Applications
DTH ops start HD price war
MUMBAI: The price war on the HD front has begun. Soon after Tata Sky announced its aggressive entry pricing, market leader Dish TV has dropped the cost of its Tru HD box from Rs 5,990, when launched, to Rs 2,990.
Dish TV’s package includes the price of the set-top box (STB), LNB, Dish antenna and remote. The company is also offering two months subscription of Platinum/South Platinum Pack and two months subscription of HD Pack. Customers will have to pay an extra amount of Rs 200 for installation.
Direct-to-home (DTH) operators sense they can expand their up-end customers through their HD service offerings. Tata Sky had set the ball rolling with the launch of its High Definition (HD) service at a price of Rs 2,599.
Sun Direct is offering the HD set-top-box bundled with subscription package at Rs 9990, while Big TV‘s service comes at Rs 7,490 (HD with DVR technology).
On the content front, Dish TV’s HD pack includes Zee TV HD, Zee Cinema HD, Discovery HD and National Geographic HD. ESPN Star Sports has also extended its HD feed for the football World Cup and Wimbledon to Dish TV, Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV.
Indiantelevision.com had earlier predicted that DTH operators would start a cut-throat price war on the HD front.
The competition in the DTH sector is going to be fierce this year as the market is set for rapid expansion. DTH operators expect to add 11 million subscribers in FY’11 due to a spate of sporting events, the peak for any year.
Applications
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.
