DTH Companies to gain from HD only in a long run

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 14 July 2010, 18:25 IST
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New Delhi: DTH players feel that the contribution to their revenue growth from the recently launched High Definition television (HDTV) services will start only in a long run. The revenues from HD customers would add up to the average revenue per user (ARPUs) only once the number of channels beaming HD content increases and the subscriber base multiplies, reports Vishwanath Kulkarni from Business Line. Almost all the DTH providers have launched their HD service in the past month to take advantage of the FIFA World Cup that was beamed by ESPN in HD format. The rush to acquire customers did force some companies to drop prices of their HDTV offering. "There is hardly any contribution from HD. We don't expect the ARPUs of DTH players to increase in the near term," said Anand Shah, analyst at Angel Securities. This is mainly because the numbers of channels offering HD content are few and so also the HD subscribers. According to a FICCI-KPMG report on the Indian media and entertainment industry, the current ARPU levels vary between 85-450 a month across platforms and user groups. Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV said "HD has taken off in a positive manner." Without disclosing specifics of HD subscribers acquired by Dish TV, he said "The numbers are in few thousands as HD is a niche category." However, Kapoor doesn't expect the HD service to help boost Dish TV's ARPUs in the near term. "The increase in ARPUs will happen gradually with the increase in HD subscribers," he added.