Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator Dish TV has begun reducing subsidies on set-top boxes (STBs) to lower capital expenditure and cut losses as it moves toward profitability, while also expanding into over-the-top (OTT), content aggregation, and smart television businesses.<\/p>\n
Chief Executive Manoj Dobhal said the move is aimed at conserving resources and ensuring long-term relevance as cord-cutting accelerates. DTH firms have traditionally subsidised STBs by about \u20b91,000\u20131,200 per device to attract customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the pure DTH model, there is still some subsidy, but it is already 18% lower than earlier,\u201d Dobhal told ET. \u201cWe are working on removing it altogether, though the pace is partly shaped by industry practices.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said Dish TV is redirecting capital from subsidising hardware to developing new ventures. \u201cWe have redeployed resources more carefully and funded these initiatives without external borrowing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The company reported a consolidated net loss of \u20b995 crore for the June quarter, compared with \u20b92 crore a year earlier, as revenue declined. Operating revenue fell 28% year-on-year to \u20b9329 crore, with subscription income down 11% to \u20b9273 crore. EBITDA dropped 56% to \u20b973 crore, pressured by competition, inflation, and currency depreciation.<\/p>\n
Other operators are also making changes. Airtel has begun reducing subsidies on STBs to improve cash flows. \u201cIn Digital TV, we lost around two lakh customers during the quarter, but the decline was partly offset by growth in IPTV,\u201d said Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and MD, Bharti Airtel, during the company\u2019s Q1 earnings call on August 6. <\/p>\n
\u201cDTH net additions were impacted by structural changes we initiated to eliminate subsidies on the set-top box. Our competition has also reduced subsidies, and our IPTV is seeing strong acceptance,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
In Q1, Airtel Digital TV\u2019s EBITDA declined 12% year-on-year to \u20b9388 crore, while revenue fell 2% to \u20b9762 crore. Capital expenditure was down 25% at \u20b9305 crore.<\/p>\n
Dobhal described DTH as Dish TV\u2019s \u201ccentral pillar\u201d but said the company is adding smaller businesses around it. \u201cIt all comes down to entertainment, content, and consumption,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Over the past five months, Dish TV has launched four initiatives: Content India, Flix, ShopZop, and VZY-branded smart TVs, all funded internally. <\/p>\n
The VZY smart TVs, priced between \u20b912,000 and \u20b945,000, integrate DTH and OTT and are being positioned as affordable alternatives without subsidy support. Dish TV expects to sell 1.5 lakh units in the first year, targeting around 3% of the market. <\/p>\n
Dobhal said the smart TV push is not only aimed at capturing demand but also at preparing for regulatory and technology shifts. \u201cThe government is mandating built-in satellite tuners in televisions. Moving into smart TVs helps us address that disruption upfront, instead of being caught off guard later,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
The company has tied up with service providers in 800 towns alongside its 400 company-run centres and introduced a buyback programme that offers above-market value for used TVs when upgrading.<\/p>\n
Dobhal said Dish TV\u2019s strategy now covers three models: DTH plus OTT, OTT-only, and TV plus DTH. \u201cAll three have shown traction across different customer segments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that diversification is meant to complement the DTH business rather than replace it. \u201cDTH remains the meeting point, but new formats are also gaining ground,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Dish TV aims to build these new verticals into meaningful businesses while reducing reliance on subsidies. \u201cThe idea is to keep Dish TV relevant as viewing patterns change,\u201d Dobhal said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator Dish TV has begun reducing subsidies on set-top boxes (STBs) to lower capital expenditure and cut losses as it moves toward profitability, while also expanding into over-the-top (OTT), content aggregation, and smart television businesses. Chief Executive Manoj Dobhal said the move is aimed at conserving resources and ensuring long-term relevance as cord-cutting accelerates. DTH firms have traditionally subsidised STBs by about \u20b91,000\u20131,200 per device to attract customers. \u201cIn the pure DTH model, there is still some subsidy, but it is already 18% lower than earlier,\u201d Dobhal told ET. \u201cWe are working on removing it altogether, though the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-960629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}