Love/hate may be the best way to describe humans’ collective relationship with Valentine’s Day. As in, love the partner; hate the restaurant-reservation scramble. Or love free candy; hate the looks of pity from people who think that “single” is the saddest word in the world.
Mixed emotions haven’t slowed spending. According to an American Express survey, consumers expect to shell out an average of $196 on the holiday this year, an 8% jump from 2011. More than half plan to pick up a gift — 54%, vs. 41% last year. And a growing number of singles are getting out there, making V Day their day, too.
And why shouldn’t they? In her new book, Outdated: Why Dating Is Ruining Your Love Life , blogger/author Samhita Mukhopadhyay takes on society’s narrow relationship conventions, which tend to ignore, for example, race/class/sexual orientation differences¬¬. When few reports that married adults barely outnumber singles in the US, it’s big news, but among African Americans and Latinos, the unmarried have been in the majority for a good while (PewResearch.org, 11 December 2011). They still have love, partnership and community in their lives, just in different forms.
Mukhopadhyay’s Occupy Valentine’s Day Tumblr campaign urges everyone to celebrate the full spectrum of relationships, and to do it on their own terms. With an army of unapologetic singles out there, Valentine’s Day could look more like it did in the third grade: Everyone gets something and no one feels left out.
What does this mean for marketers?
1. Leaving out singles in any Valentine’s Day promotion is leaving money on the table. They’re not also-rans. And even bitter singles are sick of having the bitter-single cliché shoved in their faces.
2. Friends and family aren’t just highly valued by both single and coupled African American and Latino consumers. They’re leaned on in ways that can make giving something back on Valentine’s Day an easy sell.
3. Celebrating independence may work with single black women (and most single women, really), but it’s low on emotional resonance. Fulfilled, happy, optimistic, complete — how independence makes them feel is what connects.
4. Standard Valentine’s Day expectations seem a little grown-up to down-aging adults in their 20s and 30s. Fun and whimsy in messaging could take the edge off all the pressure.
5. Casting a wider love net won’t keep people from buying flowers and chocolate. In fact, it could mean buying more of everything — for the spouse, mom, friend and/or oneself.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
India’s DTH base ends 2011 with 45 million subscribers
India’s DTH pay TV market ended 2011 with almost 44.4 million subscribers, 30 million of which were on a net basis. This is equivalent to 25-30 per cent average market share, according to Media Partners Asia’s (MPA) latest research findings.
Dish TV continues to lead with a market share of 28.2 per cent, while late entrant Videocon D2H has seen robust additions to surpass Big TV. Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV have 19 per cent and 16 per cent market share, respectively.
Big TV and Sun Direct have seen limited growth due to funding, churn and legacy satellite issues.
In November 2011, major operators implemented price increases, largely across basic packs, while also lowering trade margins by Rs 200-250 per new subscriber (US$ 4-5 per subscriber). The price hikes should boost ARPUs (average revenue per user) and, together with lease rentals, will help offset rising subscriber acquisition costs (SAC) from a depreciating rupee. Lowering of trade margins post festive season will also help to check the high rotational churn in the DTH industry.
The fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 marked a fresh peak and trough for the DTH pay TV market in India in terms of gross subscriber additions. While the industry added 1.6 million subscribers in October, a mere 0.61 million came on board in December. The quality of subscriber additions from this point onwards is expected to be superior, resulting in improved churn and better yields.
If key issues on capacity and after-sales service are addressed, the government’s mandatory digitalisation drive could be a significant catalyst for DTH to grab high-ARPU customers and increase reach in larger TAM meter markets, says the MPA research. MSOs envisage about 15-20 per cent churn in cable subscribers to DTH. Some operators expect this could grow in excess of 30 per cent in the early stages of Phase I deployment.
There is also a need to ramp up after-sales service by DTH companies, as the lead time to address a given complaint ranges from three to five days and is highly subject to the minimum number of enquiries received and the number of on-ground engineers. Satellite operators are also concerned about the capacity constraints to carry signals on the currently used FSS or Fixed Service Satellite band. Amongst major DTH operators, Dish and Airtel are adequately placed in terms of channel capacity for Phase I mandatory cable digitalisation.
Dish TV: It has launched its DVR service for its HD subscribers called truHD+. The DVR service is priced at Rs 2,690 per subcriber, which is at a steep discount of 45-55 per cent compared to its competitors’ offerings. The company has launched a new marketing campaign – ‘Dish sawaar hai’ – with an ad spend of Rs 25 crore. Out of the total gross base of 12.5 million subscribers on Dish TV, about 2 per cent are on HD.
