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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Big TV Launches iNews with CNN-IBN

With the elections round the corner, Big TV has launched interactive election special called iNEWS as part of its interactive services.

The iNews feature will allow viewers to access current news and information, short text-based stories, headlines and ticker in a user-friendly interface. Some of their other interactive services include iCooking (cuisine), iAstro (astrology) and iGames.

This service is launched in association with news channel CNN-IBN and would be available to all Big TV subscribers.

Through iNEWS, the viewers can watch news and navigate through an 8-window PIP mosaic of video feed options. The user screen includes dedicated news and highlight feeds as well an access to sub genre-based text news stories, news headlines and tickers. Viewers can choose from eight windows including live feeds of CNN-IBN and IBN 7, top headlines, Lok Sabha 09 (dedicated feed for news and views on General Elections 2009), sports and weather.

Mahesh Prasad, president, Reliance Communications, "Reliance BIG TV has always been at the forefront of enhancing customer value through relevant and easy-to-use innovative product features. We are delighted on our partnership with CNN-IBN, with such topically relevant Election Special with interactivity through a 8-window mosaic framework. This will define a new paradigm of customer experience with quality content."

The launch of this new interactive service is way to attract new subscribers as TV sales go up during elections. Big TV aims to capture 40% market share in the next one year.

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Sanjay 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.

Behl's appointment comes at a time when Reliance is looking at doubling its subscriber base within the next one year to three million.

According to the company, "It is also planning to double its channel bouquet from the current 200 to 400 channels and with Sanjay in the lead role, BIG TV will soon reach greater heights in terms of content and competition."

Prior to joining Reliance Communications in August 2005, Behl was Head of Marketing for Nokia's India operations. In November last year, Big TV's former CEO Arun Kapoor stepped down from his position and Mahesh Prasad was the acting president of Reliance Big TV for a short while.

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Big TV Opens Service Camps in Karnataka

Cashing in on its success in South India, Reliance Big TV has now introduced service camps in Karnataka to educate prospective subscribers about its features, pricing etc.

This day-long camp will also provide 'on the spot' demos to its present subscriber base, thereby testifying ease of use of the product and personal attention towards resolving any customer grievances.

These service camps will be conducted at Circle headquarters first and then in other locations progressively offering the interested customers to get instant connection with a hands-on demo of the DTH service.

Karnataka is an important market in the South as Big TV has nearly 150,000 subscribers there, out of the 5 lakh subscribers in that region. Through this campaign, BIG TV aims to reaffirm belief of its retailers about the company’s resolve to be a dependable and leading DTH player in the market.

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