Broadcast : No More an Idiot Box

From the days of the Asian Games to the present times, television and the
broadcast industry at large has undergone a paradigm shift. With DTH, IPTV and
now mobile TV capturing the minds of vendors and service providers, the
description of digital entertainment has changed.

Though there has not been a complete shift from the idiot box to the 3.5 inch
mobile screens, the change is beginning to happen. The market is abuzz with DTH
and IPTV as players like Airtel enter the market. DTH will be the best area of
growth in the coming times. New technologies like DVR and PVR are seeing big
deployments by DTH players.

VAS will play a major role in all segments of the broadcast industry. What we
see on the mobile today as VAS will also be on the television. VAS would bring
in a plethora of services like online banking, gaming, cooking recipes, etc, on
the television screen.

The DTH Phenomena

In 2002 when DTH services kick started, the adoption was slow. But in the
past seven-to-eight months there has been a steep rise in the subscriber growth
with an increase in the subscriber base by around 3 mn. The transmissions from
MPEG2 have now become MPEG4. DTH service providers like Tata Sky and Dish TV
started with MPEG2 but have now upgraded their core transmission system.

The new MPEG4 standard gives better deliverables to viewers. DVD quality
picture and crystal clear sound quality make MPEG4 enabled DTH services a
preferred option. The delivery is at lower data rates and hence better streaming
through QuickTime. This architecture is the best till date. The browser plug-ins
allow playing any complaint file. Streaming servers is also possible.

Previously the compression standards were not that efficient. One satellite
could deliver only 10 to 12 channels per transponder. The MPEG2 had 12
transponders, so the maximum possible channels to get delivered were not more
than 150. But today with efficient statistical multiplexing, the number of
channels per transponder can be escalated to as much as 20 channels per
transponder. On the satellite end the capacity could go up to 250 channels on
the MPEG2 platform. But today on the MPEG4 standards, the number of channels
that could be broadcast per transponder is around 30 channels and the capacity
per satellite has gone up to 350 channels.

Another area of change is happening at the setup box stage. The setup boxes
have gone beyond only encoders, decoders, scramblers, etc. They are going into
the realm of what can be broadly called Personal Video Recorders (PVR). PVR is
the latest engine for interactive services like pay-per-view, video-on-demand,
gaming, etc, and also allows convergence of devices like the PC and Internet
with the setup box. This allows convergence at three stages-application level,
technology and interactive content where the DVD and DVR are being merged with
the setup boxes.

The DVR technology today is exclusive to the DTH industry. The analog cable
system which is still prevalent in its old structure holds no place for such
technologies. With the DVR device a user can rewind or fast forward the
television shows. Though the major concern is price and it is on the higher
side, it is expected to time down to Rs 7,000-8,000 per unit.

New Beginning

This distribution channel did not see a very good start in India. MTNL's
Aksh TV flopped. Recently, Bharti Airtel launched its IPTV services. The
underdeveloped fiber cable system in India raises questions on how far it will
be able to reach its viewers.

Experts panel

Atul Bindal, president, telemedia services, Bharti Airtel Amitabh Kumar, president, technology, Dish TV Dinesh Singh, head, broadcast operation & engineering, NDTV Vikram Mehra, chief marketing officer, Tata Sky Mahesh Prasad, president, applications, solutions & content group, Reliance Communications Jai Maroo, director, Shemaroo Entertainment

The world of entertainment would have newer dimensions and more competition
with DTH and IPTV. A complete package of integration of IPTV in the home
network, access to the Internet, personalization of program offerings and
targeted advertising will be a complete package for consumers. The combination
of IP-based delivery and home networking technology would change the entire
digital entertainment experience.

The next big thing to happen to entertainment is mobile TV. The day is not
far when television will be on your palm. Mobile TV will change the way
television content is consumed. It will take TV from the confines of homes to
anytime, anywhere.

VAS providers are quite bullish about mobile TV as they see a better
opportunity to provide VAS content through the medium. Short films over the
mobile would be coming up, and several companies have already started building
their video library for the same.

Policies First

Government red tape pose the biggest threat to the broadcast market. The DTH
and broadcast markets in India are one of the most regulated markets in the
world. But unfortunately the system of regulation and policy are not in place in
India.

Trai had given its recommendations on opening up of terrestrial broadcasting
way back in 2005 but nothing concrete has happened on the fronts. Licensing
policies are not in place, so the recommendation is at halt. Things are no
different for mobile TV. India is one of the few countries in Asia where mobile
TV and terrestrial broadcasting services have not been implemented.

The tax paid by DTH service providers is also quite high. For an emerging
sector the 10% revenue share required to be paid to the government is the
highest among new industries. The tax burden makes DTH pricing uncompetitive
compared to cable. For the industry to continue to grow the way it is or perhaps
even more, it is the responsibility of the government to look into these issues
and solve them. This would not only aid the growth but also make the economy
stronger through contributions from the broadcast industry.

Sunny Sen

sunnys@cybermedia.co.in