Cable operators are street smart entrepreneurs.

They have lived up to challenges of changing technology and customer demands by organizing/re -organizing themselves. Being one of the community members himself, the cable operator has very strong and cost effective reach to customer.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I Mohammad Swaleheen owe enormous intellectual debt towards my faculty guide Mr. Vikas Anand who has augmented my knowledge and helping me about the process and giving me valuable insight into the subject.

I would like to thank him for guidance and enriching my thoughts in this field from different perspectives.

Last but not the least, I feel indebted to all those persons and organization which has provided information and helped me directly or indirectly in successful completion of this study.

Mohammad Swaleheen MBA

DECLARATION
This project has been undertaken as a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Masters of Business Administration.This project was executed during the Summer break after the 2nd semester under the supervision of faculty guide Mr. Vikas Anand and Company guide Mr.C.P. Singh Further, I declare that this project is my original work and analysis and recommendation are for academic purpose only. This project has not been presented in any seminar or submitted elsewhere for the award of any degree or diploma.

Supervisor Signature Mr. Vikas Anand

Student Signature Mohammad Swaleheen

CONTENTS s. no. contents 1. introduction 2. Research methodology 3. Analysis and interpretation 4. Findings and suggestions bibliography annexure

Page no.

Objectives of the study

1) To find out the factors responsible for shift of consumers preference from cable to DTH. 2) Determining the causes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among the users of Cable TV. 3) Determining the needs and problems of the consumers. 4) To compare cable service with DTH.

Industry Profile

HISTORY: INDIAN TELEVISION INDUSTRY The history of Indian Television dates back to the launch of Doordarshan, the countrys national television network in 1959 when the transmission was in black & white. The 9thAsian games which were held in 1982 in the countrys capital New Delhi heralded the mark of colour television broadcast in India. In 1991, Indian economy was liberalized from the license raj and major initiatives like inviting FDI, deregulation of domestic businesses emerged. This led to the influx of foreign channels like Star TV and creation of domestic satellite channels like Sun TV and Zee TV. This virtually destroyed the monopoly held by Doordarshan. In 1992, the cable TV industry started which changed the way the average Indian watches the television. Every city in India had a new breed of entrepreneurs called as cablewallahs or Local Cable Operators (LCO) taking in charge of distribution. Since this was a disorganized sector carrying new channels on the existing infrastructure required new investments which the operators were reluctant to make. This led to the emergence of anew breed of firms called as Multi System Operators (MSO) who had heavy financial muscles to make capital investments and liaised between the cable operators and the channels. MSOs provide the feed to the local operators for a fee. In 1995, government felt the need of regulation in Cable TV and passed the Cable TV network (Regulation) Act. This was also the time when the state owned Doordarshan and All India Radio came under a new holding called as Prasar Bharati to give them enough autonomy. The LCOs reported a lower number of connections where as the broadcasters demanded a higher rate. MSOs were finding it difficult to operate under these conditions. This led to an amendment of the Cable TV networks (Regulation) Act in 2002 to provide Conditional Access System (CAS). With CAS, the last mile distribution could be addressable with accuracy and digitalization of 2 broadcasts was also possible. CAS was rolled out in 2003 staring from Chennai and later to parts of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. On the DTH front, TRAI issued the guidelines for operating

DTH. Countrys first DTH license was awarded to Dish TV in 2003 which started operations in 2004. Prasar Bharati also startedits product DD-Direct+

Changing Modes of Entertainment In 2007, TRAI proposed a new initiative by name Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) model as an alternative to the existing cable distribution. Instead of the MSOs providing the bundle, there will be a single HITS operator who will prepare the bundle of channels and beam it to the Headend in the satellite. With the average Indian getting younger, and hence more likely to spend on nonessentials, the entertainment industry has the potential to grow explosively in the future. Now the industry is ready to enter a second stage of growth powered by the twin engines of technology (availability of quality infrastructure and the accelerated penetration of digital connectivity) and an enabling regulatory environment.

How Cable TV began and spread in India Cable tv has its roots in the late seventies. Indian television viewers were looking for entertainmnet options, apart from what state-owned broadcaster DD was offering. That came their way with the import and manufacture of video cassette recorders permitted domestically. there was a veritable boom in video cassettle recorder sales during this period. Enterprising individual in apartment blocks placed a video in their homes or their garges and started offering a cable TV service to people who opted for it. The fare available was Hindi and English movies and pirated western comedies, music and game shows. At this stage, cable TV was restricted to the major metros and towns and the upper crust of society the impetus for its spread came in 1990 with the advent of the Gulf war. Ted Turners CNN started beaming news repots of the bombing of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein and sparked off a demand for satellite dishes. Only the affluent could afford them. Some cable operations who had been running their Hindi and English

movie channels added dishes and started relaying CNN into hones. This spurred demand for cable TV, making it a lucrative business and it attracted more individuals to industry. The launch of star TV and Zee Tv further fuelled the spread of cable TV. In the first half of 1992, almost 4,500 households were being cabled up daily. That figure increased to 9,450 homes daily in the second half of the year, according to a study conducted by market research firm frank small for Star TV: on how many homes could receive its service. (If one considers that aalmost all Indian cable homes can research Star TV because it shares the same plantform as Zee TV then the numbers would be a fair representation of the total number of C&S homes at that time because Zee TV has almost 100% penetration in cable homes.) From a mere 412,999 urban households in January 1992, the number of cable homes went up to 1.2 million by November 1992. The number of homes estimated in 1993 was 3.3 million according to the Frank Small study. This is estimated to have gone up to 7.3 million by January 1994, according to one estimate. Frank Small once again surveyed the market in end-1994 and the firm placed the number of cable & satellite homes at 11.8 million out of a total of 32.4 million TV owning homes. Subsequently, no extensive research was conducted by the industry which went by guesstimates until two readership surveys were conducted in 1995. The two national readership surveys: the Indian Readership Survey and the National Readership Survey pegged the penetration of C&S at below 10 million in 1995 whereas industry estimates placed it at least 14 million. The NRS said that 9.3 million homes in urban India were cabled while the IRS said that the numbers for urban and rural India were 8.4 million and 3.4 million respectively. No further updates have been done because of the magnitude of the research covering a population of almost 70 million TV homes today. Nevertheless, the satellite TV industry has upped its estimate for C&S homes to about 22 million now attributing the increase to the spread of the cable TV networks in smaller towns, villages and untapped developing areas on the outskirts of major metros, where cable TV is being installed in housing at the time of construction itself.

Cable TV growth in urban India: Number of households Cabled January 1992 412,000 * November 1.2 million * 1992 1993 3.3 million * January 1994 7.4 million End-1994 11.8 million * 1995 15 million 1996 18 million 1999 22 million Year

The business has undergone a transformation too. In the beginning it was small and driven by entrepreneurs. At one time the cable TV operators population was estimated at a sky high 100,000. Your neighbour's wife and brother-in-law also wanted to be a cable operator. For the past three years, large companies have also set up their own cable networks. Among them: InCablenet (managed by the Hinduja group), Siticable (a joint venture between Zee TV promoter Subhash Chandra and Rupert Murdoch's News Television), Asianet, Hathway Cable & Datcom, Ortel Communications and RPG Netcom (a company promoted by the RPG group). While the Hindujas claim to have invested close to Rs 2000 million into their network building, Siticable talks of a higher figure of close to Rs 2500 million. But the MSOs have concentrated on the major metros only. They have yet to spread out into the smaller towns and the interiors of India over time where cable TV networks are still in the hands of small businessmen.

International cable networking companies such as United International Holdings, TCI and Falcon Cable of the US, have tested the waters: While UIH almost set up a joint venture with the RPG group which did not fructify, TCI/Time Warner discussed possibilities with the Times of India group which were inconclusive. Falcon Cable however, were successful in establishing a joint venture with the Hindustan Times publishing group in New Delhi called India Information Technologies Ltd. An investment of nearly Rs 50 million was made to buy over a few small

cable TV networks. The company however did not take charge of the networks, leaving them to be run by the cable operators. The joint venture was in litigation for quite sometime and finally Falcon Cable had to wash its hands off it. International investors and cable TV networks are still place hope in the Indian cable TV market. United International Holdings is in partnership with liquor group UB. Falcon Cable and Cox Communications are meanwhile waiting for some semblance of order in this industry before committing further resources. The entry of the big boys in the business led to consolidation amongst smaller operators several of whom combined their resources to set up sophisticated headbands capable of delivering 30-50 channels similar to the bouquet of the MSOs. And as the MSOs increased the number of channels that they were offering, the independents have also kept pace. Today, in cities like Mumbai, Indian viewers can hook into more than 65 channels. . Some of the major agglomerations that emerged initially were: Seven Star and Shree Bhawani in Mumbai, Malleswaram Cable Network and UCN in Bangalore, SkyVision in Ahmedabad. By 1999, one of them had partnered with the fast moving Hathway Cable & Datacom. But they all operate on the similar model: franchising of their cable TV feed to smaller operators. The programming that cable TV offers ranges from Hindi films to local events like fairs, religious discourses, civic elections, regional news, community games such as Bingo and favourite local sports. Practically, every network has at least two cable channels -sometimes both of which screen Hindi movies and songs. At one time they also screened pirated or illegal versions of English movies. This ceased with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) cracking down heavily on these cable operators. But piracy keeps cropping up on cable TV networks the moment the pressure is eased. The larger cable TV networks have their own branded channels too: Siticable has SitiCinema.; InCable has CVO while Hathway has C-News.

That the programming on these cable channels is extremely popular is evident from the audience share they manage to garner. They rank second after DD on this parameter in all cities. As an example cable TV accounted for close to 11.7% of share of the audience in Delhi in 1996 during

prime time on Sunday evenings, and 8.4% on weekdays. The numbers for the other cities were 8.4% and 4.6% for Chennai and Mumbai on Sunday evenings and 6.4% for weekdays in Mumbai during prime time. However, they cannot really attract advertising to the extent of their viewership because of the fragmented nature of the cable networks and there being no central body to work as a channelising agent for the thousands of networks in a city. Cable channels attract no more than Rs 250-300 million advertising annually, according to back-of-the-envelope calculations by one of the large MSOs. But the potential is enormous: some even quote the annual ad revenue potential being in the region of some Rs 1200 million, if some efforts are made.