Price hikes in November and a more aggressive push on HD services will improve ARPUs, but SAC will remain under pressure. Subscriber additions will remain slow as indicated from the company’s revision in guidance of annual gross subscriber additions from 3-3.5 million to 2.6-2.7 million.
Tata Sky: The company has recently introduced on-demand services, which includes catch-up TV and access to a library of 500-1,000 movies for premium subscribers. Tata Sky has been the most aggressive on value-added services, which on average contribute a relatively high 9-11 per cent to its monthly subscription revenues. Moreover, the segment is profitable net of all expenses including content, bandwidth consumption, advertising, promotion and taxes. Also, the operator leads the market in terms of the contribution of HD subscribers to monthly additions. Most of these additions have come from its existing subscribers upgrading to HD.
Airtel: Metros constitute 8-11 per cent of monthly subscriber additions. The company remains focused on its core operations, ramping up customer care services, HD content offerings and stocking up STBs. The company’s ARPU is tracking at Rs 160 per month.
Videocon D2H: The fast-growing DTH operator is looking to sell a minority stake of around 20-25 per cent to a PE firm, according to the MPA report.
Article source: Info@BestMediaInfo.com
Dish TV continues to lead with a market share of 28.2 per cent, while late entrant Videocon D2H has seen robust additions to surpass Big TV. Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV have 19 per cent and 16 per cent market share, respectively.
Big TV and Sun Direct have seen limited growth due to funding, churn and legacy satellite issues.
In November 2011, major operators implemented price increases, largely across basic packs, while also lowering trade margins by Rs 200-250 per new subscriber (US$ 4-5 per subscriber). The price hikes should boost ARPUs (average revenue per user) and, together with lease rentals, will help offset rising subscriber acquisition costs (SAC) from a depreciating rupee. Lowering of trade margins post festive season will also help to check the high rotational churn in the DTH industry.
The fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 marked a fresh peak and trough for the DTH pay TV market in India in terms of gross subscriber additions. While the industry added 1.6 million subscribers in October, a mere 0.61 million came on board in December. The quality of subscriber additions from this point onwards is expected to be superior, resulting in improved churn and better yields.
If key issues on capacity and after-sales service are addressed, the government’s mandatory digitalisation drive could be a significant catalyst for DTH to grab high-ARPU customers and increase reach in larger TAM meter markets, says the MPA research. MSOs envisage about 15-20 per cent churn in cable subscribers to DTH. Some operators expect this could grow in excess of 30 per cent in the early stages of Phase I deployment.
There is also a need to ramp up after-sales service by DTH companies, as the lead time to address a given complaint ranges from three to five days and is highly subject to the minimum number of enquiries received and the number of on-ground engineers. Satellite operators are also concerned about the capacity constraints to carry signals on the currently used FSS or Fixed Service Satellite band. Amongst major DTH operators, Dish and Airtel are adequately placed in terms of channel capacity for Phase I mandatory cable digitalisation.
Dish TV: It has launched its DVR service for its HD subscribers called truHD+. The DVR service is priced at Rs 2,690 per subcriber, which is at a steep discount of 45-55 per cent compared to its competitors’ offerings. The company has launched a new marketing campaign – ‘Dish sawaar hai’ – with an ad spend of Rs 25 crore. Out of the total gross base of 12.5 million subscribers on Dish TV, about 2 per cent are on HD.
Price hikes in November and a more aggressive push on HD services will improve ARPUs, but SAC will remain under pressure. Subscriber additions will remain slow as indicated from the company’s revision in guidance of annual gross subscriber additions from 3-3.5 million to 2.6-2.7 million.
Tata Sky: The company has recently introduced on-demand services, which includes catch-up TV and access to a library of 500-1,000 movies for premium subscribers. Tata Sky has been the most aggressive on value-added services, which on average contribute a relatively high 9-11 per cent to its monthly subscription revenues. Moreover, the segment is profitable net of all expenses including content, bandwidth consumption, advertising, promotion and taxes. Also, the operator leads the market in terms of the contribution of HD subscribers to monthly additions. Most of these additions have come from its existing subscribers upgrading to HD.
