Tata Sky to drive digitisation through campaign ads

Tata Sky has launched a campaign to underline choice and flexibility on offer, targeting value conscious consumers.

“This is our initiative to drive digitisation in DAS III markets,” said Malay Dikshit, chief communications officer, Tata Sky. The campaign features actors Kangana Ranaut (for Hindi speaking markets) and Dhanush (for the South).

The campaign put forward the various packages on offer at Tata Sky and emphasis has been laid on the possibility of buying tailor-made packages for everyone’s needs.

Tata Sky offers its customers the possibility to recharge their packages through their mobile phones without the need to queue up in front of a shop. A miss call to a designated number allows a customer to book a Tata Sky connection. They will have the options to recharge their accounts with as little as Rs 10.

Another option allows customers to avoid paying for entertainment during kids’ exams whereas a cable operator would require them to pay irrespective of whether the connection is used.

“When we asked new Tata Sky subscribers on what motivated them to come aboard our platform, they gave us some brilliant insights on why they saw great value in getting Tata Sky at home. This campaign presents these insights in a simple and direct narratives delivered through rooted and relatable characters played by Kangana and Dhanush, both fine actors.  This is our initiative to drive digitisation in DAS III markets,” stated Malay Dikshit.

The campaign has been launched in 11 languages (Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Assamese, Odiya, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali) and four dialects (Manipuri, Bhojpuri, Marwadi, Tulu). It will straddle TV, print, outdoors, cinema halls and radio.

Tata Sky unveils STB with content transfer facility

Tata Sky has launched a new set-top box, Tata Sky+ Transfer. It is priced at INR9,300 for new customers and INR7,200 for its existing customers. The STB enables users to transfer content onto iOS and Android mobile devices using the Tata Sky application.

“The content providers’ concerns are genuine and we had to ensure the content is protected from piracy. We developed the technology with our partners and ensured the safety of the content,” said Harit Nagpal, Chief Executive Officer with Tata Sky.

“While we have STB’s that allow one to record content and play it later, we realised there is a large section of people, who don’t have the time to sit in front of the TV set to watch content. This STB is targeted at such consumers,” added Harit Nagpal.

Tata Sky+ Transfer is a new generation personal video recorder which allows to transfer/ stream & consume recorded content on mobile devices. The transfer can take place only between a STB and one registered smart device that is synced through the Tata Sky application over WiFi network.

The STB helps to watch recorded content on iOS and Android devices without consuming internet data bandwidth and it can record up to 625 hours of content in high definition format.

Content from Disney, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Hungama, Bindass, UTV Action and UTV Movies will not be available to stream/transfer as Tata Sky does not have the rights to allow transfer of some shows and channels. Videos transferred to the device will be auto deleted in 72 hours after the transfer.

The DTH operator has reported that it took over three years to develop the STB.

Tata Sky picks IBM’s mobile solutions for its mSales app

Broadcast satellite television provider, Tata Sky, has chosen IBM MobileFirst Platform to accelerate its business in India.

The new mobile solutions from IBM can help the DTH provider expand its offering to rural markets. The mSales app, for example, can track new subscribers and even help dealers and distributors of Tata Sky reply to existing enquiries with more efficiency.

“The Tata Sky mSales app is one of the few examples of how mobile handsets can help us overcome business challenges thereby opening new markets and creating more valuable customer interactions,” said Ravishanker, Chief Information Officer, and Tata Sky.

Tata Sky Ltd, with a subscriber base of about 14 million, is a joint venture between Tata Sons and 21st Century Fox. The operator recently introduced daily recharge voucher of INR8, which it calls as the “smallest denomination” of recharge pack. The economical pack is expected to help the operator expand its reach in small towns and rural areas of the country.

Technicolor delivers 11 millionth set-top box to Tata Sky

Technicolor and Tata Sky ‘score’ 11 out of 10

PARIS, France — Technicolor (Euronext Paris: TCH ; OTCQX: TCLRY) is proud to announce two special landmarks in its relationship with Tata Sky, India’s leading direct to home (DTH) service provider and HD market leader – the 10 year anniversary of the partnership and the delivery of the 11 millionth Technicolor set-top box.

These special milestones follow an announcement in May of this year for Technicolor to ship 4K set-top boxes in volume to Tata Sky from early 2015.
“On behalf of Technicolor, I’d like to thank Tata Sky for its ongoing co-operation and congratulate the company on its achievements as India’s market leader. We look forward to continuing our partnership and helping to deliver even more successful and exciting services to consumers across India in future,” said Michel Rahier, President of Connected Home Division at Technicolor.

Tata Sky MD & CEO, Harit Nagpal, added “Over the past 10 years Tata Sky’s vision has been to offer its customers the best, most compelling video experience. Technicolor has been a true partner in that quest, delivering high quality products and services. And 2015 will be a great year for our partnership as we deploy 4K STBs across the Indian market, once again, underlying our commitment to delivering the most recent technologies and the highest quality content.”

Tata Sky details Everywhere TV usage patterns

Indian DTH provider, Tata Sky, has revealed usage trends for its Everywhere TV app which shows 33% of subscribers are based in north India, 32%, in the western region of the country and 28% in the south.

Delhi accounts for just 13% share of north Indian usage, indicating wider take-up outside the capital city, while the state of Maharashtra accounts for 23% of western usage, with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the south accounting for 10% and 9% respectively.

Colours, the leading Hindi GEC channel, leads usage with 35% share of viewers, foolowed by Star Plus with 34%, and the Hindi news channel, Aaj Tak, with 24%. Tata sky said 64% of total usage happens during the evening hours, mostly when people are returning home from work, and that 60% of the user base actively uses Everywhere TV on 3G connections.

