Big TV Joins Hands with Ezeego1 to Offer Travel Discounts

In its bid to gain visibility, Big TV is targeting newer markets with its aggressive approach. The company tied up with Ezeego1.com to offer its customers discounts on holiday packages, international air tickets and DTH connections.

Big TV subscribers will get an additional 10% discount on domestic and international hotels and holiday packages from Ezeego1. Similarly, travelers booking an international or domestic package on the travel portal get Rs 1000 off on BIG TV connection or if they book an international air ticket they can avail a discount of Rs 600 on the same.

In addition to these discounts BIG TV is also offering a three months silver pack subscription free. This offer is valid up till March 20th, 2010.

Apart from the travel segment, Big TV is also targeting regional content viewers in Maharashtra. Recently Big TV announced a new Marathi package consisting four Marathi channels - ETV Marathi, Zee Marathi, Star Pravah and Zee Talkies - for a monthly subscription of Rs 5 only if selected as a first language. Also added to the base packs are host of Marathi channels like IBN Lokmat, Star Majha, DD Sahayadri and Mi Marathi.

Big TV has bagged rights of late Marathi playwright, Pu la Deshpande’s stage plays, and also acquired rights of Marathi films such as Samantar, Paandhar, Housefull, Zapatlela, Aaplee Mansaa. The films will be priced at Rs 50 for a 24-hour view pass.

The company is investing nearly Rs 5 crore in its Marathi content showcase, considering that Maharashtra comprises nearly 20% of its overall customer base.

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Big TV, Indiagames Tie-up Launches iGames

Taking a step ahead on the DTH platform, Reliance Big TV has tied up with Indiagames, a subsidiary of UTV, to provide popular games available on PC, web and other gaming platforms to its DTH subscribers.

Most of the games will be provided by Indiagames' partner, Oberon Media, US-based casual games specialist. Branded 'iGames', this interactive gaming series will include Galapago, Solitaire (with 4 different versions including Classic, FreeCell, Pyramid and Towers), MOODiES, Space MOODiES, Air Hockey, Darts and various licensed third-party games.

Sanjay Behl, CEO, Reliance Big TV said, "Our strategic tie-up with Indiagames signifies our focus to further enhance and monetize our VAS (value-added services) capabilities towards a profitable growth in the DTH business."

Currently, Big TV has range of free interactive services like iCooking, iAstro, iStock, iCricket, iNews and the introduction of iGames will further boost their VAS offerings. There are also plans to introduce local games like T20 cricket and Bollywood games like Chance Pe Dance, Kaminey, Jodhaa Akbar etc.

Big TV generates less than 5% of its overall revenue from VAS, and with iGames it aims to double the VAS contribution to 10%. According to company it will contribute over Rs 1 billion in the next 5 years.

Apart from this, Big TV has also joined hands with real estate developers to market its service in residential building projects. The company has signed multi-dwelling units (MDU) agreement worth Rs 20 crore with developers like Kalpataru, Super Tech Limited, Arihant Builders and Elysium Builders. This will expand Big TV's reach to commercial areas, new townships and residential complexes where a single antenna will provide connection to multiple households.

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Reliance Big TV's Pongal Offer

To expand its grasp in southern India, Big TV has launched a festive offer to attract more clientèle on the occasion of Pongal.

The offer that is valid only in Tamil Nadu features a 12 month subscription at a cost of Rs 2190 and the company claims to be handing out assured gifts with the connection as well.

This scheme comes with the bronze pack that includes 17 Tamil channels and a total of 118 channels.

Speaking about the offer, Nagarajan Kanthan, regional head - south, Reliance BIG TV said, “This offer is to spread festive cheer during Pongal. This offering signifies the companies constant endeavor to offer great value to its customers across Tamil Nadu.”

This offer is valid till the 15th of January 2010.

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Big TV to Monetise its Interactive Services

Reliance Big TV has partnered with NetworkPlay.in, multi-genre brand ad networks, to monetise all their interactive and video channel offerings. Big TV offers 23 pay-per view movie channels and a range of interactive zones like IAstro, IStock, ICooking, and ICare.

According to the company, advertisers will be roped in for video on-demand, electronic program guide (EPG) and interactive offerings of Big TV. Video on demand service will be monetised through TV commercials, similar to a commercial break on TV channels.

