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Dish TV narrows net loss, raises forecast
MUMBAI: Dish TV, the market leader in the direct-to-home (DTH) business, expects to be cash positive this fiscal as subscription revenues pick up and it starts benefitting from economies of scale.
The company has posted a revenue of Rs 10.85 billion for the fiscal ended 31 March 2010, an increase of 48 per cent over the previous year, with subscription income swelling each quarter to end at Rs 8.35 billion for the year.
“Subscription revenues are expected to rise to around Rs 12 billion this year. Dish TV can leverage its increase in revenue and pay back interest,” a media analyst who closely tracks the company said on request of anonymity.
Dish TV has a debt of around Rs 9.5 billion and expects to reduce it from this fiscal‘s fourth quarter.
The company‘s net loss for the year narrowed to Rs 2.61 billion, as against Rs 4.76 billion a year ago. The fourth quarter net loss is down to Rs 597.73 million, compared to Rs 786.68 million in Q4 of FY‘09.
Backed by growth in subscribers and gross sales, operating revenues of the company jumped to Rs 3.03 billion for the fourth quarter, a 46 per cent growth as compared to Rs 2.07 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra said, “Dish TV’s performance demonstrates the underlying strength of its subscription business and the company’s ability to manage costs effectively, both of which have led to positive operating profits for the fiscal. An innovative business approach with an eye on operational efficiencies has resulted in Dish TV delivering encouraging numbers and the company crossing the Rs 10 billion mark in revenues this year. With the DTH industry in India witnessing unprecedented growth, the year ahead promises to be even better for Dish TV.”
Dish TV mopped up 1.8 million new subscribers in FY‘10 as compared to 2.06 million added during the previous fiscal, mainly because of price war and competition with players like Sun Direct, Airtel Digital TV and Big TV. For the fourth quarter, Dish TV added 0.44 million subscribers.
The company’s gross subscriber base stood at 6.9 million while the net subscriber base as on 31 March 2010 stood at 5.7 million.
“Dish TV is in a position to mop up 2.5 million subscribers this fiscal as it is a year filled with major sporting events including the T20 World Cup, the soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the ICC World Cup,” the analyst said.
The expenses for the quarter, which include subscriber related expenses, employees and administrative cost, stood at Rs 3.53 billion, up from Rs 2.67 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Dish TV‘s ARPU (average revenue per user) stood at Rs 138 for the year, lower than the previous fiscal‘s figure of Rs 143. For the fourth quarter, the ARPU was at Rs 138, compared to Rs 135 in the previous three-month period. “It looks like the ARPU is bottoming out,” said the media analyst.
Dish TV‘s financial performance reflects the strength of an integrated business model. “We have been steadily targeting break-even at the operational level. Game changing innovations for subscriber acquisition and brand building along with focus on customer satisfaction have helped us continue as the largest DTH player in the India,” said Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
