our subscriber additions during the quarter remained in-line with expectations.”
Expressing his views on the regulatory developments, Goel, said, “While the draft Regulations have been formulated with an intention of subscriber welfare, there are certain omissions, optimistic presumptions as well as unanswered questions that would hopefully be addressed once the final orders see the light of the day. We appreciate the spirit of transparency and non-discrimination that have been the guiding force behind these draft orders and hope that DTH would soon get the level playing field that it has been seeking. Restrictions placed on carriage fees should go a long way in correcting the industry macro environment.”
“We continue to remain positive about other regulatory interventions including the proposed new license regime for the DTH sector and the impending nationwide roll-out of Goods and Services Tax (GST). The centre proposing 12 per cent and 18 per cent as the standard rates for majority of the taxable goods is a welcome step,” he added.
Discussing the results, Goel said, “Healthy subscriber additions led to a 11.9% y-o-y growth in subscription revenues. EBITDA margin was 33.9 per cent. Net Profit for the quarter was Rs. 701 million (Rs 70.1 crore) and positive Free Cash Flow was Rs. 791 million (Rs 79.1 crore).”
Notes:The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.
DTH
Free Dish serves fresh slots as Prasar Bharati rings in e Auction 97
MPEG 4 slots for 2026–27 open with bids from March 16 and applications due March 9.
MUMBAI- When the Free Dish menu changes, broadcasters sharpen their forks. Prasar Bharati has formally opened applications for vacant MPEG-4 slots on its DD Free Dish direct to home platform, setting the stage for the 97th e-auction, scheduled to begin on March 16, 2026. The allotment will cover the broadcast period from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, continuing the public broadcaster’s annual auction cycle.
The notice, issued on February 9, 2026, lays out a familiar but finely sliced structure, with channels grouped into genre and language based “buckets”, each carrying its own reserve price and bidding dynamics. The aim is simple: widen content choice on DD Free Dish while keeping the playing field regulated and competitive.
At the premium end of the table, HD channels (Bucket H) will open with a reserve price of Rs 80 lakh, with bid increments of Rs 1 lakh.
Regional language channels are split across multiple rounds. Bucket R1, covering South Indian languages, and Bucket R2, which includes Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali, will both start at Rs 5 lakh in round one, moving up to Rs 15 lakh in the second round.
News and current affairs channels under Bucket G1 will begin at Rs 30 lakh, escalating to Rs 50 lakh in the next round, while the General Open round (GO) meant to mop up unfilled slots across categories carries a reserve price of Rs 70 lakh.
Eligibility remains tightly controlled. Participation is limited to satellite television channels licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with international public broadcasters holding valid MIB licences also allowed to bid. Prasar Bharati has also reiterated strict content compliance norms, making genre and language declarations more than just paperwork.
To qualify as “predominant”, at least 75 percent of non advertising content must align with the declared genre and language. In overall terms, this means such content cannot fall below 60 percent of a channel’s total monthly telecast. Complaints will trigger a review by a designated committee, and persistent violations could result in the channel being taken off the platform.
Applications must be submitted online via the Prasar Bharati portal by 9 March, 2026, at 15:00 hours. Broadcasters will need to pay a non refundable processing fee of Rs 25,000 and a participation fee of Rs 3 lakh, along with submitting mandatory documents such as MIB permissions, channel logos and proof of carriage on other DTH or MSO platforms.
Successful bidders will be required to stick to a strict payment calendar. Delays will attract interest at 14.5 percent per annum, and repeated defaults could lead to forfeiture of the participation fee and removal from DD Free Dish.
As India’s only free to air DTH platform with massive reach, DD Free Dish continues to be a crucial gateway, especially in regional markets. With e-Auction 97, Prasar Bharati is once again reshuffling the platter and the industry is watching closely to see who gets served next.
