DTH
Q2-17: Videocon d2h top and bottom lines up
BENGALURU: Last quarter, Videocon d2h was the second listed Indian DTH player to report a profit after tax (PAT), after the Essel group’s Dish TV that turned the numbers black last year. Taking that trend further, Videocon d2h reported PAT of Rs 6.32 crore (0.8 percent margin) for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter). For the corresponding year ago quarter (Q2-17), the company had reported a loss of Rs 24.59 crore while for the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17) the company had reported profit of Rs 2.66 crore (0.3 percent margin).
Videocon d2h reported 12.5 percent y-o-y growth in total revenue from operations for Q2-17 at Rs 776.16 crore as compared to Rs 690.08 crore and a 1.7 percent q-o-q growth from Rs 763.25 crore.
The DTH major also reported 15.5 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in net subscriber numbers at 125.2 lakh for Q2-17 as compared to 108.4 lakh and a 1.9 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) growth from122.9 lakh. Monthly Average revenue per user (ARPU) in the current quarter increased to Rs 209 from Rs 201 in Q1-16 but declined by Rs 2 from Rs 211 in the immediate trailing quarter.
Subscriber matrices
Subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) in Q2-17 was higher at Rs 1,869 as compared to Rs 1,775 in Q2-16 but was lower than Rs 1,872 in Q1-17.
Subscriber monthly churn in the current quarter was 0.95 percent; in Q1-16 it was slightly higher at 1.19 percent, while in the immediate trailing quarter it was much lower at 0.49 percent.
DAS III and IV are sunshine periods for the television carriage industry. Activation revenues have been adding to the top lines and bottom lines of most of the players. Videocon d2h computed subscription and activation revenue in the current quarter increased 21.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 710.70 crore and increased 2 percent q-o-q from Rs 697 crore.
A look at some of the other metrics reported by Videocon d2h
Adjusted EBIDTA grew 38.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 260.41 crore (33.6 percent margin) from Rs 188.26 crore (27.3 percent margin) and grew 4.3 percent q-o-q from Rs 249.78 crore (32.7 percent margin). Videocon d2h reports that EBIDTA per subscriber has increased to Rs 71 in Q2-17 from Rs 59 in Q2-16 and from Rs 70 in Q1-17.
Content costs margin in Q2-17 has reduced to 38.7 percent as compared to 40.7 percent in the corresponding year ago quarter and was flat as compared to the immediate trailing quarter.
Total expense in Q2-17 increased 5.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 684.29 crore from Rs 650.70 crore and was flat q-o-q as compared to Rs 684.53 crore.
Selling and distribution expense in the current quarter increased 22.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 60.7 crore from Rs 49.6 crore, but declined 5.2 percent q-o-q from Rs 64 crore.
Employee benefit expense in Q2-17 were 4 percent higher at Rs 31.5 crore as compared to Rs 30.3 crore in Q2-16 but were 2.2 percent lower than the Rs 32.2 crore in Q1-17.
Net finance cost in Q2-17 was Rs 71.7 crore; in Q2-16 net finance cost was Rs 80.2 crore and in Q1-17 it was Rs 75.9 crore.
Company speak
Commenting on the results and company outlook, Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot, said, “I’m pleased to report a terrific quarter with over 37% increase in EBITDA year on year, in spite of the previously announced increase in taxes which impacted ARPU. Our quarterly results performance is consistent with our five point strategy to 1) grow subscriber base, 2) enhance subscriber monetization, 3) focus on localization and premium services, 4) lead the market in technological innovation and 5) enhance operational efficiencies and improve margins. These imperatives are drivingour success at creating sustainable shareholder value.
“We are excited and fully prepared to seize the significant subscriber growth opportunity ahead of us through our leading distribution, customer service and differentiated content offering, supported by a strong balance sheet,’ added Dhoot.
“We achieved positive profit after tax and turned free cash flow positive during the current fiscal year, which we believe is a great achievement,” concluded Dhoot.
Speaking on the results, Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera said, “We are extremely excited with the business growth opportunities ahead of the company. We welcome the regulators’ initiative to review and draft a tariff order that aims to create complete transparency in carriage and content deals and bring in commercial parity amongst distribution platforms.”
Note: 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
DD Free Dish e-auction heats up with 26 MPEG-2 slots sold in two days
Hindi movies, GEC and news dominate; Star Utsav Movies tops Day 2 at Rs 213.45 crore
MUMBAI- The bidding war on DD Free Dish is turning into a blockbuster and the slots are selling faster than popcorn at interval. Prasar Bharati’s 8th annual MPEG-2 e-auction delivered another strong day on Tuesday, with 18 more channels securing spots across movies, regional music and news buckets, taking the two-day total to 26.
Day 2 belonged to the movies and news categories. In Bucket A (Hindi Movies), Star Utsav Movies led the pack at Rs 213.45 crore, pipped only narrowly by Zee Action at Rs 213.4 crore. Goldmines landed at Rs 13.35 crore and Zee Anmol at Rs 13.3 crore, showing razor-thin price bands and fierce competition. Bucket B saw Zee Bioscope top at Rs 10.6 crore, Bhojpuri Cinema Rs 10.5 crore, B4U Bhojpuri Rs 10.2 crore, while Showbox, Unique TV and B4U Music each closed at Rs 10.25 crore.
News channels in Bucket C stayed tightly bunched: NDTV, Aaj Bharat, Zee News and India TV all secured slots at Rs 8.6 crore, with News Nation and ABP News slightly higher at Rs 8.65 crore. Bucket D rounded out with Russia Today at Rs 9.75 crore and GTC Punjabi at Rs 7.92 crore.
Day 1 had already set a premium tone, with eight slots snapped up – six in Bucket A+ (Hindi/Urdu GEC, starting reserve Rs 15 crore) and two in Bucket A (Hindi/Urdu Movies, starting Rs 12 crore). Sony PAL topped Day 1 winners at Rs 16.55 crore, Star Utsav Rs 16.25 crore, Shemaroo TV Rs 16.35 crore, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sun Neo at Rs 16.40 crore each. Sony WAH took a Bucket A slot at Rs 13.95 crore and Zee Anmol Cinema at Rs 13.45 crore.
The surge reflects broadcasters’ hunger for DD Free Dish’s estimated 43–45 million rural and semi-urban households, where Hindi GEC and movies remain advertising goldmines.
The auction runs under the revised E-auction Methodology 2025 (amended 9 January 2026), with escalating reserves – Round 2 Bucket A+ at Rs 16 crore, Round 3 Bucket A at Rs 13 crore – and stricter eligibility to weed out speculative bids. Channels must be operational, available in the relevant language, and already carried on at least one private DTH, DD Free Dish or registered MSO.
With premium genres flying off the shelf, the coming rounds will test how deep pockets really are as reserves climb and tactical down-bidding gets harder. In India’s largest free-to-air universe, these auctions aren’t just about slots – they’re about who gets to stay on the screen that reaches deepest into the heartland.