STATEWISE PENETRATION OF CABLE & SATELLITE TV (1995) State Gujarat Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Punjab Maharashtra Orissa Bihar Harayana Penetration (%) 58 45 41 41 37 34 33 31 28 27

Business model of cable TV industry:

The TV distribution platforms in India are terrestrial (owned by doordarshan), cable, DTH and IPTV.The Indian TV distribution industry now comprises of 6000 Multi System Operators (MSOs), around 60,000 Local Cable Operators (LCOs), 7 DTH/ satellite TV operators and several IPTV service providers. The business model is undergoing a change in India. At one point of time, India had nearly 100,000 cable operators. The industry was run by small operators. The emergence of large operators from Hinduja group (incablenet), Zee group (Siticable), Asianet, Hathway (Raheja group) and RPG group (RPG Netcom), who are now known as MSO (Multi System Operators) changed the way in which the industry is run. But the MSOs are concentrated on the metros and major cities only so far. The industry is in the hands of local cable TV operators in the rural areas and small towns. The entry of big players from corporate led to the consolidation of small operators. This is because of the better quality of services offered by MSOs. While the local operators are able to offer around 30 channels, the MSOs are offering more than 65 channels to the customers. Besides, the MSOs are offering local channels which show films, local events, religious

discourses, regional news etc. But all these MSOs operate on the model of franchising their cable TV feeds to the small operators. The broadcasting business in India is primarily driven by two sources of revenue advertising and subscription. There are two main types of broadcasting business models: Free to Air (FTA) channels which rely on advertising revenue as their primary source of revenue, and thus are dependent on the distribution supply chain only to ensure reach to their target audience.Pay TV channels which have a dual source of income from both subscription and advertisement. The channels need to ensure reach not just to earn advertising revenue but are also dependent on the distribution network to collect subscription revenue from the consumer.The total revenue of the Indian television industry was estimated at Rs. 25,700 crore in 2009, of which advertising accounts for Rs.8,800 crore (34%) and subscription accounts for Rs.16,900 crore (66%). The average ARPU is Rs 165. Conditional Access System Conditional Access System (CAS) is a digital mode of transmitting TV channels through a set-top box (STB). The transmission signals are encrypted and viewers need to buy a set-top box to receive the signal. CAS was introduced by the Government in 2001 to control and monitor the cable operators and to improve the quality of services and control the tariff. Initially CAS has been introduced in metros, but the penetration is only 25% so far. The reason for the slow growth of CAS is due to the initial entry cost of STB. TRAI has recently recommended that all Cable operators should move from analogue system to digital system by 2013. Regulatory and policy intervention Cable Television Services were brought under Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in 2004. TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) is now available for settlement of disputes between broadcasters and MSOs /cable operators.Cable Act 1994 was amended in 2006 empowering TRAI to issue new customer friendly CAS Regulations. TRAI issued three regulations in August 2006 to create a legal framework for smooth implementation of CAS. These included a tariff order, interconnect and pricing regulation revenue share methodology and process and QOS regulation.

Key recommendations of TRAI Restructuring of Cable Industry with a larger role for MSOs and Digitalization plan within five years Head end in the Sky (HITS) policy to be announced by Government , TRAI completes all recommendations on this DTH policy on tariff and Quality of Services New recommendations on FDI policy in cable- upto74 % by TRAI Internet Telephony allowed for ISPs. Cable Broadband focus with easier Right of Way ( RoW) and Wireless possibilities Non CAS tariff regulations for TV subscribers Cable Companies can provide IPTV. Recommendations cleared by Government. MSOs can consider this opportunity, marketwise Ala carte choice of Channels by MSOs from Broadcasters in non CAS New Television Rating points (TRP), Television Audience Measurement (TAM) policy by TRAI. MVNO policy announced Greater emphasis laid on network digitization, increased addressability and to encourage voluntary CAS Incentives prescribed to Multi System Operators (MSOs) to introduce total digitized networks The registration for cable TV operator to be replaced by a comprehensive and supportive licensing framework Separate licensing frameworks for Cable TV operators (LCOs) and Multi System Operators (MSOs) Eligibility criterion made specific to identify the entities who can act as LCOs and MSOs Option and flexibility to choose Service area given both to LCOs and MSOs CAS extension to the remaining three metros and subsequently followed by digitalization of 55 cities within a span of 3 years (with addressability)

Major operators in Industry Last mile connectivity, technological up gradation and digitalization requires huge investments. The cable industry is moving towards consolidation in favour of triple play operators or Multi service operators. There are five major national operators in India. They are Hathway Cable, incablenet, Wire & Wireless India, DEN and Asianet. They collectively access over 25% of the countrys TV subscribers. Competition in the cable TV segment has intensified as the corporates battle for acquiring the last mile connectivity. The recent acquisition of Digicable by RCom is a prelude to the shape of things to come in the merger and acquisition in the industry.

Den Networks Ltd. Hathway Reliance Digicom (ex Digicable) Incable (IMCL) Wire & Wireless (WWIL) Asianet(Kerala) Manthan Broadband Services SCV You Telecom Atria Convergence Technologies STV network JAK Communications UCN (Nagpur) RVR Infra (Hyderabad) Ortel Communications Seven Star Communications Advanced Multisystem Broadband Communication Pvt. Ltd Arasu Cable Barasat Cable TV Network Pvt. Ltd CableComm Services Pvt. Ltd Channel III

Gujarat Telelink P Limited (GTPL)

* Home Cable Network Pvt Limited*

Prem Channels Pvt Ltd (Parmesh and Shashi Verma, Gurgaon) ICE TV Pvt JPR Channel Kailash Cable Network P Ltd Kal Cables Pvt. Ltd Kolkata Cable & Broadband Pariseva Ltd Link Entertainment (Howrah Cable) Live Satellite Sanjay Cable Network P Ltd DWL - Digital Space Link [ Nagpur] Silver Line Broadband Services P Ltd Spectra Net Ltd ChandparaCable TV Network Ltd Star Broadband Services (India) P Ltd Marine BizTV Universal Communication System

The industry is still fragmented and unorganized due to which it is not able to attract investment. The revenue estimate of the industry is not accurate and the industry is blamed for under reporting of subscriber numbers. The cable TV sector will come under a proper licensing mechanism where city, state or national licenses can be bought. The TRAI recommendations are a big step forward in ensuring effective licensing compliance, digitization of networks and attracting investment.

How the India cable TV industry is structured According to market estimates, India was rated as Asias second largest pay-TV market in 2005, with revenue of about US $3.6 billion, roughly the same as China. However, the country is expected to grow to US $10.5 billion by 2015. Media Partners Asia (MPA) has estimated India to become Asias leading cable market by 2010, the largest satellite market by 2008, and the most lucrative pay television market by 2015. Turnover for multi-channel video, including cable, satellite and Internet protocol television (IPTV), will jump to $7.2 billion from $3.6 billion by the end of the decade, the study showed. The role of newer technologies coupled with the booming economy will help further the revenue growth in India's cable television industry by 2010. However, industry experts suspect regulatory barriers to impact growth. According to published data, in 2005, 53 percent of the Indian households owned televisions, and 57 percent of these had cable TV. Advertising revenue for cable television was US $1.02 billion in 2005, and is expected to grow to US $1.8 billion by 2010. The immediate reaction of anyone taking a look at the penetration of cable TV in India would be that there is pots of money to be made. Cable operators charge a subscriber anywhere from Rs 50 for a 10-12 channel service to Rs 125-150 a month for a 30-60 channel plus service. Even if we consider that there are just 20 million cable TV homes in India (which is a conservative figure), and that a cable operator on an average gets about Rs 100 per subscriber, the national monthly revenues work out to Rs 2000 million from cable TV. On an annual basis, the potential revenues work out to Rs 24,000 million (US $600 million). That figure is just the tip of the iceberg, and hence it may look attractive enough to make any western cable operator or large Indian company to start licking its chops. However, they would be first forewarned to take a look at the structure of the Indian cable industry.

The country is estimated to have anywhere from 30,000-60,000 cable operators. A wide range as any but the general opinion is that the figure is closer to the lower number. The number of operators who registered themselves with the post office after the Cable TV Network Regulation Act, 1995 mandated so is about 16,000. The average size of each network is estimated at 2000 subscribers in the major metros, about 200-300 for smaller towns and 50-100 for rural areas.Until 1994, the average size was about one-fourth what it is now for urban India. Most of the networks had been set up by small-time entrepreneurs and were built without any regulations in place. With local municipal bodies not giving clearances to operators to lay cable underground or string it up on poles erected by utility companies, these individuals flung cable across buildings, treetops, expanding on their own initiative. But things have changed since then with large companies entering the area of networking: The UK-based Hinduja family through a media company they set up with overseas Sindhi investors IndusInd Media, Rupert Murdoch and ZeeTV promoter Subhash Chandra through a 50:50 joint venture Siticable, and print media company Business India through BI TV Networks (which has now been taken over Hathway Cable & Datacom. Simultaneously, some of the more ambitious of the smaller operators took over others in the vicinity and enlarged their networks. When the large players entered the business, they first tried buying up operators. But the smaller operators asked for prohibitively high per sub fees for an outright sale. The rate that was charged depended on the quality of the subscriber base, whether it constituted high net worth individuals or lower income households. It varied from as low as Rs 300 to as high as Rs 2000 per subscriber.

