DTH
Dish TV & ALi tie up – chipset tech vital for secure VAS, enriched viewing
MUMBAI: India’s largest DTH operator Dish TV is tying up with ALi Corporation, a STB (set-top box) manufacturer, for launching its Liberty project.
Also, ALi Corporation is integrating Conax robust cardless security client into HEVC series system on chip (SoC) family, expanding operator STB offering, which is aimed at emerging markets such as India, LatAm, APAC and Africa. The ALi HEVC family includes SoCs for Satellite, Cable and IPTV decoders.
ALi’s project with Dish TV would be based on its system-on-a-chip technology to offer next-gen security, performance and flexibility while being cost-efficient needed for India. The aim of the project is to provide VAS to expand Dish TV’s market share, hike revenue and enhance user experience. ALi and Dish TV will launch the Liberty project to accelerate convergence and target future expansion opportunities. The Liberty project is based on ALi Corp.’s cutting-edge and sophisticated SoC technology.
India is the largest DTH market in the world based on the number of subscribers. According to statistic reports in 2016, subscribers reached approximately 65 million in India. Since the introduction of the DTH service in 2003 by Dish TV, the market has experienced exponential growth through multiple digitalisation phases.
Throughout Phase 1 and Phase 2, four metropolitan areas of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata had gone digital in 2012. In Phase 3, most of the urban areas in India had gone digital and completed ASO (Analogue Switch-Off) process. As Phase 4 is around the corner, the operators are looking forward to the opportunity targeting at the households in rural areas and thus the whole country will be digitalised. For operators to stay ahead of the game, chipset technology plays a significant role in their capability to supply value-added yet secured services that will help them establish a wider subscriber base by offering enriched viewing experience.
“Dish TV serves over 14 million subscribers by 2016, leading the Indian DTH market,” said Dish TV COO VK Gupta. “To maintain our market leadership and prepare for future opportunities, we implemented ALi Corp.’s SoC solution to launch the Liberty project, which will improve our DTH operations. ALi Corp. has the expertise to help us provide whatever it takes to realise the true spirit of the Liberty project.
“Ranked among the world’s top 3 with a good chance to be further boosted amid the industry reshuffle, ALi Corp. has a proven track record in delivering high-performing and competitive STB chipset solutions,” said ALi Corp COO Tony Chang. “The Dish TV deployment of ALi Corp. SoC platforms further signifies recognition on our global achievements in helping partners go through ASO and digitalisation processes. We are confident to offer innovative and revolutionary features and services to Indian views and we will fully support Dish TV in their expansion,” Chang added.
DTH satellite pay-TV sector in India is a growth-oriented industry. Media Partners Asia had forecast it will generate revenues of US$ 4.04 billion by 2018 and US$ 5.6 billion by 2023 in the country. The DTH active subscribers may increase to 60 million by 2018 and 70 million by 2023. This means a 39 per cent share of the overall market by ’23 and a 56 per cent of the digital pay-TV market.
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.
