DTH company Dish TV by the Essel Group added 440,790 subscribers during the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared to 0.35 million added last quarter. In FY2008-09, Dish TV added two million new subscribers into its fold, as against one million in FY08. Of the 13 million DTH users in the country, 5.51 million are Dish TV customers, so the company has 42% of the market share.
ARPU from subscriptions was up to Rs. 142 from Rs. 131 recorded last quarter.
Details: Release | Financials
Dish TV reported a 12% sequential fall in net loss to Rs. 692 million and a 44.8% drop from losses recorded in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Revenues rose 53% to Rs. 2.52 billion from Q1-09. Programming expenditure was Rs. 1.07 billion while the company spent Rs. 150.3 million on advertisements. Total expenditure rose to Rs. 3 billion.
Future Plans
According to its annual report, this fiscal the company will focus on building diversified content and preparing for the convergence of digital services.
It plans to tap high end customers for higher ARPU by ramping up its distribution, partnering with key chain stores and through direct corporate sales. It also plans to “farm” multi dwelling unit buildings such as flats.
Key Corporate Developments
During the quarter, Dish revamped its program packaging into Silver, Gold and Platinum and channels were grouped genre wise. The Silver pack costs Rs. 113 per month and offers 135 channels; Gold package is for Rs. 190 for 155 channels while Platinum is Rs. 283 for 185 channels. It also launched a pack exclusively for the southern region and another one with a special focus on the sports genre.
It revised its set top box prices upward by Rs. 100 to Rs 1,590 as the budget imposed 5% customs duty on import.
It also tied up with recruitment portal Monster India. The foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) deferred its decision to issue convertible bonds, convertible into equity shares to people living outside India.
(Updates: corrected name of parent company to the Essel Group.Thanks @Prasfaqs)
