Sandeep Varma and Doris John published a Case study: DTH vs.

Cable TV: sky Wars in India in the year 2006. Home entertainment in India had come a long way from the days when there was only one national channel, Doordarshan, to the age of satellite television and, now, the latest development called DTH (Direct to Home) technology. With the Government of India having set the end of 2006 as the deadline to introduce CAS (Conditional Access System), in selected metros and later all over India, the scene would become more competitive. Cable operators have started pressurizing the Indian Government to speed up the process of changing the analog technology to digital. Once cable is digitized, cable operators would also be in a position to provide programs in high quality as like DTH. Apart from DTH, new emerging technological advancements in TV viewing like Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Cell Phone TV would also compete among themselves to get their share of the market in the Indian home entertainment industry. The Indian customer would have more options in terms of TV entertainment and the main deciding factor would be service support. The case allows for discussion on the present scenario of home entertainment in India. They highlight the various technological advancements that happened in the field of TV broadcasting and also throw light on various service providers and their services. They discuss the emerging technologies in home entertainment in India. Industry analyst Sivasundaram Umapathy published his literature industry analysisDTH industry in India in 2007. In this paper he analyzed the challenges and opportunities present for the DTH industry within the Indian contest. We would look at the history of Indian broadcasting followed by looking at the current DTH market. An environment analysis done using the Potters five forces model and and the various challenges faced by the industry identified. Finally we look at the possible suggestions taking a long term view. With the existing regulatory restrictions, Increasing content cost and lack of transponders, DTH terrain too steps to climb. With content differentiation not happening in the near future, companies have to differentiate only the service and cost levels. The increasing consumer awareness and expectations also make it difficult to satisfy the consumer. Todays consumer is sensitive to price as well as the quality. Apart from the volumes business, a prudent DTH operator should also take a serious look at the substitutes and complements. He should diversify and create his presence in the entire spectrum of broadcasting and telecommunication services. The final winner cannot be a

pure DTH player but a convergent player who offers all in one to the value-conscious, price sensitive Indian consumer. Researchers from Gartner [2007] believes that IPTV will struggle in India for following reasons Cable TV users pay almost half of what digital subscribers pay Low broadband penetration will inhibit IPTV uptake; 2007 is a critical year for pay TV, with CAS being mandated in a phased manner, and more players are moving into DTH, which is growing. IPTV will be priced at the same price as digital cable or DTH, so no price differentiation As the numbers of broadband users are increasing in urban and semi urban cities IPTV can pose serious threat to DTH player in long run. The Indian Readership Survey 2008 R2findings have shown that the Dish TV is the largest player with over 3.1 million subscribers, followed by DD Direct, Tata Sky and Sun Direct, which has a predominance in the southern zone. Indian entertainment and media outlook 2009 published in 2009 where they discussed about all the entertainment industry. In 2008, there is a significant churn of subscribers from cable in favour of DTH, as the latter subsidizes hardware, reduces installation costs and introduces value packs. Aggressive marketing and promotions also helped DTH lap up subscribers in 2008 which reached ~11.5 million at the end of the year from ~3.5 million in the beginning of 2008. 2008 also witnessed a technology-war amongst DTH players. With new players Bharti Airtels Digital TV and Reliances DTH service Big TV launched in 2008, a technology war erupted between these new players and the older players, Dish TV and Tata Sky use of technology in the set-top-boxes. The older DTH players claimed that the latest MPEG4 technology, as used by the new DTH players, violates existing guidelines for DTH operations citing reasons of inter operability. In the view of the older DTH players, the new DTH players are required to offer commercial inter-operability with the existing MPEG-2 set top boxes being used by the older DTH players. The matter is currently under dispute with BIS.

RNCOS industry Research Solutions published new report as Indian DTH Market Forecast to 2012 in 2009. In their report they said that the DTH service market in India has emerged as one of the most lucrative markets which have successfully resisted the impacts of the current economic slowdown. The slowdown has certainly proved a boon for the Indian DTH industry as people have now started to cut on their entertainment expenditure and instead of viewing movies at theatres, they are preferring to stay at home with their television sets. The industry is anticipated to add nearly 5 Lakh subscribers per month during 2009 and the numbers are forecasted to surge further at a CAGR of around 30% through 2012. "With over 130 Million TV homes, India offers large room for growth in DTH services as the technology can be used to offer DTH services in remote location, where setting up of cable networks seems impossible, or is highly expensive", says a Sr. analyst at RNCOS. It is forecasted that DTH will capture over 21% of TV homes in India by 2012, up from around 10% now. Their report, "Indian DTH Market Forecast to 2012, provides thorough analysis of the current market performance and the future outlook of DTH services market in India. It gives detailed analysis of the success factors and also helps in determining what all are the issues or the hurdles in front of the burgeoning DTH services market in the country. The study also explains the reason for why all the incumbent players have been investing huge amounts into the promotion and marketing of DTH services in the country, despite the current economic slowdown. This research provides extensive research and rational analysis of the DTH market in India. It will help clients to understand the underlying potential of DTH services in the Indian television industry. Various factors which will drive the future growth of the DTH market in India have been thoroughly analyzed in the report. The report will also help in gaining insight into the prevailing key trends and developments that are contributing positively towards the growth of the market.