Tata Sky responds to MIB notice

Days after India’s Information and Broadcasting ministry slapped a notice on top DTH player Tata Sky for not carrying all the mandatory DD channels in its bouquet, the player has shot back saying it’s working its hardest to get all channels on air. However it does not have enough transponders as the the ministry itself has not been able to approve them on time.

Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal said, “Our licence with Doordarshan was to carry eight channels but we were carrying 15 since our customers wanted them. We have been running pillar to post to get capacity but no one has been helping us.” He also noted that the company has been struggling to get extra transponders from MIB.

Nagpal also noted, “I am ready to carry the 24 channels that the government says I should but I need time to figure out how to do it. Capacity creation takes time. There are only two ways to create capacity- either get more transponders or remove channels. If I remove channels, customers may not be too happy with it.” Tata Sky was not the only player that was issued notices. Reliance and Sun Direct have also been given notices by the government.

Tata Sky launches TV Everywhere for Android

India’s top DTH player, Tata Sky, which had earlier launched their mobile TV app ‘TV Everywhere’, on the iOS platform in November, have announced that it will now be available for download on Android. The application will be available to use in another 15 days in the country.

Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal said, “We are very happy with the number we got in the first three weeks from Apple users. The response has exceeded our expectations. People are spending a lot of time outside of homes but are still consuming videos using different screens. So why can’t your Tata Sky connection be given to you on your mobile screen? A decent broadband or 3G/4G connection is all one needs to get the experience of TV everywhere.”

The TV Everywhere app has already gotten 100,000 users since its launch and the number will only rise after its available on Android as well. Subscribers will have to pay a little over one dollar to access the new feature. The DTH platform currently has about 11 million subscribers to its name.

Everywhere TV to get 100,000 subscriptions

India’s DTH player, Tata Sky may have launched its most recent innovation Everywhere TV, which is part of its Tata Sky Mobile platform only a week ago but it has already been able to get nearly 100,000 subscribers in the days since its launch and it likely to reach that milestone soon.

Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Sky, Vikram Mehra said, “The response to this new product, offering live TV on mobile phones, has surpassed all our expectations. It has grown at a much faster pace than we imagined. We hope to touch 100,000 for Everywhere TV within the next few days. One of our biggest subscribers base is in (small towns like) Kota where many students staying away from home for coaching in the city’s famous institutions have adopted this service for their free time. People who travel a lot, businessmen, shopkeepers, migrant workers all kinds of people have subscribed to the service bridging the urban rural divide.”

Everywhere TV is likely to be made available for laptop viewing by February of next year and will be available on android phones by end of November. Interestingly enough DishOnline part of DTH player’s Dish TV, which is similar to Everywhere TV has also hit 100,000 downloads in the past week.

Tata Sky Selects Cisco's Videoscape Video Everywhere Solution to Deliver Multiscreen Experiences

NEW DELHI, India – October 31, 2013 – Cisco today announced that Tata Sky, one of the leading innovators in the Direct-to-home (DTH) space in the country has deployed the Cisco’s Videoscape Video Everywhere solution, a thin-client user interface application that enables new multiscreen experiences beyond the set-top box. Tata Sky is the first platform in Asia to deploy this solution. Rolled out first on iOS and soon to be on Android platforms, this live streaming service can be enjoyed on many mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets such as iPads.   

The Videoscape Video Everywhere solution is a part of Cisco Videoscape Unity, a platform that delivers and monetises a new generation of compelling, differentiated video experiences, which are personalized, synchronized, and social. It offers best-in-class content management and exceptional user interface capabilities to enable consistent and synchronized experiences across all subscribers’ devices, including TVs, tablets, PCs, mobile devices and games consoles. It also provides industry-leading multiplatform security technology to provide the critical end-to-end content protection required to monetize premium content and services. With the advanced search and other content discovery features, subscribers will be able to enjoy unprecedented flexibility to find their favourite content and new content of interest quickly and easily. 

Sue Taylor, Vice President Sales, Cisco Service Provider Video Software Solutions in Asia Pacific: “Video services have never been more popular or valuable. Video has moved beyond TV and to differentiate their offerings, video service providers have to take multiscreen experiences to the next level – delivering video in a more exciting, and engaging way. We are excited to work with Tata Sky on this journey of providing next-generation experience to its subscribers.  With this solution, they may be able to watch live, on-demand, and catch-up video content on any iOS and Android device, anytime, anywhere. Furthermore, Tata Sky will be able to improve subscribers’ loyalty, speed time to market of new services and service enhancements as well as assure high quality even over unmanaged networks and devices.”

Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Sky: “We always strive to provide unparalleled services and superior experience to our consumers. Our subscribers’ will be able to take the video experience with them on the move; thereby transforming their handheld device into a fully-functional TV screen with an interface which is clean, simple and easy to navigate. Cisco’s global experience and technology leadership will help us to unleash a new generation of video experiences for our viewers and at the same time strengthen our competitive edge.”

About Tata Sky

Launched in 2006, Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. The company has invested in state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, partnered with global leaders to provide superior technology and set-up high-end 24x7 call centers across the country manned by multi-lingual customer service associates.

The Tata Sky brand has achieved significant milestones, industry accolades and is rated as the No 1 DTH brand by the ET Brand Equity 2012 most trusted brand survey. Recently Tata Sky+ HD has been rated as the 'Product of the Year', 2013 in the DTH category. The company has a presence in over 19,000 towns with a subscriber base of over 11.5 million connections, as on April 2013.

For more information on Tata Sky, visit www.tatasky.com