Each company found their own solution to this problem. Siticable took the joint venture route: it selected one or two operators in a locality and made them partners in a new joint venture company. Both Siticable and the partners pumped in money into the company to upgrade the headend if this was needed to offer a superior and high quality service. Advertising revenue was shared between Siticable and the company. The joint ventures role was to expand Siticables network, come what may. It offered the superior quality 35-40 channel service to other operators in the vicinity of the headend at a franchise fee of Rs 25 per subscriber. The

operator, often had to give in because, subscriber pressure for a better service was pretty high. INCablenet (the cabling company of IndusInd Media) took a different route: it appointed distributors to increase the penetration of InCable. These distributors had no stake in the network apart from sharing revenues with INCableNet. The company then was known as Aasia Industrial Technologies but was later renamed as INCablenet. INcablenet charged operators who chose to become franchises Rs 15 per subscriber. This has since been raised to Rs 25. The company has also changed its policy of appointing distributors: it is taking the joint venture route increasingly. Again the fact that the network was offering a superior cable servicewith a cable channel offering local event coverage and an exclusive Hindi movie channel -- worked against the small cable operator who had to cave in when subscribers started demanding for it. He gave up his headend and functioned as a disseminator or a franchisee of the InCable service. He also went around collecting subscription fees from subscribers as usual, and maintaining his network too. The Business India group got into the business to ensure carriage for its satellite channel TVi, and also because it saw some potential in cable TV. BI TV Cable Networks prefers to form cooperatives among cable operators. It invests in a headend and the cooperative firm --- which has six or seven cable operators as partners ---looks after and maintains it. The operators normally give up their headends and take a signal feed from this headend. Advertising revenue was shared in the cable company and went to maintain the network. BiTV used to keep a hands-off distance from the network, leaving its management to the cooperative and retaining a 50% or less equity in the venture. But because of problems that the promoter the Business India group faced on the financial front, it sold out its interest in BI Cable TV to the Rajan Raheja group which has now emerged as a major cable TV force. The Rajan Raheja cable TV networking firm Hathway Cable & Datacom now has a presence in about nine cities currently and is aggressively thinking expansion. It has a strong presence in Mumbai where it is allied with major cable operators such as UCN-Space Vision, and Shri Bhawani Cabletel. There was another way that large companies moved into the business. India Information Technologies a joint venture between The Hindustan Times publishing group and Falcon Cable of the US spent about Rs 50 million acquiring cable operators in Delhi by buying the control

rooms and their subscriber network outright. Prices paid were as high as Rs 2,000 per subscriber to cable operators. It did this in 1994. To date it has to still get control of the networks or the money back. The company has washed its hands off the venture. Asianet Satellite Communications took another route. It got clearances from the local state electricity board in Kerala and is using the public utilities poles and facilities to string cable. The company is not giving out its feed to existing operators, it is taking the route of getting new subscribers. Its management has since sold the cable TV networks to the Rajan Raheja group. RPG Netcom, owned by the Rs 70,000 million turnover RPG Group, is using one of the group companies (CESC Ltd) utilities in Calcutta for its network. CESC being an electricity supply company can assist the cable company in subscriber billing and management. The current structure of the cable industry has not really concentrated power in the MSOs hands since it doesnt really own the entire network. The route that has been taken in the majority of cases is that of franchising through a chain, which can be simple or extremely complicated. The MSO gives a cable TV feed to a small time operator who has dismantled (though not totally) his headend and calls him its franchisees. This operator then illegally sublicenses the feed to another cable TV operator who also may choose to do the same. The first franchisee does not inform the MSO that he is indulging in piracy. He pays him only for the subscriber base that he has disclosed to the MSO. Should the MSO or anyone in the upper half of the chain object and ask the sub-sub-sub cable operator for a franchise fee or what is estimated to be the right franchise fee, the cable operator threatens to flee to the rival MSO or the rival MSOs distributor or even take a feed from the franchisees franchisee. The model that the large companies have used to build up their networks has not really given them control over the cable operators or their subscribers. Despite having a claimed subscriber base of a million in Mumbai, InCable has only 70,000 direct subscribers who are charged Rs 100-150 for a 35 channel service; the rest of them are serviced by franchisees who pay INCable Rs 25 per subscriber. MSOs had to take the franchising route because by the time they decided to get into the business, there were several small entrepreneurs operating as cable operators in an area offering six to 12

channels. Several of these operators could not upgrade their networks as either they were not willing to put in the required funds or they werent serious about the business or they did not know any better. Hence they were open to MSOs. Those who did not welcome the MSOs were coerced into becoming franchises through means fair and foul. The MSOs undercut a smaller cable operator whose headend they wanted to eliminate by approaching his subscribers and offering them a better service at a lower fee or at no cost. Cable operators who couldnt measure up had to give in and become franchisees. If this didnt work then, musclemen were brought in to force them to give up. Some of the troublesome small operators were also given a thrashing by the MSO if they did not cooperate. Franchisees serve a dual purpose: they help MSOs shore up their numbers which are then tomtommed to advertisers in order to attract advertising But franchisees also come with a downside risk: since they are not owned by the MSO, they can act tough with it by threatening to go to a rival cable network which is also seeking to expand in the same area if their demands are not met. What complicates the industry structure further is the fact that cable operators who become franchisees themselves have franchisees and these franchisees in some locations have franchisees. This chain can be up to three-four links long in some areas. The large companies in many cases have no say in the matter and cannot even claim subscriber fees from them. Often, they have to be satisfied with whatever amounts franchisees gives them as the fee for receiving the signal feed. Fanchisees even use blackmail and threaten to switch over to rival networks, if they are pressured to ante up the franchisee fee. Often, some of them even retain a dish, receivers and modulators and a video cassette player to relay their own video channels or a channel that the MSO doesnt. In some cases the sub-operator is involved with the mafia or affiliated with a political party so the MSO cannot even claim a fee from him. The current system gives the MSOs limited control over their networks. The franchisees disclose what they want to and sometimes themselves dont know enough about their own networks for disclosure. It is this very tendency that forced the MSOs not to take on the responsibility of centrally paying off the fees for pay TV channels. The MSOs, especially InCablenet, have told

pay TV channels like ESPN to deal directly with franchisees when it comes to subscriber fee collection. But in recent times, it has taken on the responsibility for the entire network and centrally pays for its franchisees with ESPN. As far as the viewer is concerned he has very little say in what gets carried on the network. He has little choice because its the cable operator who decides which channel to he switches on, when and on which band.Little attention is paid to the viewer who despite frantic calls is ignored. Addressability is something that the cable TV industry has not paid attention to because there has been no push from consumers. A package of 30-60 channels costs about Rs 125-Rs 150 per (US$2.50-$3.50) month. While viewers watch just about 6-10 channels regularly, they like the variety that is being offered at the low price. For their part, a majority of cable TV operators has not invested in upgrading their headend systems because of the high investments involved for decoding and encoding equipment. They have to upgrade their entire cable system to two-way capability. They fear that subscribers maybe averse to going in for an addressable set top box and paying additionally for tiered services. At the back of the mind, there is the worry that they may not have control over their networks tomorrow should the government decree franchising and licensing. Finally, pay TV programmers are also to blame for the lack of movement towards addressability. Managers at these companies have consistently given in to the cable TV trades demands, sometimes justifiably, sometimes not so. The focus of distribution managers is to get carriage for their channels, and some have even forked out money to cable TV operators, instead of it being the other way round. However, it looks like times are changing. MSOs like Hathway, Siticable and IN Cable have started taking the route of upgrading their systems. Siti and INCable have started stringing fibre optics in some of the cities where they have a presence. And they are making their distribution system reverse-path-capable. What has incentivised them is the possibility of offering Internet services over cable. However, the last mile problems remain with the franchisees or sub-

operators not sprucing up their part of the cable TV network. Until that is resolved, the cable TV industry will never be addressed right

A look back In India, the seeds of the cable TV wave were sown when CNN broadcasted the Gulf War. Later, in early 90s, some other broadcasters such as Zee TV initiated the growth of cable TV services. From just 410,000 Cable TV subscriber households in early 1992, the number of cable homes went up to 1.2 million by the end of the year. The Indian cable and satellite industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The cable and satellite broadcast business has undergone a continuous transformation. In the beginning, it was driven by small cable operators. According to industry estimates, there were about 60,000 cable operators in India in 1995. The increasing costs of operations and need for fresh investments to upgrade cable plants in order to accommodate more channels has led to a consolidation amongst smaller operators. With time, the number of operators reduced to half and several of them joined hands to set up headends of 40 to 50 channels. The cable industry has witnessed the entry of organised sector MSOs such as Siti Cable, InCable, and Hathway. These MSOs have established about 200 headends in metros and major towns to cater their services to cable operators. Independent operators have consolidated their networks and are providing services in mostly semi-urban and rural areas.

The Way Forward The cable sector is emerging as a very attractive space owing to the TRAI recommendations and the clear edge of digital cable over its competition like DTH and IPTV in offering a larger number of channels, greater reliability even in adverse weather conditions and easier access to cheaper after-sales and customer services. Globally, India is the third largest player in the cable TV space. Even though DTH Technology is emerging as a competition to Cable in India, globally Cable has been resilient to such technology and even in developed countries like US,

Cable has a 70% market share within In-home Entertainment. Industry experts expect cable TV industry to consolidate and Corporatize in the near future, this will lead to economies of scale, higher efficiency and also easier access to capital.

Current Market Scenario The Indian cable industry is highly fragmented. There are over 7,000 headends and 30,000 cable operators serving 53 million subscribers. MSOs operate on a similar model of franchising of cable TV feed to cable operators, who in turn provide last mile connectivity to the subscribers. Due to tough competition in this highly unorganised, non-regulated industry, cable TV pricing dropped to as low as Rs. 50 - 100 per month in the initial years of operation. The existing average price per subscriber per month is Rs. 150 on an all India basis. In the initial period, the main reason for this low price was to achieve higher penetration in the large middle class population by broadcasting free to air channels. Once channels achieved a critical mass, they turned to the subscription mode. The subscribers resisted the increase in price due to pay channel mode of operation and lack of transparency in the system. Lower prices from households have resulted in under-declaration in the value chain. The cable operators declare only 15 to 20 percent of their paid connectivity to MSOs and broadcasters. Its worth mentioning that the present pay-channel pricing is not addressed to the consumer, but is being charged from cable operators, without leaving distribution margins to them. Presently, there are about 250 channels beamed over the Indian skies with over 100 channels covering the Indian sub-continent. Major Broadcasters include: Discovery, Doordarshan, ESPN Star Sports, Sony, Star, Sun TV, Zee, etc. All of these broadcasters have the same business model, which is revenues from advertisements and subscription. The cable TV industry is running on the dictates of pay-TV broadcasters and headend operators, MSOs or independent cable operators. The industry is clearly divided into CAS-ready networks, non CAS-ready networks, semi-urban networks, urbanised rural networks and rural networks. With the ingenuity of cable operators, new networks taking the feed from KU-band DTH

through multiple receivers and feeding 50 to 100 homes is the new crop in cable TV networking. Some of the growth resides in the new KU-band downlink and C-Band distribution systems. According to another report by In-Stat/MDR, most of the new growth in cable TV is coming from Asia, particularly from China and India that have been accounting for up to 60 percent of all annual subscriber additions over the past three years. It expects total cable TV subscribers to reach 395 million by 2007. The report also indicated that the growth in cable TV subscribers will be fuelled not only by the cable TV operators ability to attract new subscribers to their traditional analog video services, but also migration to the recently deployed digital video, voice, and data services.

