Bharti stakes on Bollywood to drive satellite TV business
Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s largest mobile-phone company, anticipates rapid growth at its satellite television unit on increasing demand in rural areas for Bollywood movies and soap operas.
According to Ajai Puri, chief executive officer of the company’s digital TV services business, Bharti has signed up 3.8 million customers to gain a 14% market share. Industry wide, as many as 12 million people may take up satellite television this year.
A price war was subsequently the entry of new players like DoCoMo and Telenor pushed mobile-phone call rates down to as low as a penny a minute, damping earnings growth at Bharti, and prompting the carrier to seek new revenue opportunities. The company is offering a pay-per-view TV service, where new Bollywood movies are made available to rural customers within three weeks of their release in city cinemas.
As per Apurva Shah, head of research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. in Mumbai, the potential is very, very large. But it’s going to entail huge upfront investments and the ability to sustain losses for several years to make a mark in this business, it is ultra competitive.
Bharti, which started its direct-to-home TV service in October 2008, lags behind Dish TV, billionaire Kalanithi Maran’s Sun TV Network and Tata Sky, a venture between India’s Tata Group and Rupert Murdoch’s Star Group. Still, it directs its nearest wireless rival Reliance Communications Ltd., which started its satellite TV business the same year as Bharti, and has about 3 million customers.
According to data from the nation’s telecommunication regulator, Satellite television subscribers in India rushed to 21.3 million in year ended March 31 from 13.1 million a year earlier. With only a third of the nation’s 240 million households having access to cable television, Bharti aims to leverage its wireless-services retail network in towns and villages to increase its share of direct-to-home accounts.
According to Mr Puri, the market is poised for rapid growth. The company is positioned very well within the market to take a large portion of that growth. Airtel has mobile distribution through 1.5 million-1.6 million retailers. These retailers are also available to our DTH platform for servicing customers. Bharti shares rose 2.34% to close at US$8.014 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday.
Cellpoint, EchoStar team for interactive racing content
FierceMobileContent writes…Wireless product developer Cellpoint Mobile announced a joint venture with satellite TV provider EchoStar Communications to deliver a customized SMS solution via the DISH Network’s new Racing Interactive TV platform. The Cellpoint solution will complement the Racing Interactive service’s news, statistics, schedules and TV listings with a branded mobile content storefront integrated directly into EchoStar’s iTV application, offering consumers downloads specific to the race they’re currently viewing. Cellpoint will also deliver a turn-key mobile marketing and alert system enabling viewers to sign up for personalized Racing Interactive alerts.
“The value of an SMS component will immediately enable EchoStar and the DISH Racing Interactive brand to address the growing demand through mobile content services and messaging activities,” Cellpoint’s director of mobile entertainment James Schildknecht said in a prepared statement. “The branded nature of this service will also open the door for sponsors allowing individualized advertising messages to be sent user, or viewer, specific to loyal fans on racing related products.”
