Dish TV revamps strategy to combat OTT challenge, targets increased subscriber base and market share

In a strategic pivot to onboard new subscriber base, India’s third-largest direct-to-home provider Dish TV is focussing on repositioning their brand from a TV centric company to a complete entertainment provider. The overall target is to not lose customers to OTT platforms.

The company is looking at scaling their subscriber base up to 2X in the next two to three years with bundled offers to accommodate family viewing. Currently at a 21 percent customer market share, the company also wants to push the number to at least 25 cent as a part of their medium term plan.

How do they plan to do it?

“We have always prioritised family viewing, keeping the Indian families at the heart of everything we do. However, with increased smartphone usage use and individual preferences seeing a complete shift especially post Covid, the traditional family viewing has had a new inclusion which is OTT. While TV viewing has not gone down, but the hours have. We conducted research and found that consumers still value the convenience and timing advantages of TV, alongside the flexibility of various devices and content options,” said said Dish TV CEO, Manoj Dobhal.

In response to this paradigm shift in viewing patters, Dish TV has adopted a new approach.

“We're not trying to change viewing habits, but rather enhance them by offering a comprehensive solution,” said Dobhal.

In April this year, the company launched Dish TV Smart+ that offers customers built-in OTT services along with linear TV subscriptions.

According to Dobhal, the offering has generated strong interest from both new and existing customers, with an estimated 50 percent of the DTH base potentially adopting this combination of DTH and OTT. Talking of customer base, the push to expand it is not just happening through differentiated product offering but also a re-energised marketing communication.

“We're revamping our go-to-market strategy, focusing on alternative channels like digital marketing for acquiring high-quality customers.

Additionally, we are also partnering with global and Indian tech giants to deliver a series of device-related initiatives over the next four to five quarters. We hope to empower customers with smarter choices in devices, plans, and technology,” Dobhal said.

“We'll be strategically increasing Capex for marketing and communication to ensure our customers understand the value proposition we offer,” he added.

The company is activating 360-degree communication plan spanning media platforms. The plan combines PR, ATL and digital outreach. For example, a little over 150 branded vans reaching over 300 rural districts are on the move to grab customer attention.

The brand will also be actively working with their ambassador Rishabh Pant and local influencers.

According to Dobhal the next wave of subscribers would be from Tier II and Tier III cities.

This is where the Zing Super FTA Box comes in.

This is a standard definition (SD) DTH connection specially made for Free Dish users who occasionally want to watch some paid channels. DTH set-top boxes powered by Zing Digital comes with more than 230 paid and free channels and has a 2-year validity.

“We offer 230 free channels alongside the DD Free Dish’s 90 odd channels withs pecial focus on regional language content. Some regions have more than 10 channel offerings on Zing,” Dobhal said. Zing Super that started two and half years back has touched 1 million subscriber base and the company wants to scale it upto 2X in the next2-3 years.