Airtel: Metros constitute 8-11 per cent of monthly subscriber additions. The company remains focused on its core operations, ramping up customer care services, HD content offerings and stocking up STBs. The company’s ARPU is tracking at Rs 160 per month.
Videocon D2H: The fast-growing DTH operator is looking to sell a minority stake of around 20-25 per cent to a PE firm, according to the MPA report.
Article source: Info@BestMediaInfo.com
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
What being slim means for Indian consumers?
Provided by: Iconoculture Quantified Analysis
Source date: W1.1, 2010
KEY INSIGHTS
More than half of Indian consumers, regardless of lifestage, equate slim with healthy. This indicates that health concerns may be the top reason why people in India keep a diet or exercise to lose weight.
The second most popular association for being slim is “I am in control of my life,” which may relate to portion control and over-eating.
Being slim also translates to attractiveness. Youth, young adults and midlifers all have the same set of statements that they associate most with being slim.
The only exception is seniors, who think that their slim figure may be a sign of weak health.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
Consumers are bombarded with media messages of slim models/actors/public figures who are made up to look half their actual age in TV commercials and public propaganda material. Slim, therefore, means young and healthy, to a majority of consumers. The idea of losing weight, exercising and keeping fit are equated with good health in these media messages.
Youthful looks are very important to consumers fighting the ageing battle. Being slim somehow wins half that battle for them.
This data information is provided by © 2012 Iconoculture, a Corporate Executive Board company. Iconoculture is a registered trademark of Iconoculture, a Corporate Executive Board company. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Some Context For Apple's Massive Numbers
Simply looking over the numbers, it might be hard to wrap your head around what Apple (AAPL) just announced for their Q1 2012 results. A company this big is not supposed to be able to nearly double revenue year-to-year. Nor are they supposed to more than double profit. But Apple did both. The numbers are so big that they almost seem like they should be typos — especially coming after a quarter that was a “miss” (though we can now clearly see what a joke that “miss” was). So perhaps it’s best to point out some bigger numbers and to frame some of them in ways to make them easier to understand. That’s what all of Twitter seemed to be doing anyway during the earnings call this afternoon.
Apple’s profit of $13.1 billion was equal to their revenue in Q4 2010, as Jordan Golson notes. To be clear, that was just a year and a quarter ago. That’s how quickly Apple is growing.
Apple added $38 billion in cash to its reserves just in the past year alone, as Horace Dediu points out. They now have $97.6 billion in cash and equivalents. $64 billion of that is offshore, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer stated during the call — meaning, it would cost money (taxes) to bring it back into the U.S.
Apple’s cash hoard alone is worth more than all but 52 companies on Earth, as Dennis Berman notes.
Apple earned more money last quarter than the entire company was worth (in terms of market cap) just eight years ago, as Mathew Ingram relays from Eddy Elfenbein.
Apple likely sold three times as many iPads as Amazon (AMZN) sold Kindle Fires. At twice the price. And at a profit, as Jon Fortt notes. When asked about the impact of the lower-cost tablets, Apple CEO Tim Cook specifically mentioned the Kindle Fire and noted that when looking over Apple’s numbers, they didn’t seem to see any impact (positive or negative) from the Kindle Fire being on the market.
Apple’s revenues, while massive, are nothing compared to a company like Walmart (WMT), which reported $109.5 billion in revenue last quarter. BUT that $109.5 billion only turned into $3.3 billion of actual income for the quarter. In other words, Walmart has more than double the revenues of Apple, but Apple has more than four times the profits of Walmart. That’s remarkable.
Apple’s profits place them on this exclusive list of the most profitable quarters among corporations. You’ll note that Apple is the only company on the list that’s not an oil and gas company. And they’re a “mere” $3.2 billion from the top spot.
Back in July, we noted that while Apple was destroying their tech peers in profits, HP still held the revenue crown. Not anymore. HP’s (HPQ) last reported quarter (in November) saw the company announce $32.1 billion in revenue. They’ll report Q1 2012 earnings in about a month, but if history is any guide, Apple will be far, far ahead of both numbers. Likely well over $10 billion ahead.
It was only October of 2010 when Apple passed Microsoft (MSFT) in terms of revenue. At the time, Apple posted $20.34 billion — they’re well beyond double that now. Microsoft’s most recent quarter saw record revenue of $20.9 billion. Again, Apple came in at $46.33 billion.