Sanjay Behl, CEO, Reliance Big TV, said, "With the robust technological back end of Reliance ADAG and measurable digital TV viewing experience in over two million homes, Reliance BIG TV now has a platform for advertisers to latch onto, especially when they are looking for their brand communication to reach the right audience in the most cost-effective manner."

While for the interactive services, there are plans to offer advertising spots including static and dynamic banner ads, branded skins and sponsorships of entire interactive sections or channels.

The deal further implies that Networkplay will also create landing pages for the ads, so if a user clicks on a banner ad by pressing a red button available on the remote control, it will redirect users to a landing page, where more information about the advertised brand will be offered.

With competition increasing among DTH operators, each one is opting for new technology and ways to monetise its offerings. Many DTH players are also studying viewing habits of subscribers and they may ask for a higher premium from advertisers to share that information.

Audience Measurement and Analytics (aMap), a ratings agency, is close to inking a deal with Big TV. aMap will employ a proprietary format independent content identification technology which measures all types of interaction of a DTH subscriber with the television, be it digital broadcast, use of interactive service or time-shifted viewing.

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Big TV Announces Year End Dhamaka

With the festive season around the corner, Reliance BIG TV has announced the year-end dhamaka for its customers. The scratch and win offer gives an opportunity to subscribers to win gifts like a free Big TV connection and discounts on installation of BIG TV. The offer is valid till December 31st, 2009.

Apart from this a major development that can give a boost to BIG TV's popularity was the strategic marketing alliance with Fox Star Studios for the India release of James Cameron’s Avatar. The tie-up allows Big TV to showcase exclusive interviews with Cameron and the stars of Avatar as well as videos of behind the scenes of the film.

Speaking on the launch of this offer and the recent development, Umesh Rao, senior vice-president, BIG TV said, "This limited period offer is to spread the festive cheer during Christmas and New Year. We plan to introduce a host of new content, offerings during this season and the tie-up with Avatar is one of our larger initiatives towards our goal."

This marketing alliance also provides a scratch card opportunity where customers can win a visit to the movie sets in New Zealand, trips to Malaysia, Goa and Avatar merchandise. Currently Big TV is running a 30-sec commercial promoting the film across leading channels.

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Big TV Aims 3 Million, DTH Sector to Rise

With the DTH subscribers in India expected to more than double from the current 16 million to over 32 million in two years, Reliance Big TV has set its sights firm on capturing a bigger share of the growth.

Big TV's major marketing initiative with allocation of over Rs 100 crore to improve brand visibility, special incentive programmes for the retail channel partners and improved ARPU (average revenue per user) is aimed at crossing three million subscribers by March 2010 from the current two million.

Umesh Rao, senior vice-president, Reliance BIG TV, said, "We are focusing on competitive advantages in sales and marketing campaigns and we aim to target profitable growth in the DTH business."

BIG TV currently showcases 237 national and regional channels, of which 21 are dedicated to movie on demand content. The company has also witnessed a surge in demand on the PPV platform, and that has prompted to tap non-movie content and new releases, with focus on sports, international and national music content.

The tremendous growth in the DTH industry by 2011 will be driven by increase in number of LCD and LED TV sets in households as the prices are expected to drop. With cable operator services still being largely analog-based, consumers will shift to DTH services offering better viewing experience and a variety of content options.

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Big TV's Joy of Ownership Campaign

To solidify its foothold in the Indian market, Reliance Big TV recently unveiled its brand campaign based on the concept of 'Joy of Ownership'.

The Rs 50 crore campaign focuses on customer testimonials, where users speak about their viewing experience, freedom from the cable operators, wider choice of channels and upgrading their standard of living.

The 360 degree campaign will spread across, print, radio, online, Out-of-Home, television and BTL. More than 100 publications, 50 radio stations and 1000 websites are being targeted for the campaign.

You can watch one of the commercial of Big TV's new campaign in the video below.

While other DTH players have been using celebrities to endorse their product, Big TV has resorted to a different route to woo consumers. Umesh Rao, senior vice-president, Reliance Big TV, said, "Keeping up with the trend of not involving a celeb brand ambassador, the new TV commercial is structured on customer advocacy designed to promote a sense of 'joy of ownership'."

Reaching out to online audiences, BIG TV has planned a day-long online roadblock for websites such as Yahoo!, Rediff, MSN and Sify. On those days only the campaigns of BIG TV will run across these sites.

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