DD FreeDish to reach 5 crore homes by next year: MIB’s Sanjiv Shankar
India’s only free TV service DD FreeDish is becoming stronger and is likely to reach 5 crore households in the next one year, said Sanjiv Shankar, Joint Secretary, Broadcast, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). Speaking to exchange4media, Sanjiv Shankar said, for DD FreeDish, the number of viewers is increasing every year.
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“Free TV will remain here. It is going to get stronger and stronger. DD FreeDish has gained a strong subscription base in the last three-four years. At present, it has 45 million subscribers, as reported by BARC.
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“Every year, when BARC comes up with the figures, it is a higher number. We have reached 4.5 crore households, and hopefully by next year, we will reach 5 crore homes,” Shankar told e4m. Talking about Pay TV, he said it is declining every year and that is a concern. He said, “Currently, the linear Pay TV has reduced by 2 million subscribers on a year-to-year basis, and reached a level of 118 million. Connected TV has reached 20 million. That is 2 crore households are watching connected TV on a weekly basis.” However, Shankar said India still has 125 million TV-dark homes (ones without a television set) and these homes will not move directly to the internet; they will first move to television. So, there is hope for Pay TV. “Of the 125 million TV-dark homes, about 75 million are up for grabs (expected to get a television soon). And because these are TV-dark homes, they definitely will not move to the internet. But they are moving to linear TV before going to streaming or connected TV. So, this is one huge opportunity,” he said at an event organised by AVIA. DD FreeDish service, owned and operated by Prasar Bharati, was launched in December, 2004 and is the only Free-to-Air (FTA) Direct-To-Home (DTH) Service where there is no monthly subscription fee from the viewers. It requires a one-time investment of about Rs 2000 for purchasing Set-to-Box (STB) and small sized Dish Antenna with accessories.
Tags : Dd Freedish Free Tv Pay Tv Linear Tv Mib Broadcast Sanjiv Shankar