Notes from the session 2 Q&A:
To Mr. Sundeep Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer, HomeShop18
Q. What percentage of Homeshop18 customers come from Tie2&3 cities vis-a-vis Tier1? Also, for Tier2&3 cities, is the lack of choice in these cities instrumental for Homeshop18′s sales?
A. 30% of Homeshop18′s sales come from the top15-20 cities; For Tier2&3 cities, lack of choice of products is definitely a big driver; Homeshop18 provides brands and products an alternative distribution platform in these cities; In big cities, convenience of not having to go to the malls through heavy traffic, pay parking fees, etc helps Homeshop18′s sales
To Mr. T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC India
Q.Since DTH providers offer customization and interactive services, how do you see mobile phones and Internet competing and differentiating themselves?
A. There are instances and will always be when you cannot view TV. This is where mobile and Internet sites like youtube cash in. Also, the viewership numbers are much more accurately measurable for mobile and Internet users. TV numbers don’t really consider the viewership outside homes like in office and market, restaurants, etc. Greater measure-ability is better for advertisers and content developers
To Mr. Vikram Kaushik, Managing Director & CEO, Tata Sky
Q.1 What is so different in the growth in the number of DTH companies vis-a-vis companies in other industries like telecom, etc? Those companies also entered the market first using their capital power and got regulated later?
A.1 There’s a lot of fragmentation in the industry and one of the major reasons for that is the irresponsible behavior of the financial institutions who consider the brand name of the companies wanting to enter DTH industry rather than look at their expertise and foundations. This needs to stop if we want only serious players and better regulation.
Q.2 Do you see a big scope for VAS in India?
A.2 There’s definitely a role and relevance for VAS in India. There’s a spectrum of sophistication that exists. There’s a huge number of people willing to pay for premium products.
Q3. When do you expect consolidation in the Indian DTH industry?
A3. Probably in 2-3 years. There are a lot of big people involved and consolidation for some means admittance of failure. So, it would take time
Q4. Is India ready for 3D?
A4. Are you ready for HD. One brand tried to sell HD Tvs in India during IPL and struggled hard to sell even 100 of them. Also, there’s evidence that 3D negatively affects your body.
Q5. There are a lot of brands active on TATA SKY? What attracts them to TATA SKY?
A5. Statistics show that out of the avg. TV viewing of a household at 180 mins, 34 mins are spent using the interactive services. So, a lot of people are engaging more and brands want to be a part of it. Brands seem to be realizing that micro-marketing is more focused and better than traditional generic ads
