Big TV, Oxigen Tie-up for More Recharge Options

In a bid to enhance its customer service experience, Big TV has tied up with Oxigen, the single point recharge services in India, to offer its subscribers an option to recharge from Oxigen outlets across the country.

Subscribers can now make payments through credit cards, debit cards, internet banking, IVR, mobile mode payment (SMS) or by calling the toll free number 1800-200-9002.

Big TV customers availing these easy recharge options will get an electronic 12-digit pin number from the retailer, that has to be punched in either through SMS or by calling the toll free number and following the IVR instructions. This will credit the value of the recharge voucher into their Reliance Big TV account.

Mahesh Prasad, President, Reliance Communications, said, "We have partnered with Oxigen, a premium recharge service provider, to enable our customers to enjoy uninterrupted television viewing."

Big TV has adopted the strategy similar to the telecom sector, in fact many of the DTH players, of providing recharge vouchers at various retail outlets. Oxigen also provides recharge vouchers of Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel and Sun Direct. Big TV has over 100,000 outlets spread across 10,000 towns including local grocery stores, gift stores, and utility stores.

Read more » Big TV, Oxigen Tie-up for More Recharge Options

Big TV in Talks with Carlyle & Providence for Funds

Further to Big TV's talks to sell stakes to private equity firms, Carlyle Group and Providence Equity have emerged as the front runners to clinch the deal.

According to reports, Deutsche Bank has been authorised to facilitate the deal and Big TV is looking to divest about 20% of which 10% will be sold now for around US$ 50-75 million. A senior official from Reliance said that Big TV needed between Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 crore for its expansion purpose.

While Government norms allow 49% foreign investment in DTH, it restricts FDI in a DTH operator at 20%, so Big TV is most likely to dilute its equity in stages.

Big TV is on an expansion spree. The company is also in talks with general entertainment channels such as Colors, Star Plus, Sony and Zee TV to acquire broadcast rights for some of their popular television shows.

Also in the offing is an aggressive ad campaign across TV, print, online and radio stations. Currently, Big TV has around 1.8 million subscribers, and is the third biggest player in the DTH market, after Dish TV and Tata Sky.

Read more » Big TV in Talks with Carlyle & Providence for Funds

Big TV Launches Aggressive Ad Campaign

As part of its 360 degree marketing approach Big TV has decided to advertise with not only with the top 15 radio stations in the country covering 10,000 radio spots, but also carry out an intensive television, print advertisements and online promotion in a bid to promote its DTH service.

The 360 degree campaign is to promote the message of Big TV as a one-stop entertainment source in India in the next two months. According to the company they offer more channels, more movies and more interactive services than any other DTH provider.

Big TV is in talks with Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Red FM, Big FM, Radio One, Club FM and Surya FM. This is not new to Reliance Big TV as the company has done nearly 12 campaigns on radio since its launch in August 08.

15 - 25% of the advertising budget has been allocated towards radio, most of the radio campaigns target tier II and tier III cities.

Philip Jose, sales head, Club FM, Kerala, recalls, "Last year, we had major activations while Big TV was launching in the market. The activations were divided into pre launch, launch and post launch phases and many contests giving away free subscriptions were conducted. We are in talks with Big TV for their recent campaign and will finalise soon.”

Read more » Big TV Launches Aggressive Ad Campaign

Big TV to Tie-up with Warner Bros, Fox Channels

Big TV is certainly going global. Reliance is slated to finalise deals with
Fox, Warner Brothers and Korean Broadcasting. This move is in line with Big TV's strategy to increase the number of channels from 200 to 400.

Once the agreement is inked, Big TV will introduce five global channels of Fox and one global channel each of Warner Brothers and Korean Broadcasting. The channels include are Fox Adventure, Fox Crime, Fox FX, Fox History, Nat Geo Music, Warners WB Movies and KBS World.

KBS is Korea's flagship public service broadcaster with two domestic terrestrial networks that provides over 15 hours of programmes a day with English subtitles.

In April Reliance announced its decision to divest up to 49% stake to private equity companies and global DTH players. According to company official, "The company has commenced the process of identifying a partner and is likely to complete the exercise by end-June. The enterprise value of Big TV is pegged around $3 billion. A 49% stake dilution can get fresh infusion of over $1.6 billion."

Read more » Big TV to Tie-up with Warner Bros, Fox Channels

Big TV's Express Service to Resolve Issues in 2 Hours

In a bid to improve its customer service, Reliance Big TV has announced the launch of Premium Express Service across India that will help resolve customer issues within 2 hours.

Currently, the service is available in select cities and towns, but the customer service infrastructure will span across 500 towns covering metros as well as tier-II and tier-III locations. This will be one of the largest roll-out of DTH customer service operations in India.

BIG TV’s Premium Express Service will offer on-the-spot solutions to subscribers. Many customers complained about Big TV's after-sales service being inefficient, so this step to address customer queries and problems is in the right direction to strengthen its foothold in the DTH market.

The company has set-up a team of over 15,000 technical experts and installation professionals as part of its after sales service infrastructure. Even the customer relationship management resources has been decentralized to improve and enhance market response time. Sanjay Behl, CEO, BIG TV said, "With a focus on IPL and elections leading to an increased TV viewership till midnight by our customers, we have put in place a dedicated customer service team and robust process framework.

He further added, "We will expedite our installation turnaround timelines at a marginal premium of Rs 250 only. We guarantee addressing all customer complaints within 2 hours of its registration with us." The customer service timings are also extended till midnight during the IPL season.

Read more » Big TV's Express Service to Resolve Issues in 2 Hours

Big TV to Sell 49% Stake to Private Firms

Following footsteps of other DTH players, Reliance Big TV is planning to divest up to 49% stake to private equity companies and global DTH players. According to a business daily, several private equity companies like the Carlyle Group, Sequoia Capital, KKR and US-based DTH firm Direct TV are in talks with Big TV.

Reliance expects to raise around Rs 8000 crore from this deal, because the DTH market is highly competitive in India and to increase subscriber base one needs to have better and affordable pricing. The deal is expected to close this quarter.

Government norms allow 49% foreign investment in DTH, with a rider that the foreign direct investment (FDI) cannot exceed 20% within the overall 49% foreign investment cap.

Currently Big TV has around 1.8 million subscribers out of 12.5 million DTH customers in India, making them the second smallest DTH player in India. Dish TV and Tata Sky are leading at present with 5 million and 4 million subscribers respectively.

Read more » Big TV to Sell 49% Stake to Private Firms

Big TV Announces Special Summer Offer

Big TV has announced special packages for this summer season priced at Rs 1490 and Rs 1790. With Rs 1790 offer, subscribers get free subscription along with a regional pack for the first three months. Post that customers can purchase add on packs to view their choice of channels.

While in the 1490 offer, customers will have the option of buying multiple channel packages ranging from Rs 98 to Rs 465 per month. Its a good deal as the starter pack of Rs 98 comes with 68 channels, which include the main channels like Star, Sony, Sahara, Set Max etc.

Mahesh Prasad, President, Reliance Communications, said, "Our new offers are part of BIG TV’s continuous endeavour to offer increased value to customers. We’ve also added 3 NDTV channels for the 1790 offer. This goes to show BIG TV stands for the benefit of its customers at all times."

Further BIG TV has also extended the promotion on the other existing package priced at Rs 2490. It will come with four months of free subscription and one month free SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) for its customers.

Read more » Big TV Announces Special Summer Offer