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Tata Sky FY’12 loss narrows to Rs 2.98 bn on expanding subscriber base
MUMBAI: For Tata Sky, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Rupert Murdoch‘s Star TV, the turnaround story is not far away. The DTH television services provider has narrowed its net loss in the year ended 31 March 2012 from a year earlier, on increasing subscriber numbers.
Tata Sky’s net loss in 2011-12 was Rs 2.98 billion, 36 per cent less than Rs 4.7 billion a year earlier. The company, privately held, does not disclose its financials.
The company‘s net sales were up 18 per cent to Rs 15.9 billion from Rs 13.5 billion a year earlier.
The company‘s net loss in 2009-10 was Rs 6.26 billion on total income of Rs 11.10 billion.
The continuing losses have resulted in piling up of accumulated losses. Tata Sky‘s accumulated losses as on 31 March 2012 would amount to Rs 43.03 billion with the addition of loss in 2011-12 to the accumulated losses of Rs 40.05 billion as on 31 March 2011.
Tata Sky’s current subscriber base, according to industry estimates, is around 10 million, up from around 8.5 million in the previous fiscal.
The company is raising Rs 1.6 billion through issue of five-year non-convertible debentures, amid increased sales effort in the four metros where carriage of all television channels will be shifted to digital mode from the current analogue from 1 November.
This will add to the company’s debt (loans and other facilities from banks) of Rs 17.01 billion.
The debenture issue has been rated A/Stable by ratings agency CRISIL. In its ratings rationale, CRISIL said Tata Sky will continue to invest in expanding its subscriber base over medium to long term. Tata Sky’s financial risk profile, marked by poor debt protection metrics, is expected to remain weak, given its large accumulated losses.
CRISIL ratings continue to reflect the financial and managerial support Tata Sky receives from its majority shareholder, Tata Sons Ltd.
The ratings also factor in Tata Sky’s healthy revenue growth, driven by an increasing subscriber base in the DTH market. These rating strengths are partially offset by Tata Sky’s exposure to intense industry competition, and the company’s significant establishment and operating expenses, resulting in large losses, and weak financial risk profile.
Dish TV is the market leader in DTH services, followed by Tata Sky and Airtel Digital. The other private DTH service providers are Sun Direct, Videocon d2h and Big TV.
CRISIL, however, believes that Tata Sky will continue to benefit from managerial and financial support from Tata Sons and funding support from other shareholders. The outlook may be revised to ‘Positive’ if Tata Sky increases its subscriber base and average revenue per user (ARPU) to more-than-expected levels, or achieves break-even earlier than expected. Conversely, the outlook may be revised to ‘Negative’ if Tata Sky continues to incur losses for a period longer than expected, faces delays in achieving break-even, or suffers from adverse regulatory changes, the ratings agency said.
Tata Sky (formerly Space TV Ltd) commenced operations in 2004 as 80:20 joint venture between Tata Sons and National Digital Distribution Services FZ LLC (NDDS), owned by Newscorp of the Star Network group. In 2007-08, Bay Tree Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd (Bay Tree), part of Temasek Holdings (owned by the Ministry of Finance, Singapore), acquired 10 per cent of Tata Sky’s equity shares. As on March 31 2012, Tata Sons owned 60 per cent of Tata Sky, NDDS (News Corp) 30 per cent, and Bay Tree (directly/indirectly) 10 per cent. Tata Sky commenced DTH operations in August 2006.
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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.