Meanwhile, it was only April of last year that Apple surpassed Microsoft’s in profit. This past quarter, Microsoft’s net income was $6.62 billion. Apple’s was $13.06 billion.
The iTunes Store alone generated 50 percent more revenue than all of Yahoo (YHOO) did last quarter, as Jordan Golson notes.
Likewise, the amount Apple paid to third-party developers via the App Store last quarter ($700 million) is more than double Yahoo’s overall profits. (Overall, Apple has paid over $4 billion to third-party developers now via the App Store.)
It would take TechCrunch parent AOL (AOL) cloning itself 124 times to be as big as Apple, notes Mike Brown Jr. No idea what the metric is there, but sounds about right. (See: update at bottom)
Apple’s profits for the last quarter exceed Google’s (GOOG) entire revenue for the last quarter, as Farhad Manjoo points out. And it’s not even close ($13 billion to $10.6 billion). Think about that for a second.
And actually, Apple’s profit for the entire year now beats Google’s revenue for the entire year, as Marcel Molia points out. That gap is likely to get bigger given the most recent quarter.
After a short halt in after-hours trading following the earnings release, Apple’s stock popped nearly 10 percent from where it closed at the end of the day. Since then, it has settled back into the $450-a-share range which would be far and away a new record high for the stock if and when it opens around there tomorrow. That surge also pushes Apple well beyond the $400 billion market cap — and once again past Exxon (XOM) as the most valuable public company in the world.
At over $400 billion, Apple is now worth more than Greece, CNN Tech says.
Towards the end of the earnings call, Tim Cook dropped a huge nugget of information: led by 15 million iPads sold last quarter, the tablet market is now larger than the entire desktop PC market. Someday in the not-too-distant future, the tablet market will be bigger than all of the PC market, he predicts. (Apple has sold 55 million iPads since the original launch in April 2010, Cook revealed.)
Apple’s gross margin for the quarter was 44.7 percent — a number which Oppenheimer stated he’s never seen in his 15 years at Apple. Of note, he also doesn’t expect Apple to ever post a margin that high again.
Apple sold half as many Apple TVs last quarter (1.4 million) as they did for the entire previous fiscal year. But Cook still considers the product a “hobby” — though it’s one he “couldn’t live without”.
Apple’s profit last quarter was $3 billion more than all of Hollywood’s gross box office receipts for all of last year, notes Eric Spiegelman via Anthony De Rosa.
With 37 million iPhones sold last quarter, Apple is now the largest smartphone marker, besting Samsung’s (guesstimated) 35 million, as The Next Web remembers.
Apple is now selling twice as many iPads to K-12 schools as Macs. Perhaps that will help with this issue.
Apple’s profit of $13.1 billion was equal to their revenue in Q4 2010, as Jordan Golson notes. To be clear, that was just a year and a quarter ago. That’s how quickly Apple is growing.
Apple added $38 billion in cash to its reserves just in the past year alone, as Horace Dediu points out. They now have $97.6 billion in cash and equivalents. $64 billion of that is offshore, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer stated during the call — meaning, it would cost money (taxes) to bring it back into the U.S.
Apple’s cash hoard alone is worth more than all but 52 companies on Earth, as Dennis Berman notes.
Apple earned more money last quarter than the entire company was worth (in terms of market cap) just eight years ago, as Mathew Ingram relays from Eddy Elfenbein.
Apple likely sold three times as many iPads as Amazon (AMZN) sold Kindle Fires. At twice the price. And at a profit, as Jon Fortt notes. When asked about the impact of the lower-cost tablets, Apple CEO Tim Cook specifically mentioned the Kindle Fire and noted that when looking over Apple’s numbers, they didn’t seem to see any impact (positive or negative) from the Kindle Fire being on the market.
Apple’s revenues, while massive, are nothing compared to a company like Walmart (WMT), which reported $109.5 billion in revenue last quarter. BUT that $109.5 billion only turned into $3.3 billion of actual income for the quarter. In other words, Walmart has more than double the revenues of Apple, but Apple has more than four times the profits of Walmart. That’s remarkable.
Apple’s profits place them on this exclusive list of the most profitable quarters among corporations. You’ll note that Apple is the only company on the list that’s not an oil and gas company. And they’re a “mere” $3.2 billion from the top spot.
Back in July, we noted that while Apple was destroying their tech peers in profits, HP still held the revenue crown. Not anymore. HP’s (HPQ) last reported quarter (in November) saw the company announce $32.1 billion in revenue. They’ll report Q1 2012 earnings in about a month, but if history is any guide, Apple will be far, far ahead of both numbers. Likely well over $10 billion ahead.
