Cable TV operators have already started feeling the pinch as direct-to-home (DTH) players are on an overdrive to popularise their service.
NEW DELHI: Cable TV operators have already started feeling the pinch as direct-to-home (DTH) players are on an overdrive to popularise their service. But TRP (TV rating points), which is the currency for assessing viewership trends of channels and programmes, has continued to remain in the domain of traditional cable and terrestrial TV. Viewership or TRP measurement on the DTH platform is not expected in a hurry, according to indications available from the industry. In fact, the DTH subscriber base must more than double before TRPs, which usually translate into advertising revenues, start rolling out.
TAM India, which studies viewership and popularity of channels and programmes, is waiting for a critical mass in DTH before focusing on the new broadcasting platform, it is learnt. TAM interprets critical mass as around 5% of the total television universe. The TV universe base in India is estimated at 117 million, and DTH subscriber numbers at 2.26 million, as per the latest industry data released in April 2006.
So, the DTH market accounts for only 1.9% of the TV universe in the country right now. TAM would look for around 5.8 million DTH subscribers (5% of the TV universe) to start evaluating that market.
Even as the DTH market has picked up considerably in the past few months, and the current number could be around 4 million, there are no official industry figures to ascertain this estimate. Going by the official DTH stats of 2.26 million, India is still far away from the “critical mass”, and therefore DTH ratings.
However, a TAM India official told DNA Money: “We already have the new peoplemeter, TVM5, in place for studying the viewership pattern in DTH. We are only waiting for a critical mass.” TVM5 is a platform-neutral device, which has been tested around the world for both DTH and conditional access system (CAS).
Meanwhile, three DTH players (Essel group’s Dish TV, Tata-Star’s Tata Sky, and Prasar Bharati’s DD Direct Plus) are competing among themselves and with cablewallahs for viewers’ eyeballs across the country.
Interestingly, industry data released in April showed that 88% of the DTH market was in rural India and only 12% in urban. In urban India, people in the SEC A income category with DTH connections accounted for 26%, SEC B 16%, SEC C 25% and SEC D and E 33%. Among the rural India DTH population, 29% were categorised as super rich, 27% as rural rich, 17% as rural middle, 12% as rural poor and 15% as rural low. These figures were based on a TAM survey conducted across 66,636 DTH homes in 119 towns.
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