Business - India;DTH players explore new revenue streams

Priyanka Joshi

Direct to Home (DTH) players are exploring new revenue streams in the pay per view (PPV) market. To add more steam to its push for PPV subscribers this season, DTH biggies such as Tata Sky and Dish TV will premiere Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (OLLO) on December 18, consequent to which the movie will be available for four weeks versus the usual 24 hours.

UTV Motion Pictures has struck a deal with two major DTH platforms on a revenue-sharing basis, where OLLO will be the first Indian movie to hit DTH platforms in just over three weeks of release. Normally, movies have been going to DTH platforms only after 6-8 weeks and sometimes after the first satellite telecast of the movie.

A Media Partners Asia study pegs the total PPV revenues in India at $18.5 billion by 2017 while subscriptions can fetch up to $12.3 billion, advertising revenues will grow up to $6.2 billion. Worldwide too, pay-per-view revenues have grown steadily over the past decade, accelerating during the past five years with the addition of new PPV subscriber services.

The main staple for most PPV services is feature motion pictures which have been released in theatres. Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV, said, “The premier of OLLO on Dish TV will enable our 4.6 million subscribers to enjoy the latest and best of movies in the comfort of their home. We are the only DTH platform to broadcast Bollywood and Hollywood blockbuster movies like Taare Zameen Par, Jab We Met, and Spider Man 3.”

Dish TV believes that PPV on a long-term outlook will drive its revenues, which today consists of approximately 10-15 per cent of the Dish TV subscriber-base. Kapoor insists, “Many production houses have approached us for the release of their forthcoming films on Dish TV. In the current scenario of multiplex sales dipping and viewers preferring to watch movies at home, this association could form a growing new revenue stream for us going forward.”

A Big TV spokesperson confirms the emergence of PPV as a revenue driver. “Specifically for BIG TV, our strategy has been to provide subscription-based bundled service called Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVoD).”