It was only October of 2010 when Apple passed Microsoft (MSFT) in terms of revenue. At the time, Apple posted $20.34 billion — they’re well beyond double that now. Microsoft’s most recent quarter saw record revenue of $20.9 billion. Again, Apple came in at $46.33 billion.
Meanwhile, it was only April of last year that Apple surpassed Microsoft’s in profit. This past quarter, Microsoft’s net income was $6.62 billion. Apple’s was $13.06 billion.
The iTunes Store alone generated 50 percent more revenue than all of Yahoo (YHOO) did last quarter, as Jordan Golson notes.
Likewise, the amount Apple paid to third-party developers via the App Store last quarter ($700 million) is more than double Yahoo’s overall profits. (Overall, Apple has paid over $4 billion to third-party developers now via the App Store.)
It would take TechCrunch parent AOL (AOL) cloning itself 124 times to be as big as Apple, notes Mike Brown Jr. No idea what the metric is there, but sounds about right. (See: update at bottom)
Apple’s profits for the last quarter exceed Google’s (GOOG) entire revenue for the last quarter, as Farhad Manjoo points out. And it’s not even close ($13 billion to $10.6 billion). Think about that for a second.
And actually, Apple’s profit for the entire year now beats Google’s revenue for the entire year, as Marcel Molia points out. That gap is likely to get bigger given the most recent quarter.
After a short halt in after-hours trading following the earnings release, Apple’s stock popped nearly 10 percent from where it closed at the end of the day. Since then, it has settled back into the $450-a-share range which would be far and away a new record high for the stock if and when it opens around there tomorrow. That surge also pushes Apple well beyond the $400 billion market cap — and once again past Exxon (XOM) as the most valuable public company in the world.
At over $400 billion, Apple is now worth more than Greece, CNN Tech says.
Towards the end of the earnings call, Tim Cook dropped a huge nugget of information: led by 15 million iPads sold last quarter, the tablet market is now larger than the entire desktop PC market. Someday in the not-too-distant future, the tablet market will be bigger than all of the PC market, he predicts. (Apple has sold 55 million iPads since the original launch in April 2010, Cook revealed.)
Apple’s gross margin for the quarter was 44.7 percent — a number which Oppenheimer stated he’s never seen in his 15 years at Apple. Of note, he also doesn’t expect Apple to ever post a margin that high again.
Apple sold half as many Apple TVs last quarter (1.4 million) as they did for the entire previous fiscal year. But Cook still considers the product a “hobby” — though it’s one he “couldn’t live without”.
Apple’s profit last quarter was $3 billion more than all of Hollywood’s gross box office receipts for all of last year, notes Eric Spiegelman via Anthony De Rosa.
With 37 million iPhones sold last quarter, Apple is now the largest smartphone marker, besting Samsung’s (guesstimated) 35 million, as The Next Web remembers.
Apple is now selling twice as many iPads to K-12 schools as Macs. Perhaps that will help with this issue.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
KAUN BANEGA CHOR PATI
We all know KBC is Good Business but have you ever pondered...
How Good....???? Any guesses? Let's see...
Idea is charging Rs.6/- per SMS sent for this contest.
Assuming there are only 100 entries from say 10 cities of some 20 districts and 20 states...
6(Rs/SMS) x 100(entries) x 10(cities) x 20(districts) x 20(states) = 6 x 100 x 10 x 20 x 20 = Rs.24,00,000
24 lakhs in 20 minutes.
(People trying for the 3 lakhs cash prize)
Imagine what if 1000 entries try out from 100 cities?
The figure simply grows by 2 more zeroes and yields a whopping 24 Crores!!!!
And it does not stop there...(obviously..!!)
In practice it could be another multiple of 100 or a multiple of 1000 on an average.
In that case it is 24 x 100 crores earnings in just 20 minutes on every episode!!!
And the prize money: A mere 2 crore..(and from whose pocket?)
Smart Business By Siddharth Basu!
And the best part of this calculation is just the SMS earning!!
What about the Ad money?
A rough annual profit calculation goes like this:
(2400 x 5 x 4) (episode/month) = 60000 crores.