DTH: A threat? According to industry sources, the biggest threat to the long-term growth of cable TV will come from DTH satellite services, apart from the regional economic recessions. However, the good news for cable operators is that the digital revolution is bringing both new services to cable customers and new sources of revenue to cable operators. The digital cable offerings cover services such as expanded channel lineups, video-on-demand, HDTV services, and high-speed data services. However, Dr. A. K. Rastogi, president of All India Aavishkar Dish Antenna Sangh, is of the view that DTH can succeed only in areas where cable is non-existent or the service is poor. "There are 60 million cable homes in India and about 50 million cable dark homes. DTH can hope to penetrate, at best, 25 percent of cable dark homes in the next 5 years, i.e. a potential of 15 million homes. Out of which, five million are divided between DD and Dish TV. For penetration in the cable TV arena, both DTH and broadband require fresh cabling, which is prohibitive. Further, cable TV subscription rates will always remain lower than DTH or Broadband. Hence DTH, at least for the next five years, is not a threat to Cable TV," he said. A key challenge for cable operators is that the cost to upgrade cable plants to provide these digital transmissions is substantial. This high cost, in turn, has slowed the overall pace of digital

upgrades and has limited digital cable TV service to a few of the wealthier countries in the world. Commenting on the challenges faced by the Indian cable TV industry, Dr. Rastogi, added: "The cable TV industry in Asia lacks financial muscle. Cable operators have reached the limit of their investment capacity. With digitalisation and broadband proliferation, telcos with stronger financial muscle will enter the arena, but that may sound the death knell for LCOs as they operate today." Cable TV networks' channel handling capacity depends upon the amplifier bandwidth and spacing between amplifiers. Most of the last mile segments, i.e. LCO to subscriber, have 47550MHz amplifiers whose channel capacity is confined to 62 channels in un-encrypted analog mode. MSOs networks upto the distributor have 47-862MHz amplifiers, which can distribute 90 channels. Headends are with the MSOs or independent distributors. To increase channel capacity, digital compression is a solution wherein 12 programs are compressed into the spectrum width of one analog channel. Thus, it is theoretically possible to deliver 620 channels in the present LCO segment and 1,080 channels in MSO/distributor segment. But with such capacity enhancement, the viewer will require a set-top box to convert digitally compressed channels to analog for viewing. Digitally compressed channels can be seen without CAS as well. The million dollar question, Who pays for the Set Top Box (STB)? holds the key to the solution. The industry has to decide, for once, about provisioning of the STB in order for the distribution to get addressed. In fact, reception quality will improve with the use of STBs.

The Industry: Trends & Opportunities

Cable is a $5B industry in India & is expected to grow at a CAGR of 34% to $8.5B by 2010 Globally, India is the third largest player in the cable TV space Cable TV Homes are expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.5% to 91M cable TV homes and at a CAGR of 9.6% to 128M TV homes by 2010

DTH Technology is emerging as a competition to Cable in India However, globally, Cable has been resilient to such technology and even in a large country like the U.S. Cable has a 70% market share within In-home Entertainment Industry experts expect cable TV industry to consolidate and Corporatize in the near future, this will lead to economies of scale, higher efficiency and also easier access to capital.

The road ahead "India has emerged as among the Top Four cable TV markets in the world with its close to 60 million CATV subscriber base," revealed US-based research firm In-Stat/MDR. Should we take this as a slap in the face of those who have been critical of India's buoyant cable TV sector, which has grown by stealth and without any regulatory framework? Digitalization of cable networks, entry of FDI, as well as professional cable TV companies, competition from HITS and DTH and broadband penetration in consumer homes, are said to be the growth drivers for the Indian cable industry. Despite this heady growth, the C&S penetration in India is still much lower than some of the other developed nations. An increase in affordability, fall in the prices of TV sets, and regional language channels will increase the penetration of cable TV in semi-urban and rural areas. The size of the market is expected to increase many fold, due to the incremental number of subscribers and improvement in service fee in value terms. According to a report by Reuters, new technologies and a booming economy will help double revenues in Indias television industry by 2010, but regulatory barriers could impact growth in the worlds third-largest cable TV market, India remains the most significant and accessible C&S opportunity in the Asia Pacific region. However, the regulatory framework, especially with respect to retail and wholesale cable TV rates, foreign investment, broadband competition, and program distribution has become increasingly uneven. New channels for niche segments with focused contents will enter the market. The price of the complete bouquet will increase due to slew of new channels and choices available to the subscriber to pay for channels they watch. Dr. Rastogi summed it up as: "The cable TV industry in India lacks dynamic leadership and government support. Yet cable TV connectivity in India is more than the total connectivity in the rest of Asia. The number of channels delivered through cable networks in India is more than elsewhere in Asia. But, EOL (end of line) signal quality is inferior to the rest of Asia."

SATELLITE TELEVISION Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an external set-top box or a satellite tuner module built into a TV set. Satellite TV tuners are also available as a card or a USB stick to be attached to a personal computer. In many areas of the world satellite television provides a wide range of channels and services, often to areas that are not serviced by terrestrialor cable providers. Direct-broadcast satellite television comes to the general public in two distinct flavors - analog and digital. This necessitates either having an analog satellite receiver or a digital satellite receiver. Analog satellite television is being replaced by digital satellite television and the latter is becoming available in a better quality known as high-definition television.

BRIEF PROFILE SATELLITE TELEVISION NETWORK Adress: H.O. U-41,Gole marke, Rudrapur, (U.S. Nagar), Uttarakhand-263153 B.O.: 1/153, opp. Faculty Club, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand-263145 Ph. 05949-242071, 243071, Mobile:9837443071 Email: fortune.rudrapur@gmail.com Satellite Television Network is a subsidiary of Fortune marketing Ltd. Rudrapur. Fortune marketing ltd. mainly operates marketing business. Fortune marketing does business with ITC and NOKIA.

About STN: STN is a leading Small & medium scale enterprise in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. We introduce ourselves as the leading cable operator of Kumaon Region of Uttarakhand State running our cable networks as below: A- Satellite Television Network, Rudarpur. We have centralized control room at Rudrapur and connected all nearby sub towns i.e. Bilaspur, Kemri, Gadarpur, Kichha, Dineshpur, Pantnagar University, Haldi, Nagla, Lalpur, Bara-Bari, Shaktifarm and about more than 250 villages on the way to all these towns. B- United Cable Network, Rampur (UP) We have our set up in the heart of the city and have connected the nearby township of Modi Xerox, Ambedkar Nagar and nearby towns such as Milak, Dhamora and numerous villages.

C- Dwarika Entertainment Network, Kashipur. We have recently started this new project at Cheti Choraha, Main Highway and have connected about 100% of the Kashipur City and nearby villages. We shall be connecting the rest of nearby towns like Ram Nagar, Jaspur etc within next 45 days time. We are distributing all 106 channels possible through an analogue network containing all the popular pay channels in all the above cities. STN covers around 800 villages in its three networks, has a strong hold over cable tv and has a deep and strong customer reach. Company provides around 80-100 channels in the area including regional, sports, entertainment, movies and movies.

TECHONOLOGY Here is the brief introduction to the technology used by STN:Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional broadcast television(via radio waves) in which a television antenna is required. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephony, and similar non-television services may also be provided. The major difference is the change of radio frequency signals used and optical connections to the subscriber property. Most television sets are cable-ready and have a cable television tuner capable of receiving cable tv already built-in that is delivered as an analog signal. To obtain premium television most televisions require a set top box called a cable converter that processes digital signals. The majority of basic cable channels can be received without a converter or digital television adapter that the cable companies usually charge for, by connecting the copper wire with the F connector to the Ant In that is located on the back of the television set.

Satellites used for television signals are generally in either naturally highly elliptical (with inclination of +/-63.4 degrees and orbital period of about 12 hours, also known as Molniya orbit) or geostationary orbit 37,000 km (22,300 miles) above the earths equator.

Satellite television, like other communications relayed by satellite, starts with a transmitting antenna located at an uplink facility. Uplink satellite dishes are very large, as much as 9 to 12 meters (30 to 40 feet) in diameter. The increased diameter results in more accurate aiming and increased signal strength at the satellite. The uplink dish is pointed toward a specific satellite and the uplinked signals are transmitted within a specific frequency range, so as to be received by one of the transponders tuned to that frequency range aboard that satellite. The transponder 'retransmits' the signals back to Earth but at a different frequency band (a process known as translation, used to avoid interference with the uplink signal), typically in the C-band (48 GHz) or Ku-band (1218 GHz) or both. The leg of the signal path from the satellite to the receiving Earth station is called the downlink. A typical satellite has up to 32 transponders for Ku-band and up to 24 for a C-band only satellite, or more for hybrid satellites. Typical transponders each have a bandwidth between 27 MHz and 50 MHz. Each geo-stationary C-band satellite needs to be spaced 2 degrees from the next satellite (to avoid interference). For Ku the spacing can be 1 degree. This means that there is an upper limit of 360/2 = 180 geostationary C-band satellites and 360/1 = 360 geostationary Kuband satellites. C-band transmission is susceptible to terrestrial interference while Ku-band transmission is affected by rain (as water is an excellent absorber of microwaves at this particular frequency). The latter is even more adversely affected by ice crystals in thunder clouds. Last not least, there will be a sun outage when the sun lines up directly behind the geostationary satellite the reception antenna is pointing to. This will happen twice a year at around midday for a two-week period and affects both the C-band and the Ku-band. The line-up swamps out all reception for a few minutes due to the sun emitting microwaves on the same frequencies used by the satellite's transponders. This happens in the spring and in the fall. The downlinked satellite signal, quite weak after traveling the great distance (see inverse-square law), can be collected by using a parabolic receiving dish, which reflects the weak signal to the dishs focal point. Mounted on brackets at the dish's focal point is a device called a feedhorn. This feedhorn is essentially the flared front-end of a section of waveguide that gathers the signals at or near the focal point and 'conducts' them to a probe or pickup connected to a low-noise block downconverter or LNB. The LNB amplifies the relatively weak signals, filters the block of frequencies in which the satellite TV signals are transmitted, and converts the block of frequencies to a lower frequency range in the L-band range. The evolution of LNBs was one of necessity and invention. The original C-Band satellite TV systems used a Low Noise Amplifier connected to the feedhorn at the focal point of the dish. The amplified signal was then fed via very expensive and

