With most private television channels deserting it, DD Direct Plus, the direct-to-home (DTH) company from Prasar Bharati, has become a true pubcaster carrying 34 channels of which 31 are from Doordarshan.These 31 DD-channels include 19 television channels and 12 All India Radio channels. The private channels that were recently disconnected from DD Direct Plus include Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, BBC World, Star Utsav and Akash Bangla, sources said.
DD Direct Plus, the free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) service of state-owned Prasar Bharati, stands to lose over Rs 100 crore in 2008-09 due to under-pricing of its carriage fees and underutilisation of its DTH transponder capacity, say experts.
Industry sources indicate DD Direct Plus has a subscriber base of around nine million. The DTH operator's reach is second largest after Dish TV, which has a gross subscriber base of 10.9 million.
Big TV will be the fourth entrant in the 7-million private DTH subscribers market following Dish TV's launch in 2003, Tata Sky (2006) and Sun Direct (2007). Doordarshan's DD Direct Plus is the fifth player (also launched in 2003) but is a free-to-air service.
The non-availability of transponders on satellites has hit the expansion plans of not only existing direct-to-home players such as DD Direct Plus and Dish TV but also new entrants such as Sun Direct, Reliance Bluemagic and the Bharti group.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday launched DD Direct Plus, India's first free direct-to-home broadcast service, hailing it as a "landmark event" in the history of broadcasting and communication of the country.
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