DTH
Videocon d2h expands HD offering to 37 channels
MUMBAI: Videocon d2h has expanded its high-definition (HD) offering to 37 channels by adding Star Movies Select HD and Fox Life HD on channel number 258 and 468 respectively.
The new channel launches on its platform continue to validate Videocon d2h’s commitment to providing Indian audiences with high-quality content across an array of genres and formats.
Star Movies Select HD will premiere two new films not previously released in India each month, in addition to airing a new movie everyday. Additionally, Fox Life HD features a slate of scripted and non-scripted content that is inspired by real life as well as appealing and appropriate for the entire family. Fox Life HD will be having multiple audio feeds in Hindi, Tamil and Bengali besides English.
Videocon d2h plans to continue to add more HD channels shortly, with an aim to have as many as 50 HD channels.
“We have been relentless in our pursuit to gratify our customers’ with an exceptional viewing experience. Videocon d2h’s substantial offer of wide range of HD channels is a testimony to that endeavour. We remain committed to expanding Videocon d2h’s channel offerings and content as a means to providing a superior viewing experience to our customers, augmented by innovative technology and the best customer service. It’s a simple plan that we believe will result in a major upgrade for India’s TV viewing public,” said Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot.
Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera added, “Videocon d2h has been extremely aggressive and innovative when it comes to technology upgrades, new content offerings and launching new services all in an effort to keep ahead of current industry trends. Fox Life HD with multiple audio feeds and Star Movies Select HD are two premium HD channels that bring even more quality content to our subscribers resulting in a superior viewing experience. Keeping both our promise to provide the best channels and content across all genres and our commitment to customer satisfaction has built a strong level of trust between our customers and Videocon d2h, and we value that relationship.”
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.
