DTH
Epic On app now on DishSMRT Hub & d2h Stream
KOLKATA: Dish TV India has now made available OTT platform Epic On on its DishSMRT Hub and d2h Stream android set-top box. DishTV & D2H users can now access Epic On’s massive content library including over 2,000 hours of factual and fictional series, movies, talks, and documentaries.
This partnership will enable Dish TV customers to have access to Epic On’s engaging short-format content especially customised for digital audiences. DishTV and D2H users will now be able to stream an exciting slate of 5,000 hours of inspiring and entertaining podcasts, 1,000-plus casual multiplayer and interactive games, along with e-sports and over 1,000 E-books for bibliophiles.
Dish TV India executive director and group CEO Anil Dua said, “We have been continuously working on expanding our content basket based on the tastes and preferences of our subscribers. Our partnership with Epic On is another step in the same direction, making it easy for our Android box users to access their vast content library including, short-form versions of its flagship and popular TV shows. At Dish TV India, we strive to bring the best for our customers with all our associations as well as through exclusive content, taking the entertainment quotient higher each time.”
EPIC ON COO Sourjya Mohanty said, “While tier-2 and tier- 3 audiences are getting used to consuming OTT content, a strategic partnership with Dish TV would help us in accelerating our national presence through its strong distribution network across India. We are delighted to associate with Dish TV for this exciting offering and believe that this opportunity would help further ease the content consumption experience of our users. With our recent launch, we are devoted to the idea of an India-centric OTT platform and are exploring every opportunity that helps us to reach our audience more effectively.”
In addition to Epic On, the android box offers a host of features like built-in Google Assistant, Chromecast, Google Play, and access to all popular featured OTT platforms like Watcho, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Zee5, Voot, Eros Now, ALTBalaji, and many more. Coupled with the ease of using voice commands via Google Assistant, the Android-based set-top box is compatible with any television set.
Dish SMRT Hub and d2h stream are internet-enabled android-based HD set top box, available for Rs 3,999 for new subscribers and Rs 2,499 for existing subscribers.
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.