sometimes 50 ohm impedance gas filled hardline coaxial cable to an indoor receiver or, in other designs, fed to a down converter (a mixer and a voltage tuned oscillator with some filter circuitry) for down conversion to an intermediate frequency. The channel selection was controlled, typically by a voltage tuned oscillator with the tuning voltage being fed via a separate cable to the headend. But this design evolved. Designs for micro strip based converters for Amateur Radio frequencies were adapted for the 4 GHz C-Band. Central to these designs was concept of block down conversion of a range of frequencies to a lower, and technologically more easily handled block of frequencies (intermediate frequency). The advantages of using an LNB are that cheaper cable could be used to connect the indoor receiver with the satellite TV dish and LNB, and that the technology for handling the signal at LBand and UHF was far cheaper than that for handling the signal at C-Band frequencies. The shift to cheaper technology from the 50 Ohm impedance cable and N-Connectors of the early C-Band systems to the cheaper 75 Ohm technology and F-Connectors allowed the early satellite TV receivers to use, what were in reality, modified UHF TV tuners which selected the satellite television channel for down conversion to another lower intermediate frequency centered on 70 MHz where it was demodulated. This shift allowed the satellite television DTH industry to change from being a largely hobbyist one where receivers were built in low numbers and complete systems were expensive (costing thousands of Dollars) to a far more commercial one of mass production. Direct broadcast satellite dishes are fitted with an LNBF, which integrates the feedhorn with the LNB. In the United States, service providers use the intermediate frequency ranges of 950-2150 MHz to carry the signal to the receiver. This allows for transmission of UHF band signals along the same span of coaxial wire at the same time. In some applications, (DirecTV AU9-S and AT-9) ranges the lower B-Band and upper 2250-3000 MHz, are used. Newer LNBFs in use by DirecTV referred to as SWM, use a more limited frequency range of 950-1800 MHz. The satellite receiver or Set-top box demodulates and converts the signals to the desired form (outputs for television, audio, data, etc.). Sometimes, the receiver includes the capability toun scramble or decrypt the received signal; the receiver is then called an Integrated receiver/decoder or IRD. The cable connecting the receiver to the LNBF or LNB should be of the low loss type RG-6, quad shield RG-6 or RG-11, etc. RG-59 is not recommended for this application as it is not technically designed to carry frequencies above 950 MHz, but will work in many circumstances, depending on the quality of the coaxial wire.

STANDARD Analog television distributed via satellite is usually sent scrambled or unscrambled in NTSC, PAL, or SECAM television broadcast standards. The analog signal is frequency modulated and is converted from an FM signal to what is referred to as baseband. This baseband comprises the video signal and the audio subcarriers. The audio subcarrier is further demodulated to provide a raw audio signal.If the signal is a digitized television signal or multiplex of signals, it is typically QPSK. In general, digital television, including that transmitted via satellites, is generally based on open standards such as MPEG and DVB-S or ISDB-S. The conditional access encryption/scrambling methods, include NDS, BISS, Conax, Digicipher, Irdeto, Cryptoworks, DG Crypt, Beta digital, SECA mediaguard logiways, Nagravison,PowerVu, Viaccess, Videocipher, and VideoGuard. Many conditional access systems have been compromised.

STN: - As an Internet service provider (ISP) In telecommunications, cable Internet access, often shortened to cable Internet or simply cable, is a form of broadband Internet access that uses the cable television infrastructure. Like digital subscriber line and fiber to the premises services, cable Internet access provides network edge connectivity (last mile access) from the Internet service provider to an end user. It is integrated into the cable television infrastructure analogously to DSL which uses the

existing telephone network. Cable TV networks and telecommunications networks are the two predominant forms of residential Internet access. STN has optical fiber in many cities that was primarily laid out to connect MSO franchisee Local Cable Operators for delivering Analog video. In most of these cities this fiber is already being used to provide Internet to subscribers. The last mile Internet provisioning however, is through partnering cable operators. STN provides fiber local to their areas and also CAT-5 cable into individual homes. STN connects these small networks and provides uplink through fiber on the same cable that also houses fiber carrying analog video. STN provides internet access to nearby colleges and firms through its satellite cable network, its internet customers are mainly in urban areas.

It has created a far customer reach by providing internet service with cable TV network, it provides internet at sustainable rates which DTH companies do not provide, and this has been the USP of STN and helped the company to retain its customers. As companys cable network is very large, it has a huge customer hold. Corporate social responsibility:-

STN has always been contributed to social activities in U.S. Nagar and has a very good word of mouth in locality. Below are some of companys CSR activities in region:

Free live telecast of Nagar kirtan on Gurparv where contest is also organized by the sponsors. Public notice is provided free of cost directed by District Magistrate. Villagers are charged less than the people living in the city.

Company is spreading its network day by day, as it has its network in many villages, towns and cities. Company is looking forward to improve its services and increase its customer portfolio.

Literature Reviews:Verma Sandeep andJohn Doris (2006) in his article DTH vs. Cable TV said that in the year 2006 home entertainment in India had come a long wayfrom 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. Umapathy Sivasundaram (2007) in his article DTH industry in India 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 apure DTH player but a convergent player who offers all in one to the value-conscious,price sensitive Indian consumer. Indian entertainment and media outlook (2009) in this article discussion was all about 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, atechnology war erupted between these new players and the older players, Dish TV andTata Sky use of technology in the set-top-boxes. The older DTH players claimed that the latest MPEG-4 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 DTHplayers, the new DTH players are required to offer commercial interoperability 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 is a leading market research and information analysis company with a global presence 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. analystat RNCOS. It is forecasted that DTH will capture over 21% of TV homes in India by 2012, up from around 10% now. 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.

Cable unplugged: DTH subscribers set to double(2009) The Indian DTH sector is expected to see a 100 per cent growth over the next two years as subscriber base is expected to more than double from the present 16 million to over 32 million DTH connections by 2011. A key driver of this growth will be the shift from cable operator service to DTH service, driven by the increasing number of LCD and LED television sets in households as prices of LED & LCD television sets are expected to head south. The customers preference for DTH services will be driven by the direct functional benefits as well as content propositions offered by various DTH operators.DTH operators today offer viewers a digital medium of audio video compared to the analog-led transmission at the local cable operator. The technological benefit offered by a DTH service offers better quality which the analog-led cable service cannot match. India is fast heading towards a revolution in high-definition, both in terms of the hardware and software.While a lot of channels are gearing up to beam high-definition content, television manufacturers like Sony, LG, Samsung, Philips and others have already started to sell HD TVs. Only MPEG 4 technology used by DTH operators can support HD content. Reliance BIG TV, Airtel DTH were among the early adopters of MPEG-4 technology for a pan-India national service.Moreover, DTH is also evolving as a much personalised form of entertainment. On pricing, the DTH operator offers its an opportunity to choose and pay for only those channels he wishes to watch. This is enabled by offering recharges across multiple price points depending on the number of channels one would like to switch on. This is in complete contrast to a cable operators service where the viewer is forced to pay a monthly subscription with no choice on the number of channels or the service quality.For instance, Reliance BIG TV

showcases 237 national and regional channels, of which 21 are dedicated to movie on demand content. Besides offering a choice of the recently-released films on its PPV platform for Rs 50, Reliance BIG TVs monthly recharges start at Rs 127 in contrast to a cable operators monthly fee of around Rs 300.Moreover, DTH operators like Airtel, Dish and Reliance BIG TV also offer their customers a choice of convenient payment options apart from recharge coupons to credit card, online, IVR, SMS and such others which are not offered by cable operators.Secondly, unlike cable, DTH offers an array of features including electronic programming guide, personalised favorites list, on-screen notifier for latest updates of new movies with date and price, Mini Zapper Guide that summarises the current on-air programme across various channels and future listings.The cable operators have not been able to match the content proposition offered by a DTH service. Leading the pack is a bouquet of interactive services offered by a DTH operator as a value-addition to the subscriber. These interactive services enhance the entertainment options to viewers and enhance their overall experience and the DTH brand.The DTH players are planning to drive early adoption of the next wave of DTH revolution.Initially, consumers wanted to watch the latest movies on PPV platform, but going by the trend in the DTH industry many subscribers are opting for non-film content. These players are in talks with various global content providers to introduce genres like action sports, international and Indian music, TV shows, exclusive videos / documentaries on its platform. In contrast, a cable operator lacks the bandwidth to offer such niche content sourced globally CMS study says cable losing to DTH The study reveals that DTH is gaining ground against cable TV amongst Indian TV viewers. Thats the finding of a rapid assessment study conducted by the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).Conducted in April 2010 in 22 cities and over 4,435 households, the study has revealed that an increasing number of Indian TV viewers are wary of paying more to local cable operators. Only 25 per cent of survey respondents said they would pay more, as against 90 per cent in the previous survey in 2007.Respondents said that they did not expect any improvement in the service even after coughing up more. They added that if they had to pay more, they would prefer to do so for a DTH service. But some of them also said that the high initial installation charges for DTH were proving a deterrent.Overall the survey revealed that average cable TV rates have fallen nationally. Reason: DTH services are

offering competition to cable TV, because of which cable TV operators have been forced to cut rates.The national level average cable TV rates have fallen from Rs 200 in 2007 to Rs 185. In the case of Chennai rates had fallen to Rs 106 (Rs 146 with CAS in 2007), The average cable TV rates for Kolkata had fallen to Rs 161 (Rs 171 in 2007). Other cities which showed a downward trend included: Hyderabad (Rs 153 against Rs 169 in 2007), Chandigarh (Rs 165 vs Rs 212), and Bangalore (Rs 209 vs Rs 211).Cities which showed an upward trend included Ahmedabad (Rs 259 vs Rs 217 in 2007), Mumbai (Rs 248 against Rs 240 in 2007) and Delhi (Rs 183 vs Rs 156). Shillong cable TV subscribers were paying the higest with a monthly subscription fee of Rs 319.The quick study also examined how many channels were being watched in Indian homes on average. Most respondents said they watched an average between seven and 15 channels. Tatangar and Kochi topped the list with 15 channels. The figure for Mumbai and Kolkata was 10 channels, while TV viewers in Bengaluru and Delhi watched only eight and those in Chennai said they tuned into nine. DTH service entertainment better & larger: The DTH service can provide you entertainment on a better scale and enhance the picture on the TV.All types of regional and foreign channels are available on the DTH services in many different languages. Some of the well known brands are the DD Direct Plus and the Videocon D2h services.The DTH serviceis a direct-to-home technology that gives you access to better transmission process and is used for domestic purpose only. You receive high quality reception and you can now watch your favorite shows with clear sound and visual reception through the satellite. Today many people are taking an interest in the DTH services and are bored of the local cable operators and their poor sound and visual reception. The DTH service offers thousands of channels whereas the local cable operators do not have access to channels. Apart from this the DTH service can be made available even in remotest areas where the cable operators do not reach. Videocon D2H is India's first high definition DVR with 3D that can add to the third dimension to the DTH viewing experience. The picture reception is so fine that you stay glued to the TV. There is the 5x digital picture quality comes with modern technology and gives you picture quality that is five times sharper. You receive theater like experience with 16:9 aspect ratio of your HD DVR with the 3D. Even the sound quality is crystal clear with high definition digital

