Tata Sky to invest Rs 3,000 crore; signs Hrithik for ad campaign
The Finance World — February 23, 2007

Direct-to-Home service provider Tata Sky is aiming to increase its subscriber base to one million and will invest Rs 3,000 crore to strengthen itself in this space. "Our subscriber base has reached half a million since our launch in August 2006 and we will achieve our target of one million users in the next few months," Tata Sky CEO and managing director Vikram Kaushik told reporters here. He said the company will invest Rs 3,000 crore to establish itself as a major player in the Direct-to-Home market. "Out of Rs 3,000 crore, we have already invested over Rs 1,000 crore," he said, adding but it will take about 5-7years for the company to breakeven.

To encash on the cricket World Cup fever, Tata Sky is offering a free subscription for the next three months and has roped in actor Hrithik Roshan for its new marketing campaign where select viewers would get to watch the World Cup final match with him. "The new marketing campaign is a step to reach one million subscriber base at the end of 12 months from our launch and we expect phenomenal subscription during the World Cup," Kaushik said. He also urged the government to allow partial exclusivity in Direct-to-Home platform. Currently, according to the guidelines Direct-to-Home service providers cannot own and create exclusive content.

In the US and UK markets, Direct-to-Home providers can have about 15-30 per cent of their own exclusive content, he said, adding similar practice can also be adopted in the Indian market. When asked about the increasing competition in the Direct-to-Home market as Reliance and Bharti Group gear up to enter the segment, he said: "It shows that the Direct-to-Home market is a promising one but there can be only 2-3 large Direct-to-Home service providers in the long-term." Tata Sky would provide four new movie titles — Krrish, Don, Babul and Bhagam Bhag to its customers through their movie on demand channel. With this channel, the company will provide its users flexibility to watch a movie at any time of the day just like a DVD at a price of Rs 75.