DTH Industry in India - 10 million subscribers in India in December 2008

April 05 to APril 06 is considered to be the starup phase of DTH Industry in India. Dish TV was the first operator to go on air and in the period the subscriber base grew by about 45,000 subscribers every month. In the initial phase growth of DTH industry in India was restricted because of refusal of some television networks like Sony and Star to share their content with Dish TV as it was form the stable of Zee TV.

These were the hay days of Star Plus and it was pretty difficult to sell a broadcasting platform without Star Plus. However there was a must carry / must share clause that was enforced by the I & B ministry for the channels and DTH platforms. It was understood once Tata Sky the JV between Star and TATA group was ready to be launched the content sharing issues will be solved and in the period April 06 to December 07 these issues were resolved. All channels shared their content with all DTH platforms and two new entrants were in the DTH space Tata Sky and Sun Direct. The industry growth tribled to 1.7 lacs subscribers per month. Indian DTH market was a three player market now. The theory of competition expands the market itself was played out in real life for the cynis who do not believe in power of theories, as they fail to understand them.

December to December 08 was the golden period for the Indian DTH industry with industry showing rapid growth and adding up to 5 lac subscribers per month and hitting 10 million susbcribers, a feat that is acheived in the fastest time anywhere in the world. As a comparison BskyB launched its services on 6 PM on 5th February 1989 with actually just 4 channels. They signed up their millionth subscriber in November 1989. Even today they are at 8.9 million subscribers. So the growth is astounding in tems of subscriver Acquisitions, but the SAC of close to INR 2,800 per sub and ARPU of INR 150 - 180 / month are still an issue that will impact the profitability of any DTH Player in India. Keep coming back for more details/updates on the DTH industry in India.