sound just like the theaters. The slow motion feature helps you to watch the moments of the show in detail and enjoy a relaxed time. You receive north, east, west packages, south packages and many other packages according to your choice.The DD Direct Plus service is a free direct to home service, which provides satellite television with audio programming for domestic use and business in India. The DD Direct offers 52 channels of which 21 are of DD and 31 are private channels. In a few days time there will be 200 and more channels on the Direct Plus. As this service is free of charge, it is giving all the other services a run for their money. The price of the DD Direct Plus is Rs. 1299 approximately. It comes with auto search and parental lock too. It provides many regional channels and some international channels as well.With such advanced concept of watching and enjoying Television shows, more and more people are looking forward to acquire one such service. DTH service is the new concept of quality: DTH (Direct-To-Home) Service is the new concept of quality and cost-effective entertainment, which is getting popular day-by-day. There are various advantages of DTH Service over the cable connection facility that easily allure the quality and cost conscious crowd. A personal dish (set top box) is individually installed in home that directly catches reception of satellite programs and makes you savailable with unlimited fun of your favorite channels & programs. It allows you to scan near around 700 channels that vary with the service providing company. The offered picture and audio quality is far better than the offered by cable connection. Even, you just need to pay for what you have consumed unlike the cable services. The High Definition video quality and Stereophonic sound effects enhanced the overall visual and audio pleasure. With DTH Service you will enjoy the various advanced services like movie-on-demand, video conferencing, Internet access and Email. Along with this, it gets you the decent amusement of Advanced Viewing Control Features including Electronic Program Guide (EPG) that provides you the information of the currently running and next program on every channel, Pre-booked Pay-Per-View & Impulse Pay-Pre-View-Watch for boxing or golf match etc, Parental Lock to safeguard your children's viewing options and more.A Set Top Box and a Dish Antenna is provided by the service provider and schedule the installation 1 to 2 days after your order, which usually depends on your location and dealer. The services will get activate within 2 to 4 hrs of

installation. Some functional accessories are also offered by the service provider like Universal remote, AC to DC adapter, AV cable, TV out cable, Product manual, Desiccant silica, AAA batteries for remote, and Activation kit.The increase demand heated up the market with tough competition and makes the companies to come-up with more alluring offers and discounts with excellent service quality. Videocon D2H, Dish TV, TATA Sky, Big TV, Airtel Digital TV etc are the popular DTH Service providers in the market. Particularly, if talk we about the Videocon D2H DTH Service then find it quite reasonable than currently available other DTH Services.The perception and audio quality offered for the Videocon D2H price are really worthwhile. Further details concerning to the Videocon D2H price, packages, performance and other similarly available other options are easily accessible on www.naaptol.com. On this shopping and product comparison webportal you will also get available with exclusive collection of the various other products from different brands at very best price with discounts.

DTH faces telecom pricing woes (2010): The industry agrees that a huge subscriber base does not necessarily equal to greater revenue generation in the DTH industry, mirroring the Indian telecom story. A report by research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA) published earlier this year said India will boast of 36 million subscribers by 2012 with an 18% growth rate annually.India is expected to add more than 10 million subscribers this year itself but it has been a tough going for the industry.The race for eyeballs is dominating the DTH industry right now as each player is trying to increase its subscriber base. The immediate goal is to drive up valuations by acquiring the highest number of customers, says Jehil Thakkar, executive director, KPMG. Industry analysts feel that this mad rush to bring in new customers will continue for another 2-3 years before any change in the industry starts to take place. Predatory Pricing For now, competitive pricing has helped consumers shift from the 90-million strong analogue cable platform to the digital. Industry players say distributors today offer new connections in lieu of a recharge request as entry point prices have hit rock bottom, throwing up a new challenge for the industry. Estimates say the annual churn will go up by 10% to almost 35%, factoring in the recent price war. In mid-October, starting with Tata Sky all the six DTH players slashed prices of their Set Top

Boxes (STB) to sub-Rs 1,000 levels. Although, Tata Sky says the move was not directed towards unleashing any predatory pricing in the market, the industry has seen consumer churn rise post this new pricing regime.We introduced the Rs 999-entry price to give our customers the option to choose their own pack of channels. The idea was to give our customers the option which says no conditions apply, says a Tata Sky spokesman. The DTH player says this move led to a significant spike in customer acquisition in the last one month compared to last year although , no numbers were made available by Tata Sky. The DTH industry saw sub-Rs 2000 entry price triggered by incumbents in 2008 to counter the launch of Reliance BIG TV and Airtel, which recently got pushed down to sub-Rs 1000 level.The prices are likely to stabilize for some time, but only till the next big wave of penetrative price intervention, which will be led by the digital cable industry, says Sanjay Behl, CEO, Reliance BIG TV.

Sharma Megha in her article DTH, Cable pricing war on the looming large with the New Trai formula (2010)

Cable operators and the DTH, direct-to-home operators are set to embark on a major tariff war due to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) hinting at a reduction in the current tariff formula for broadcasters on DTH, which will result in cutting down the DTH bills by half.Last week there were discussions held between the DTH companies, broadcasters, Cable companies and Trai to discuss the new pricing formula. A directive from Supreme Court has caused Trai to be involved in the pricing revisions as a result

of a legal battle between the DTH firms, broadcasters and the cable companies. The new revised tariffs have to be presented at the Supreme Court by Trai before 30th of June, 2010. To chalk out the revised pricing, sources have confirmed that Trai is set to meet again. Experts have stated that this new pricing will result in cost effective content on the DTH platforms in comparison to the cable operators which will result is a price war between the two competitors. According to the current pricing formula fixed by Trai, what the DTH operators would have to pay to the broadcasters is at the rate of 50 per cent of the tariff fixed for cable homes. However with the new pricing this was set to change and the rate would be fixed at 30 per cent of cable tariffs by Trai.Hence instead of the current 50 prcent, the six major DTH operators in India will now have to shell out just 30 per cent of the able tariffs for non CAS homes to the broadcasters. Putting it simply, if the consumer today pays Rs 50 for a cable channel to his cable operator, he will have to pay just Rs 25 to the DTH service provider which is half of Rs 50 as per the current DTH tariffs. However with the new tariff plan the consumer will have to pay just Rs 15 on the DTH platform for the same channel, which is 30 per cent of Rs 50.This will enable a faster and quicker roll out of the DTH platforms as the monthly bills of close to 25 million DTH homes would reduce by at least half of what it is today. Major DTH players in India like Tata Sky, Reliance Big TV, and Airtel Digital TV are in favor of this reduced tariff. This reduction is the charges will spur a price war between the cable operators and the DTH provides according to the experts.This price reduction is not backed by all the DTH players. One of the senior executives in a leading DTH company has stated Reducing DTH tariffs will mean loss of revenues due to declining average revenue per user. Trai should look at de-linking DTH content pricing from cable tariffs. Certain niche broadcasts and sports channels have also pitched for removing the tariff barriers.

DTH vs cable: A long battle ahead: Coming three years after reception of Ku band signals was first put on hold, the Cabinet approval for DTH television is being received by broadcasters and cable networks with caution. A cable-free medium (small dish plus set-top box), DTH is the broadcasters' best bet for direct access to subscribers with revenue collection alongside. It cuts intermediaries such as cable operators, who can distort subscription income. DTH reaches

remote areas and viewers whose dwelling pattern is not clustered for cable TV economies. Besides, the number of channels and broadcast quality are both high on DTH.However, DTH is a broadcaster's tool. Interactivity is limited, cable operators argue, the talk-back mode being through telephone.India has an estimated 35 million cable links, about half the number of televisions. Of this, 8-9 million fall in the organised sector. Retail tariff is among the lowest worldwide. Typically, the cable operator declares only 25-40 per cent of his subscri bers to the multi-system operator (MSO) who runs the head end, implying income loss to broadcasters who collect subscription fees through MSOs.But, India with its high cable penetration, is like the US market, where DTH has 25-30 per cent market share. (In Europe, DTH has a big share because the technology caught on better than cable networks.) Pricing and content will decide DTH's success here , amidst a cable network that grew since DTH was disallowed in 1997. When cable TV came to India, its technology cost was already dipping. DTH will enjoy the same, though there is no escape from costs linked to dish antennae and set-top boxes. The former can be shared, but the latter is an individual must. While costs tap er with installed base, it will still be DTH's main handicap.The high cost limits entry into semi-urban or rural areas, despite DTH's suitability for remote clusters. In contrast, MSOs have begun moving into towns, tying up with cable operators.Though it takes commensurate transponder space, DTH and Ku band give more channels. But, if the regular cable already gives 80 channels (many of it ignored), what is the attraction in 150 channels? Optimists say DTH gives a value-added bouquet. Which tak es the tussle into the urban market, where the required media-savvy (or cash-rich) clientele exists (rural pockets of this type are few, composed mainly of cash-rich farmers).The current fad in urban cable TV is the Internet. Slowly progressing, this package is available for a modest charge per month. DTH is not incapable of interactivity, Europe proving well that telephone talk-back can make it an e-commerce option. ``There is scope for broadband data casting and high speed satellite Internet access, using DTH. Keeping aside that niche edge for DTH, the critical difference is that DTH is digital, while cable networks are analog, unless upgraded.