Let even 50% get dissolved in taxes and other payments, you would still be left with (which includes even the meagre 480 crores of prize money i.e.if every player per episode bags 2 crore prize)
30000-crores profit !!! (only from SMS)
Simple Question:
"KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI"
and your options are --
A) SONY TV
B) IDEA
C) AMITABH BACHAN
D) SIDDHARTH BASU
Computerji iska jawab bataiye....
Ans: All FOUR..!!!!
PS:
Now you know why AB gets all emotional when the episodes end...........
How Good....???? Any guesses? Let's see...
Idea is charging Rs.6/- per SMS sent for this contest.
Assuming there are only 100 entries from say 10 cities of some 20 districts and 20 states...
6(Rs/SMS) x 100(entries) x 10(cities) x 20(districts) x 20(states) = 6 x 100 x 10 x 20 x 20 = Rs.24,00,000
24 lakhs in 20 minutes.
(People trying for the 3 lakhs cash prize)
Imagine what if 1000 entries try out from 100 cities?
The figure simply grows by 2 more zeroes and yields a whopping 24 Crores!!!!
And it does not stop there...(obviously..!!)
In practice it could be another multiple of 100 or a multiple of 1000 on an average.
In that case it is 24 x 100 crores earnings in just 20 minutes on every episode!!!
And the prize money: A mere 2 crore..(and from whose pocket?)
Smart Business By Siddharth Basu!
And the best part of this calculation is just the SMS earning!!
What about the Ad money?
A rough annual profit calculation goes like this:
(2400 x 5 x 4) (episode/month) = 60000 crores.
Let even 50% get dissolved in taxes and other payments, you would still be left with (which includes even the meagre 480 crores of prize money i.e.if every player per episode bags 2 crore prize)
30000-crores profit !!! (only from SMS)
Simple Question:
"KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI"
and your options are --
A) SONY TV
B) IDEA
C) AMITABH BACHAN
D) SIDDHARTH BASU
Computerji iska jawab bataiye....
Ans: All FOUR..!!!!
PS:
Now you know why AB gets all emotional when the episodes end...........
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
I see a world around me!
I see a world around me
Cars & people in constant motion
I see a world around me
The urban world's relentless commotion
I see a world around me
Where nature too is on a unforgiving march
The tides have waited for none, nor the rains or the migrations
This world in motion, color & myriad vibrations
I see a world around me
& myself an insignificant piece
It seems i am part of the commotion
But the commotion is not part of me
I see a world around me
Only this time it is mine
Here I control the water & the wind in my sail
Here I have merrily rejoiced through my happy trails
In this world there is kindness
In this world there is stillness
& in this world there is me & me & me....
Monday, August 1, 2011
It’s a distributor’s game! The world over!!
Working in the Indian television Industry (which is one of the fastest growing media businesses the world over) I have been privy 1st hand to some amazing rummage within the business.
The ITI (Indian Television Industry) has grown from one C&S channel in 1999 to 750 odd C&S Channels & as we stand today on the cusp of new technologies like HD & 3D it has indeed been a long journey where the roads have been travelled hastily.
As people within, undertaking this journey looking back & operating today, one thing stands out starkly.
The role of DISTRIBUTION in this mix!
For years distributors have held broadcasters by their b@lls on issues related to subscription & revenue. In fact there was a time in past when under-subscription from cable operators was almost a given surety. Fed up of being treated this way the broadcaster approached the GOI who introduced CAS & set-top boxes.
Enter the Direct to Home (DTH) business model.
The DTH model was introduced to bring more accountability & transparency on the consumer side of things, so that broadcasters could track all the homes to which their signals beamed to & have an equal slice of the revenue. While DTH has largely address this problem, the below-the-table might of DTH players has once again raised its ugly head.
The scene now is that there is limited transponder capacity. For those who are not in the mix, let me explain!
The DTH boys need capacity to beam channels. The more satellite capacity they have, the more capable they are to carry more no. of channels & that gives them tremendous leverage over competition!
Now, other than DISH TV (the ZEE TV led business) none of the players have enough/ sufficient satellite capacity! So in turn (& get this!) they charge the broadcasters to be present & beam to viewers houses! So now, we’re back to square one, with no apparent benefit derived from migrating to a more transparent model.
It’s in some ways ironical to note that we are not alone in this problem!
Recently Al Jazeera English started on cable in NYC! However, six months after widespread protests erupted in the Middle East, (which they covered beautifully) the Qatar-based Al Jazeera has not gained distribution on any major cable or satellite systems in the United States. The channel’s supporters say they feel it has been blacklisted; the distributors say they have to contend with limited channel space.
