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Videocon's DTH Bigger than BIG TV?

Videocon to launch DTH in OctoberVideocon that plans on launching its DTH service by the end of October, will be the only Direct to Home provider that will manufacture their own set top boxes and apart from that it will the next provider to offer MPEG 4 technology to its customers.

But what makes Videocons service so great that it would compete with Big, firstly unlike Big Entertainment who has been unable to give the media or the consumers a fixed launch date, Videocon seems to have planned out its execution and road map much better.

Anil Khera who was earlier in charge of Videocon's Sansui and Kelvinator is heading Videocons D2H services. Khera said, “We have taken six Ku-band transponders on SingTel's ST-1 satellite. We are investing Rs 10 billion over two years and are launching the DTH service by October-end.”

Videocon will be manufacturing STBs in it factory in Aurangabad, this may be beneficial to consumers as they would be able to provide them with the STBs at a lower price point. While Big TV uses AsiaSat for its transmissions and buys STBs from manufacturers in China and Taiwan.

Although Videocon plans on launching with around 200 channels which will be close to forty less than Big, prices have always been important to the indian consumer, lets wait and watch as the Direct to home segment heats up, which will open a lot of doors to the Indian TV watcher.
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Dish TV to Provide MPEG 4 STBs, Not Service

Dish TV LogoDish TV has announced that it will begin providing MPEG 4 Set Top Boxes soon after Reliance Big TV accused existing DTH operators Tata Sky and Dish TV of not complying with the latest set-top box technology and trying to block out from bringing the revised norms.

While Jawahar Goel, managing director, Dish TV, said, “MPEG 4 boxes are much more expensive and may put extra burden on the subscriber. Moreover, the MPEG 4 format is not in accordance with BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard) and the government’s regulations and, hence, is not interoperable with MPEG 2 boxes,”

Now the funny part of the story is that Dish TV does not plan on upgrading its transmission to MPEG 4 so although a customer may buy an MPEG 4 set top box the audio and video quality will stay at MPEG 2.

MPEG 4 WarsDish TV claims that it does not make business sense for them to upgrade their transmission, keeping in mind they have invested in their own broadcast satellite recently. Dish TV says it is quite confident of meeting the competition from Big TV in the market as MPEG 4 and MPEG 2 offers virtually the same video and audio quality.


The company also claims that the only difference is in the cost of set-top boxes (STBs), which is much higher for MPEG 4. But as we know Big Entertainment has procured a huge quantity of set top boxes so the prices are comparable with the MPEG 2 STBs.

But since Big TV has still not spoken about a launch date the competitors are making hay while the sun shines, Dish TV is giving away free STB’s with their connection to expand their customer base and probably get rid of their MPEG 2 STB stock. Dish TV also recently lost its CEO Arun Kumar Kapoor, who has now been hired by Big TV.
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Big TV Appoints Dish TV CEO as COO

Arun Kumar KapoorA week after the news of Dish TV's CEO Arun Kumar Kapoor quitting, its official that he will be the chief operating office of Big TV.

Kapoor joined Dish TV in November 2006 and before Dish TV he worked for Hutchison Essar South Limited as the CEO for the Punjab Circle. He has also worked for the UB Group, Gillette, Pepsi, Spice Cell, Airtel and IBM Daksh.

It seems that during Kapoor’s tenure, Dish TV consolidated its position of the country’s largest DTH platform, with 59% market share. As the chief operating officer of Big TV Kapoor will be responsible for overall business strategy and operations of Big Entertainment's DTH business.

The Reliance ADAG group hopes to become the number one Dish TV player in the market under Kapoor's leadership. Lets wait and watch if Arun can take Big TV to Big heights.
Read more » Big TV Appoints Dish TV CEO as COO

Reliance Complains over DTH Set-top Boxes

Big Tv Set-top BoxIn its attempt to gain an edge over its competitors, Reliance Big TV has accused existing DTH operators - Tata Sky and Dish TV - of not complying with the latest set-top box technology and trying to block out from bringing the revised norms.

For instance - if you have Tata Sky and want to switch to Dish TV or vice versa, you would have to throw away your old set-top box and get a new one. This is because the STBs provided by these operators aren't interoperable.

Reliance has complained to the I&B ministry that the current DTH operators are using an obsolete format, therefore jeopardising comusmers' interest. Tata Sky and Dish TV use MPEG-2 technology as compared to Big TV, which will use MPEG-4 format. This will offer better video quality and save over 30% transmission bandwidth allowing more channels to be telecast.

Reliance has also asked the government to revise the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) norms and implement TRAI's guidelines, which says that the existing subscribers need not change their STBs.
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Big TV Appointments

Next Big TV PostSanjay Behl, the New CEO of Big TV

Big TV has appointed Sanjay Behl as its new CEO to look after the company's DTH and IPTV operations.

Behl currently serves as Reliance Communications Group Head, Brand and Marketing Operations. He will continue to oversee the current responsibilities as well.

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Next Big TV PostBig TV CEO Resigns in 4 Months

Reliance ADAG is already undergoing a major change at the helm, just a month after crossing five million subscribers in short span of time. Arun Kapoor, has quit from his position as CEO and President after being appointed in July 2008.

At present, Mahesh Prasad is the acting president of Reliance Big TV. Prasad, who had been with Big TV since its inception, was the President, applications, solutions and content group, Reliance Communications.

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Next Big TV PostSanjay Puthli Joins Big Broadcast

Sanjay Puthli, who was working for UTV's new media division the youth channel Bindass as the business head, has been recruited by Reliance ADAG’s TV venture Big Broadcasting as its network sales head.

Sanjay was in charge of the sales revenues for all Bindass channels while he worked under the CEO. Puthli's new boss is Tarun Katial, COO, Big FM, who also looks after Reliance's broadcasting venture.

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Next Big TV PostBig TV Appoints Dish TV CEO as COO

Former Dish TV CEO Arun Kumar Kapoor quit to join Big TV as the chief operating office. It seems that during Kapoor’s tenure, Dish TV consolidated its position of the country’s largest DTH platform, with 59% market share.

As the chief operating officer of Big TV Kapoor will be responsible for overall business strategy and operations of Big Entertainment's DTH business.

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Read more » Big TV Appointments