Cable TV vs DTH Growth We have all witnessed the Indian DTH revolution in the recent past. But whats really interesting is how it is affecting the Cable TV? Cable TV is the dominant pay-TV distribution platform in India, with a 75% market share compared to satellites 25%. However, the average revenue per satellite subscriber is set to overtake cable ARPUs and is predicted to grow in tandem with the economy at a compound annual growth rate of 8% between 2010 and 2014. A survey was conducted by Content Management Systems (CMS) for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Over 200 select families from each of 22 cities involving 25% households in the upper income category, 35% upper middle income group and 40% lower and middle income groups surveyed in the study, revealed the following: The competition provided by DTH has brought down subscription fees of cable operators. Consumers are now bargaining harder for better transmission quality and lower subscription fees.The survey reveals a decreasing trend in cable subscription fees across all the cities due to expansion of DTH services and subsequent competition among service providers to attract and retain consumers. The survey shows that a small amount of people in majority cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Guwahati, Jaipur, Raipur, Kochi, Shimla, Dehradun, Varanasi, Jammu and Shillong would like to pay more to their cable operator.Whereas the survey also shows a moderate number of viewers would prefer to pay more in cities like Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, Patna and Chandigarh.Cable TV subscribers in 22 cities of the country shows viewers in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Jaipur watch the lowest number of channels daily, switching only to limited TV programs and for fixed hours.Cable TV viewers in cities like Jamshedpur, Kochi, Cuttack, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Patna comparatively watch the highest number of channels and a wider variety of TV programs daily.Whereas second rung cities like Varanasi, Dehradun, Shimla and Jammu had very low cable TV viewership.The countrys major metros are considered entertainment hubs but conversely have fewer couch potatoes than second rung cities. Analysts say this is because the metros have more people traveling long distances daily for jobs which naturally leave them with comparatively less time to watch small screen programs than people in second rung cities of the country.As per Sanjay Ghagare, vice-president (operations)

of Hathway Cable and Datacom which has a major share of cable viewers in the country,consumers are demanding quality transmission and accurate billing practices but even the cable operators have changed fast, offering digitalized services at comparatively cheaper price.The total number of cable and satellite TV households has now gone up to over 72 million from just 1.2 million in 1992, which is a substantial growth over the years. The competition is gaining huge momentum to attract subscribers, but the part I like the best is that its becoming a consumers market now. \Kiran Duwadi in her article Competition between Cable Television and Direct Broadcast has said that Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) is often considered a substitute for basic cable service, but current cable subscribers may face substantial switching costs to move from cable to DBS services. We use aggregate firm-level price data and other related demographic variables to examine the cost of switching from cable to DBS and vice versa. We find some firm-specific attributes and demographic variables that influence consumer choice and switching costs that appear to affect consumers desire to switch from one service to another. We then use observation-specific dummy variables that stratify cable price based on changes in the level of cable prices between two periods to examine whether consumer behavior varies depending on the size of price change. We find that when quality-adjusted prices for basic cable services increase substantially, subscribers will switch from cable to DBS, presumably at the point at which the price change is larger than the cost of switching. Rahim (1994) conducted a survey on the impact of cable network on television and video viewing in Hyderabad: According to him: Cable network introduced in India in 1984 are new phenomenon in media as compared to video. There were about 3,460 33 cable television networks in May 1990 and over 3.3 million households in four metros namely Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Madras had been cable television, with an audience of 1.6 million. Though it does not present as wide and personal selection of programmes content as video but offers similar entertainment at less cost and also over come the problem of zapping of advertisements. Hence, it is more useful for the advertiser.He concludes that cable subscribers are mostly from upper and middle income groups. The average time spent on watching television is 5.36 hours per day in each household. Out of this, 60 percent of time is spent in watching programmes on cable and

40 percent on watching Door Darshan. More females watch entertainment programmes on television. Although there is no significant variation of choice regarding news on DD and cable television but it is preferred for entertainment programmes and movies.

According to the study of Umphrey, (1991) cost was a factor in determining whether subscribers would upgrade and maintain their level of cable service. Further, higher monthly bills may lead to greater expectations which have an effect on a subscribers ongoing evaluation of the medium along with other factors such as degree of satisfaction with local cable operators. Satellite TV Will save Your Money: With Satellite TV in almost all cases you pay less per month with far more channels and at higher quality digital without all the rate hikes that continue to happen with cable. In fact studies have shown that on average Satellite TV costs the consumer 20% less than cable TV. The amount of your savings with vary depending on whether you live in the 5% of the US where there are some competing cable companies or in the other 95% where there is only one cable company with no incentive to drive down competition. You can get Satellite TV starting at around $25.00 per month whereas the national average for cable from July 2002 to July 2003 is $40.11 per month with rate increases at 8.2% during that period. In the areas where there is competition between companies the figure is lower averaging $37.84. Subscription rates for Satellite TV have only increased in the last 6 years since January 1997 13% while cable rates in the same period increased over 35% which is almost 3 times greater. Most Cable companies require you to pay for extra receivers in other rooms whereas a number of big Satellite companies like VMC Satellite, the biggest DISH Network Dealer, in the US offer up to 4 receivers free with free installation and life time warranty. Even those Satellite companies that do charge for extra receivers are offering plans at a lower price than cable companies. Here is an example of the excellent deals that Satellite companies in the US can give you that you will never get with cable. VMC Satellite in the US has been rated with the best quality, prices, service, support and customer satisfaction by groups like the Consumers Product Review Councilwhich did a poll across the entire US showing out of 10,732 customers that use Satellite TV an overwhelming majority of 71% crediting VMC Satellite. For as low as $29.99 per month

VMC Satellite gives you free installation with up to 4 receivers, all equipment is free with a life time warranty including a free DVR that can record up to 100 hours of your favorite shows without tapes, $49.99 free credit on your bill each month for 4 months, a free HDTV receiver when you sign up for HDTV programming which has up to 256 channels of digital quality available. Cable TV Rips You Off Big Time: Cable TV price rates have been increasing far more rapidly than Satellite. According to a recent Federal Communications report from July 2001 to July 2002, cable rates rose by an average of 8.2 percent, more than five times the rate of inflation compared with a 7.6 percent increase in the same period one year early. The consumer price index during this same period only increased an average of 1.5 percent. That is 5 times greater price increase for cable than for the consumer price index. Cable companies blame the price increases on the cost of upgrading systems, equipment, new programming and sports channels. Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine state the real reason for increases is rather due to cable companies taking advantage of their power of monopoly due to the lack of competition. In fact 95% of cable owners have no competing cable companies in the US. A report entitled "Cable Mergers, Monopoly Power, and Price Increases," points out government and industry data that shows cable revenues rising far faster that their industry costs. In fact expenditures to upgrade systems to digital and so on have been shown to require basically no price increases because they easily pay for themselves. Also it is shocking to discover what cable companies have spent to buy each other out so that they can be consolidated and have monopoly power for higher revenue. Between 1998 and 2001 cable companies spent over a quarter of a trillion dollars buying each other out which is six times more than they did on capital expenditures to upgrade their system and during this same time the average price paid per subscriber more than doubled. Also the report shows that almost 40% of the top and highest priced cable channels are owned partially or completely by cable operators or companies which have large ownership stakes in cable companies which means that for a significant part of the cable industry the increasing cost of programming prices passed on to the consumer is due to deals for the transfer of one division of the company to another division. Also the report shows that same things are now beginning to happen to cable internet services that

have happened to cost such unjust prices increases for cable TV. Satellite's TV Superior Quality Reception: When a customer adds digital cable to their present subscription only the supplementary channels are transmitted in digital whilst all the others channels remain analog. Satellite TV is a huge improvement over all types of Cable TV including digital. This is because Digital Satellite Systems (DSS) use the Ku band frequency which is much higher than the C band used by Cable TV. Digital signals picked up through the Ku band are MPEG-2 compressed video signals (30:1 bits) which allows far more channels to be squeezed through without damaging clarity. Cable TV may claim they have digital but with the lower C band limitations even their expanded services can still be considered analog and that is even with the upgrade to digital cable. Also cable digital signals are generally put through a fourth and fifth generation signal relayed from sub-station to sub-station before reaching your residence so that the overall quality picture and sound is diminished to the point that it cannot deemed truly digital. Instead of the snow or shadow experienced frequently by cable or antenna with Digital Satellite Systems there is excellent close to true life picture and sound which means that when you record on DVD you can be sure of high quality digital play back many times better than recording directly from cable wire with a VCR. Satellite TV now offers many High Definition TV channels and they are adding more programs as soon as they become available all the time. HDTV gives viewers crystal clear pictures that are equivalent to theater quality sights and sound with special Dolby Digital 5.1 channel surround sound. Your D S programming will be transmitted and received with the same quality that a DVD player can reproduce movies with big screen quality effects. You need a HDTV receiver to receive these channels and companies like VMC Satellite offer these an all their equipment free with a life time warranty. When cable goes down because of technical problems, downed wire or storms you are at their mercy for who knows how long but with satellite if you place your dish in a good protective position and place a special cover on it to protect from extremely severe wind with heavy rain and snow you will never have a problem. If it is not properly sheltered you may get knocked off or have rain fade but only very rarely is very sever storm conditions. Also, unlike cable TV, satellite TV blankets the whole country so that so that you can get it any where and better yet even put it in your RV or Van when you are traveling. Also, with Satellite TV you can get high speed internet connections that you can take with you when you travel and that will not

be down at the mercy of some Cable systems failure. Though it may still not be as fast as cable it is close behind. Satellite TV Has More Hardware Capabilities: Some of the newest features of Satellite TV offer interactive shopping and digital hard drives in the receiver that allow for between 60 and 100 hours of easily recording programs without video tape. Also, there is the added feature with this Personal Video Recorder Technology as offered by DirectTv DVR by TiVo or DishPVB with DishNetwork of being able to zap commercials while recording. This is a clear technological advantage that is essentially unavailable with Cable TV service today. DSS all have electronic programming guides that allow for interactively browsing a programming guide for details on every program that is on every hour of the day up to 2 weeks in advance as well as parental lock out features that allow users to control what their children can watch. Though some of these features may also be available with digital cable interactive features like Personal Video Recording (PVR) that can record up to 100 hours of programming without videotapes and that can pause, replay and live on TV are not. Satellite TV has also improved the television viewing experience by adding features that streamline and increase the enjoyment of watching pay per view movies, sporting events and regular programs with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound encoded when available and that allows for broadcast with wide screen crystal clear format as discussed in the section above this one on superior reception quality. Satellite TV Has More Programming Choices Plus Local Channels :With Satellite TV you get most immediate local channels and actually more because you get most local channels just beyond your reach with cable in your region. Satellite TV uses a superior Ku higher band frequency than the lower C band used by Cable TV this allows for far more channels than Cable can offer. For example, Dish Network can provide up to 500 channels of television, data and internet services on one satellite dish. If you really want lots of Sports channels Satellite TV offers far more selection than a cable provider. For example, Dish Network can get EVERY SINGLE FOX SPORTS CHANNEL in the US. You can even subscribe to ESPN Gameplan which gives you hundreds of games each season. Also, you can get many speciality programs which in many cases cable TV does not have the capacity to handle such as religious programs, foreign language programs from Russian to Arabic and other niche channels. There is no doubt

that your cost per channel is significantly less with Satellite TV. Satellite TV Provides Better Service: Though there are many happy cable subscribers many others are turned off with limited channel selection, poor reception, frequent outages and high monthly fees for premium channels. J.D. Power and Associates, is a global marketing information service, which does consumer satisfaction and quality measurements based on millions of consumers responses annually. They did a 2002 customer satisfaction study based on 4000 households across the US using 14 Satellite/Cable providers which covered more than 80% of the market share for Satellite/Cable TV. In this survey of overall customer satisfaction DIRECTV, a satellite TV company, ranked the highest among 14 major providers of satellite/cable TV.DIRECTVwas 18 index points higher than the cable TV service average across all factors that comprise customer satisfaction and was particularly strong in the area of customer service. Check it out here. Both cable and Satellite TV offer 24 customer service lines and a 12 month warranty although companies like VMC Satellite offer life time warranty on all the equipment which is free with a 12 month subscription.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design: The very prerequisite to conduct every study is to develop a research design or plan. Research design calls for determining the information needed, developing a plan for gathering it efficiently and presenting the design in the form of findings, analysis and must recommend some suggestions. Research design includes gathering of data, sampling plans and instruments and tools that will use to gather data.

