More space in the sky
GSAT-10 launch to help Tata Sky focus on Tamil Nadu, Kerala
As India’s latest satellite, the GSAT-10, launches into space on Saturday, Tata Sky will be breathing a sigh of relief. Constrained for space up in the sky so far, it will lay claim to quite a few transponders on the GSAT-10. The transponders, which will be operational from November onwards, will allow the DTH player to focus on two key markets that it had a weak presence in.
Tata Sky had so far carried around 200 channels on the Insat 4A satellite with 12 transponders. The additional transponders, which are expected to number 8-10, on the new satellite, will be able to carry 100 to 180 channels, depending on the compression rates at which the channels are beamed back (one transponder can carry around 20 standard definition channels or 10-11 high definition channels). The immediate benefit will be the improved number of channels for the Tamil Nadu and Kerala markets on the Tata Sky platform.
Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal says, “We were never on the backfoot in most of the markets because of the space crunch. We did have to make a choice of whether to spread the content gap across the country or in a few states. So, we had chosen to concentrate our content gap on the two states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. That is because the difference between the number of regional channels needed in these two states and what we could have offered then was large to bridge. We were already strong in the other states. We can now stop making the trade-off and compete at par in these two major markets as well.”
Apart from the regional markets of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Tata Sky will also line up more of its Active (value-added) channels and regional channels for other markets. As Devendra Parulekar, Partner, Ernst & Young, points out, “Regional channels for DTH players will become crucial for a level-playing field because that remains one of the biggest USPs of cable providers.”
The satellite beam will be in the same direction as its earlier satellite feed, so that once the satellite starts functioning in November, Tata Sky will not have to spend the 1-2 years needed to realign customers’ dish antennae to a new signal direction. Airtel had made a transition from one satellite (Insat 4CR) to another (SES 7) on ISRO’s recommendation last year because the latter promised a greater number of transponders. As a result Airtel Digital TV (DTH) has some of the highest numbers of channels with around 300 channels with 15 HD channels on offer. In the southern markets that Tata Sky plans to ramp up in, Airtel Digital TV already has a high number of channels, with 21 channels in Tamil and 14 in Malyalam, comparable to the numbers offered by Videocon D2H and Dish TV. Tata Sky has about three channels in Malyali (Kerala) and around 14 in Tamil (Tamil Nadu).
Shashi Arora, CEO - DTH/ Media, Bharti Airtel, says, "It is our endeavor to provide the best television viewing experience and we are in constant lookout for enhancing existing capacities. We have reached out to TRAI and ISRO for additional transponders and would be happy to have additional capacities either in GSAT 10 or any other satellite they may accommodate us on." Industry observers point out that for most players adding a couple of channels in the next six months will not be a challenge. But once cable is digitised, DTH might have to counter 500 or so channels offered by cable providers. The need for more transponders will be felt then in the years ahead.
Source : More space in the sky
GSAT-10 launch to help Tata Sky focus on Tamil Nadu, Kerala
As India’s latest satellite, the GSAT-10, launches into space on Saturday, Tata Sky will be breathing a sigh of relief. Constrained for space up in the sky so far, it will lay claim to quite a few transponders on the GSAT-10. The transponders, which will be operational from November onwards, will allow the DTH player to focus on two key markets that it had a weak presence in.
Tata Sky had so far carried around 200 channels on the Insat 4A satellite with 12 transponders. The additional transponders, which are expected to number 8-10, on the new satellite, will be able to carry 100 to 180 channels, depending on the compression rates at which the channels are beamed back (one transponder can carry around 20 standard definition channels or 10-11 high definition channels). The immediate benefit will be the improved number of channels for the Tamil Nadu and Kerala markets on the Tata Sky platform.
Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal says, “We were never on the backfoot in most of the markets because of the space crunch. We did have to make a choice of whether to spread the content gap across the country or in a few states. So, we had chosen to concentrate our content gap on the two states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. That is because the difference between the number of regional channels needed in these two states and what we could have offered then was large to bridge. We were already strong in the other states. We can now stop making the trade-off and compete at par in these two major markets as well.”
Apart from the regional markets of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Tata Sky will also line up more of its Active (value-added) channels and regional channels for other markets. As Devendra Parulekar, Partner, Ernst & Young, points out, “Regional channels for DTH players will become crucial for a level-playing field because that remains one of the biggest USPs of cable providers.”
The satellite beam will be in the same direction as its earlier satellite feed, so that once the satellite starts functioning in November, Tata Sky will not have to spend the 1-2 years needed to realign customers’ dish antennae to a new signal direction. Airtel had made a transition from one satellite (Insat 4CR) to another (SES 7) on ISRO’s recommendation last year because the latter promised a greater number of transponders. As a result Airtel Digital TV (DTH) has some of the highest numbers of channels with around 300 channels with 15 HD channels on offer. In the southern markets that Tata Sky plans to ramp up in, Airtel Digital TV already has a high number of channels, with 21 channels in Tamil and 14 in Malyalam, comparable to the numbers offered by Videocon D2H and Dish TV. Tata Sky has about three channels in Malyali (Kerala) and around 14 in Tamil (Tamil Nadu).
Shashi Arora, CEO - DTH/ Media, Bharti Airtel, says, "It is our endeavor to provide the best television viewing experience and we are in constant lookout for enhancing existing capacities. We have reached out to TRAI and ISRO for additional transponders and would be happy to have additional capacities either in GSAT 10 or any other satellite they may accommodate us on." Industry observers point out that for most players adding a couple of channels in the next six months will not be a challenge. But once cable is digitised, DTH might have to counter 500 or so channels offered by cable providers. The need for more transponders will be felt then in the years ahead.
Source : More space in the sky
