DTH operator Dish TV will release "reach" data from its subscribers, according to IndianTelevision.com, quoting Dish TV CEO Venkateish. The data being released will on the basis of subscription information that DishTV has for its consumers, defining that as "reach", and is indicative of potential viewership. Dish TV will release, from February 2014 onwards, the reach of each channel as a percentage of total platform reach. This means that channels that are largely a-la-carte will have lower reach as opposed to those channels that are in all the packs that consumers subscribe to. Dish TV is the largest DTH operator in the country, with around 11 million subscribers. It makes around Rs 165 per subscriber (ARPU), with subscription revenues of Rs 537 crore in the last reported quarter, ending September 30th 2013. MediaNama Take The data that Dish TV is planning to release is more indicative of how many users could possibly be viewing a TV channel, rather than actual viewership. How this will affect advertising is unclear because agencies tend to rely of usage data from TAM. The TAM data will now be juxtaposed against subscription data. DTH services do not have a return path, and given that India is digitizing services, opening up of a return path will help address the suspicions that exist regarding TAM data (remember the NDTV case that got thrown out due to jurisdiction issues?). Smart set-top-boxes (like the type Reliance Jio is planning) might provide that return path. A couple of years ago,…