Data type: Data can be obtained from two important sources, namely: Secondary source: Before starting a statistical investigation we must read the existing literature and learned what is already known of the general area in which our specific problem falls. When an investigator uses a data which has already been collected by others, such data are called secondary data. Method of data collection The secondary data has been collected through several websites, journals, business magazines and newspapers.

Primary source: - primary data measurement observed and recorded as a part of an original study. When the data required for a particular study can be found neither in the internal record of the enterprise nor in the published sources, it may become necessary to collect original data that is to conduct first hand investigation. The work of collecting original data is usually limited by time money & manpower available for the study. Sample size: The sample size was taken 200 in Udham Singh Nagar Data collectin tool: Survey was conducted through questionnaire.

Limitation of the study

1) The research process was time consuming ad little expensive well.

2) The sources of data collection were limited.

3) It was difficult to complete a study of this nature and to study all the aspect of problem with in short period.

4) The time factor is important.

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION Satellite Television Network Association, US Nagar, Uttarakhand For cable customer customers, answer question number 3 to 7 2. Having cable or DTH Cable TV 70% DTH 30%

According to the sample size, i.e. 200 which were chosen for the study in the district U.S. Nagar, which reveals that approximately 70% of the people are subscribers of Cable and rest (30%), are subscribers of DTH. This data finds that most of the people are having cable connection rather than DTH.

3. What is the rental are you paying? Less than 150 27.14% 150-200 52.96% 9.90%
200-250 10%

200-250 10%

250-300

250-300 10%

Less than 150 27%

150-200 53%

As the data shown in the graph, most of the people are paying rent between 150-200 which is almost more than half of the whole respondents and there are very few respondents who are paying more than 200 and above. Which reveals that the rental value is quite moderate and acceptable and does not result in the shift of consumers to DTH.

4. How many channels do you get? Less than 50 0.00% 50-75 0.00% 0.00%

75-100 100%

100-150

100-150 0%

Less than 50 0%

50-75 0%

75-100 100%

The study reveals that almost all the respondents are receiving approximately 75-100 channels which is more than enough for a family and again it is not a reason why consumers are shifting to DTH.

5. Which are the kinds of channels you watch the most? Regional 10%, Sports 14.28%, Movies 18.57%, 32.15%

News 25%,

Entertainment

Entertainment 33%

Regional 10%

Sports 14%

Movies 18% News 25%

6. Rate the following factors with regards to cable: i) Picture quality Highly satisfied 11.42%, Satisfied 27.14%, 51.45%, highly dissatisfied 3.57%

Average 6.42%,

Dissatisfied

highly dissatisfied 4%

Highly satisfied 11%

Dissatisfied 52% Average 6%

Satisfied 27%

The study reveals that more than half of the respondents are dissatisfied with the picture quality of Cable tv and approximately 27% of the respondents are satisfied. This shows that Cable tv does not aim at providing a good picture quality and it may be the major cause of shift of customers.

ii) Repair and Maintenance Highly satisfied 0%, Satisfied 27.28%, 49.14%, highly dissatisfied 5.73%
highly dissatisfied 6%

Average 17.85%,

Dissatisfied

Highly satisfied 0% Satisfied 27%

Dissatisfied 49%

Average 18%

The study reveals that approximately half of the people are dissatisfied with the repair and maintenance work of the cable tv but on the other hand there are very few people who are somehow satisfied.Therefore their dissatisfaction may be the reason of their move towards DTH.

iii) What is the maximum time to repair/ maintain your cable connection? Within 12 hours 27.45%, within 24 hours 19%, within 2 days 40.39%, within 4-5 days 13.16%

within 4-5 days 13%

Within 12 hours 28%

within 2 days 40%

within 24 hours 19%

As data collected through questionnaire, data analysis resembles that most of the customer said that it takes about 2 days to repair their connection if any disconnection occurs. Average time taken to repair one connection is 40-45 hours or 2 days which is a long time and customer might be highly dissatisfied with the service and it may result to shift of consumer to DTH and we can say that repair & maintenance is the factor which is causing customers shift to DTH because these days no one wants to miss his/her favorite program whether it is a serial, a cricket match or anything else, so it should be taken into consideration.

iv) Rent Very high 10%, high 23.57%, 34.94%, Very low 5.07%

moderate 26.42%,

Low

Very low 5% Low 35%

Very high 10% high 24%

moderate 26%

Above factor (Price) which is crucial and known to be most responsible for the shift of consumer but here data reveals that most customers (35%) say that price is low and 26% customers say the price/ rent being charged is moderate, which is strength of cable TV as compared to DTH. So, we can say that price is not the factor which may result to shift of customer from cable to DTH. Price, according to the data is competitive advantage for cable over DTH.

v) Are you satisfied with list of channels? Yes 63.57%,

No 36.43%

Satisfaction of customers for the channels being provided by CABLE

Yes No

36% 64%

This is the crucial factor because different customers demand different numbers and kinds of channels, as per the rent (as company is charging affordable and very fair rent) customers are satisfied with the list of channels being provided to them. It is a good thing that company has been successful up to some extent to provide those channels which are commonly demanded by the customers. So, as most customers (64%) are satisfied with list of channels, list of channels could contribute lesser in change in consumers preference.

7. Do you have any plan to shift to DTH in future? Yes 54.29% No 45.71

Future preference of customers

Yes No

46% 54%

As per the collected data, more than half (54%) customers of cable TV have plan to shift to DTH, this is the fact to worry about for the company because as per the above analysis, study found that Picture quality, repair & maintenance and delay in repairing their connection might lead to play a major role in changing the consumers preference and these factors should be taken into consideration.

For DTH, answer question number 8 to 12 8. Did you have a Cable connection earlier? Yes 76.33% No 23.67%

Percentage of customer who have shifted from cable to DTH

Yes No

26%

74%

From the sample size of 200 respondents, 60 were DTH customers and out of those 60 respondents, 74% had a Cable connection earlier, which means that 74% of customers of the company have already shifted to DTH and rest 26% went for DTH directly. It is a fact that means a large number of the customer of cable TV are shifting to DTH.

9. What made you shift to DTH? HD 11.66% Video recording - 5% 17.34% Price 0%

Picture quality 66%

No. Of channels

Video Factors, which contributed more in changing customers' preferance recording Price 5% 0% No. Of Channels 17% HD 12%

Picture Quality 66%

As the data collected and analysed, it reveals that Picture quality played the major role in changing the customers preference to DTH. 66% of the DTH customers said that they shifted to DTH due to poor picture quality of cable TV. And if we look at other factors like HD picture quality, number of channels and video recording are not the very strong factor which could lead to change customers preference.

10. Scale your satisfaction with respect to picture quality especially in monsoon Very bad -0% Bad 40% OK-58.33% Good 1.67%

Good 2%

Very Bad 0% Bad 40%

Ok 58%

The one reason or factor for which cable has advantage over the DTH is that in monsoon or rainy season or due to fog, picture quality of DTH becomes worst and cable is not at all affected by rain or fog. So, company asked DTH customers to give their views about the picture quality of DTH ion bed weather and the study found that 58% of customer said that picture quality of DTH in rain or fog is OK and 40% of the customers said that it is bad in rain and fog. This is a main strength of cable and could be crucial for DTH.

11. What is the rent you pay for DTH? Less than 150 1.66% 150-200 33.33% 10% more than 300 3.35%
More than 300 Less than 150 3% 2% 250-300 10% 150-200 33%

200-250 51.66%

250-300

200-250 52%

Study revealed an interesting fact that 52% (more than half) of DTH customers pay Rs.200-250 per month for their subscription. 33% of the customers pay Rs.150-200 per month. Which finds out that company (STN) is charging lesser than DTH and price of DTH is more than cable and cable has the advantage over DTH for price/ monthly rental.

13. Will it be useful to you if we open a customer care cell? Yes 90% No 10%
Yes No

10%

90%

As study already found that it takes a long time to repair connection of cable customers, so company asked its customers whether to open a customer care cell especially for complaints of customers to give maximum satisfaction to the customers. Study reveals that 90% of customers want customer care cell to be opened and 10% of the customers dont think that this idea would be beneficial for them.

14. One best and one worst feature of cable. Bad Picture quality- 63% Repair & Maintenance- 27% No. Of channels-10%
No. Of channels 10%

Repair & Maintenance 27% Bad Picture quality 63%

Satellite Television Network Association, US Nagar, Uttarakhand Please fill the following information

Personal details:
Name: Age: Contact number: Address:

1. Having TV or not (for rural areas): Yes No 2. Having cable or DTH Cable TV

DTH

If cable, answer question number 3 to 7 If DTH, answer question number 8 to 12 3. What is the rental are you paying? Less than 150 150-200 4. How many channels do you get? Less than 50 50-75

200-250

250-300

75-100

100-150

5. Which are the kinds of channels you watch the most? Regional Sports Movies Entertainment 6. Rate the following factors with regards to cable: i) Picture quality Highly satisfied Satisfied Average dissatisfied ii) Repair and Maintenance Highly satisfied Satisfied dissatisfied

News

Dissatisfied

Highly

Average

Dissatisfied

Highly

iv) What is the maximum time to repair/ maintain your cable connection? Within 12 hours within 24 hours within 2 days days v) Rent Very high High Moderate vi) Are you satisfied with list of channels? Yes No

within 4-5

Low

Very low

7. Do you have any plan to shift to DTH in future? Yes No 8. Did you have a Cable connection earlier? Yes No For DTH users: 9. What made you shift to DTH? HD Video recording Price

Picture quality

No. Of channels

10. Scale your satisfaction with respect to picture quality especially in monsoon Very bad Bad OK Good 11. What is the rent you pay for DTH? Less than 150 150-200

200-250

250-300

12. How many channels you get in the package? Less than 50 50-75 75-100 13. Will it be useful to you if we open a customer care cell? Yes No

100-150

14. One best and one worst feature of cable. __________________________________________________________________________ 15. Compare DTH with cable TV. __________________________________________________________________________