Al Jazeera English was lauded by the United States government and even by a few competitors for its broadcasts from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries earlier this year. But it is finding out that cable and satellite distributors like Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network wield an enormous amount of control over the channels that viewers in the United States can and cannot see. “It’s all about leverage in this business, and they don’t have any,” said Paul Maxwell, the head of a cable industry consulting firm.
Al Jazeera does not have a parent company with powerful assets, as the News Corporation did when it used the huge popularity of Fox News to gain channel space for a spinoff, Fox Business, a few years ago. Nor does it have proof that millions are clamoring to watch, as most Americans have not been exposed to the channel.
Reflecting what some distribution executives said on condition of anonymity, Mr. Maxwell suggested that the dearth of evident demand was the main reason for Al Jazeera’s being shut out. Still, he said, “I think it should be carried; there is a public interest reason for it.”
And that is the precise point! There is a public interest! The public is the end user & its voices & demands/ suggestions need to be incorporated.
What we are seeing is a unique situation where the customer is no longer king, where the medium has become more important than the message & most important of all…a situation where the medium is shaping the message, hampering its creativity & stifling it.
This doesn’t sound so good for the business!! But then yet again, TV professionals are known to be a resilient bunch! We’ll find a way out…
The ITI (Indian Television Industry) has grown from one C&S channel in 1999 to 750 odd C&S Channels & as we stand today on the cusp of new technologies like HD & 3D it has indeed been a long journey where the roads have been travelled hastily.
As people within, undertaking this journey looking back & operating today, one thing stands out starkly.
The role of DISTRIBUTION in this mix!
For years distributors have held broadcasters by their b@lls on issues related to subscription & revenue. In fact there was a time in past when under-subscription from cable operators was almost a given surety. Fed up of being treated this way the broadcaster approached the GOI who introduced CAS & set-top boxes.
Enter the Direct to Home (DTH) business model.
The DTH model was introduced to bring more accountability & transparency on the consumer side of things, so that broadcasters could track all the homes to which their signals beamed to & have an equal slice of the revenue. While DTH has largely address this problem, the below-the-table might of DTH players has once again raised its ugly head.
The scene now is that there is limited transponder capacity. For those who are not in the mix, let me explain!
The DTH boys need capacity to beam channels. The more satellite capacity they have, the more capable they are to carry more no. of channels & that gives them tremendous leverage over competition!
Now, other than DISH TV (the ZEE TV led business) none of the players have enough/ sufficient satellite capacity! So in turn (& get this!) they charge the broadcasters to be present & beam to viewers houses! So now, we’re back to square one, with no apparent benefit derived from migrating to a more transparent model.
It’s in some ways ironical to note that we are not alone in this problem!
Recently Al Jazeera English started on cable in NYC! However, six months after widespread protests erupted in the Middle East, (which they covered beautifully) the Qatar-based Al Jazeera has not gained distribution on any major cable or satellite systems in the United States. The channel’s supporters say they feel it has been blacklisted; the distributors say they have to contend with limited channel space.
Al Jazeera English was lauded by the United States government and even by a few competitors for its broadcasts from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries earlier this year. But it is finding out that cable and satellite distributors like Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network wield an enormous amount of control over the channels that viewers in the United States can and cannot see. “It’s all about leverage in this business, and they don’t have any,” said Paul Maxwell, the head of a cable industry consulting firm.
Al Jazeera does not have a parent company with powerful assets, as the News Corporation did when it used the huge popularity of Fox News to gain channel space for a spinoff, Fox Business, a few years ago. Nor does it have proof that millions are clamoring to watch, as most Americans have not been exposed to the channel.
Reflecting what some distribution executives said on condition of anonymity, Mr. Maxwell suggested that the dearth of evident demand was the main reason for Al Jazeera’s being shut out. Still, he said, “I think it should be carried; there is a public interest reason for it.”
And that is the precise point! There is a public interest! The public is the end user & its voices & demands/ suggestions need to be incorporated.
What we are seeing is a unique situation where the customer is no longer king, where the medium has become more important than the message & most important of all…a situation where the medium is shaping the message, hampering its creativity & stifling it.
This doesn’t sound so good for the business!! But then yet again, TV professionals are known to be a resilient bunch! We’ll find a way out…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)