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This is an archive article published on October 23, 2000

DTH isn’t so hot now, why does Govt want it?

NEW DELHI, OCT 22: Just some plain statistics from the Government. Ten years from now, Direct to Home (DTH), will reach 10 million subscri...

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NEW DELHI, OCT 22: Just some plain statistics from the Government. Ten years from now, Direct to Home (DTH), will reach 10 million subscribers. On the other hand, terrestrial transmission and broadband would have notched the same tally five years from now. Conclusion: DTH is niche, expensive and has a limited reach.

So why is the Government intent on pushing through with DTH? With cable operators offering nearly 50 channels currently, subscribers will be hardly inclined towards DTH which will offer 15 channels on demand, and at prices three times the present subscription rate. Given that the initial investment

will be to the tune of Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 and an extra Rs 600-Rs 700 per month, are there any takers for DTH?

No wonder then that the dhoti-clad self-proclaimed swayamsevak, Subhash Chandra, preferred to rediscover his swadeshi roots at the RSS camp while James Murdoch (Rupert Murdoch’s son) was trying hard to impress upon I&B Minister Sushma Swaraj the importance of allowing DTH television in India.

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While Murdoch Jr’s intentions were quite transparent–coming after a Rs 4,000 million-investment since 1997–Chandra’s swadeshi agenda, if any, was not clear.

What is clear, however, is that the media war is just about to begin. And it’s a war for technology control.

Murdoch Jr’s meeting with Swaraj, just two days before the Group of Ministers met on DTH, only heightened the urgency.

With Star eager to get back some money from its DTH investments, Murdoch’s anxiety over the Government’s inconsistent stand was understandable. “DTH will get obselete in three years and with people talking of the immense potential of broadband, Murdoch has to move fast with his DTH proposal, if he wants to recover his money back,” says Sony’s CEO Kunal Dasgupta.

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The Group of Ministers which met on Tuesday, has only prolonged Murdoch’s anxiety by postponing discussions. There were clear differences of opinion between at least two ministers regarding the modalities of allowing DTH.

For Chandra, however, DTH is no longer such a hot item.

Because Zee Interactive Multi-Media Ltd is looking at greener pastures of convergence. Chandra, according to sources, has taken to chanting the convergence mantra, more complicated than the DTH verses, but definitely more challenging.

And Murdoch’s eagerness to pick up stakes in Indian Internet companies, not to mention his role in the Mittal-backed Music Boadcast company, has only given him a headache.

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The last time he had one was in 1996, when the United Front Government had almost decided on allowing DTH on Ku-band. Its entry was stalled way back in 1996, an achievement largely attributed to Chandra’s efforts since he raised the bogey of cultural pollution via DTH. And was rewarded with an ordinance that banned DTH on Ku-band.

Four years down the line, DTH is no longer a hot item on the broadcaster’s agenda. The dynamics of media have changed and with that, may be Chandra’s heart. “The power of broadband lures one and all and it is the web that will attract maximum investment–evident in the manner, in which Star is buying stakes in major internet companies over the last one year,” says a media analyst.

It is not without any reason that Zee officials, today talk about the need for a comprehensive media legislation rather than a piecemeal one on DTH. “It’s time we have a legislation that should be good for another 10 years,” says a Zee official.

Incidentally, when the Centre did try to start DTH in 1998, by allowing Doordarshan to lead the way–courtesy former I&B Minister Pramod Mahajan–the Election Commission shot it down as a populist measure since it came just before the general elections.

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But it generated a flurry of activity then with broadcasters scrambling for space on the DTH platform. Star went ahead and signed an MoU with Hughes Ispat, Zee quickly tied up with Canal Plus; local companies Hindustan Futuristics Corporation Limited allied with Hershmann.

Today, however, the equation is changing and now the buzz is about the immense potential of value-added services through Internet-connectivity via cable, though this is yet to take off in a major way. “DTH has limited functions and t echnology is moving fast towards convergence,” says Dasgupta. Why is the Government taking two steps backwards, then?

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