BIG TV LAUNCHED

Reliance has entered the DTH market. A formal launch yesterday is expected to intensify the competition among the four existing DTH operators- DD, Sun, Dish and Tata sky.

Big TV will initially roll out in 6,500 towns. A price war is imminent. In direct war with SUN DTH Reliance is offering one year subscription for 1990 in all southern states with many additional features. As of now this the best offer. It has 147channels plus a regional pack consisting of three to four channels any language. This is inclusive of 10 audio channels and 32 movie channels. There are 32 movie channels of which 20 are monthly subscription, 9 are pay by view[ Rs 60/- per movie] and one exclusive regional. There will be a new movie every Fortnight. Unlike Sun DTH it has all major news channels like CNN_IBN, Timesnow, Headlines today and of course NDTV. but charges 200 more for sports channels like ESPN, Star and Star Cricket. All popular Tamil Channels like Sun, Vijay, Jaya, Kalaignar, Raj are available. Movies monthly will be free for fist 3 months as Launch offer after which it will cost 50/- per month. No Tamil movies are listed in the first month. Many Telugu, Kannada movies are there.

Installation is free for south India. the 1999 Smart south package includes 1490 starter kit price plus 500 recharge coupon. For kids Disney and Jetix are there. No Pogo is in the list. pogo, cartoon network and hungama can be obtained by paying Rs75/- every three months. There are 8 top up options available.

The customer care was not able to clarify whether Rs 500/- can be used for additional packages or top ups or whether it is towards the cost for free one year? However in print in looks like Rs 1490 for one year free south starter plus one regional plus 3 month movies plus Rs 500 available for further packages or top ups- which if true is an unbeatable offer.

After one year monthy south starter will be at 175 per month. one regional pack will continue to be free.

The movies for the first month are as follows
1. Hindi – Goal, Dil dosti etc, speed,Border, cash, s6th july at barista, Mumbai salsa, its breaking news, yeh dil, uthhan,Jodha akbar, johny gaddar, chorpe mor, Jeena yahan, Say salam india, Brahma vishnu mahesh, refugee, khoon ka ristha, Hatrick, dil diya dard liya, Aap ka suror, Koya koya chand, naiduniya naye log, kahani ek chor ki, meet mera man ka, naina, inteha pyarki, delhi heights, pakandi and phir kab milogi Total- Thirty
2. Regional
Telugu- Simahadri, anandham, lahiuri lahiri lahirilo, bhartiyudu,SAMARASIMHA REDDY, VASANTHAM and CHITRAM Total- Seven

Kannada- CHANDU, MAHALAXMI, PREETU MAADOO HUDU GARIGELLA and SHRI MANJUNATAHA Total- Four

Bengali- JAMAI BABU ZINDABAD,BIDHATAR KHELA, STRI ER MARJDA and ANNADATA Total- Four

Bhojpuri – GANGA GHAT, BHATOHIYA and Bahuriya Total- Three

Gujarathi – MAANIGHAR MANIYARU, LAGYO KASUMBINO RANGMANE LAGIYO, RAJ TARI MEHENDI NO RANG and BHADAR NE KANTHE Total- Four

Marathi- ZAPATLELA and GRIHA PRAVESH Total- Two

Malayalam- VALYEATTAN and UNCLE BEN Total- Two

Total 56 in the plate

Pay by view movies- Rs 60 per movie
STOMP THE YARD, THE RUNDOWN, THE NET, PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, STUART LITTLE 2, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, 13 GHOSTS, ON THE WATER, FRONTMEN IN BLACK II, ANACONDA, JAGGED EDGE, THE CABLE GUY, LOOK WHO’S TALKING TOO, ABSENCE OF MALICE, SHORT CIRCUIT 2, THE DEEP, CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, BAD BOYS, KRULL, THE BIG CHILL, THE KARATE KID, PHILADELPHIA, MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN and CACTUS FLOWER

Total – 24

There will be new movies and Friday Premiere. There are also ten Audio channels.

ANOTHER VERY EXCLUSIVE OFFER WHICH NO OTHER OPERATOR OFFERS IS FOR MULTIPLE TV’s. THE OTHER OPERATORS DO NOT DISCOUNT FOR MULTIPLE TV”S TILL NOW. BUT BIG TV IS OFFERING 50% Discount in Installation[ not applicable for south] and also 50% discount on monthly charges or Rs 125 which ever is higher for the second, 3rd or 4th Tv in home. Maximum of 4 can be installed in one house. Should be good for flats.

Reliance Big TV draws up an ambitious plan to capture 40 per cent of the market share within 12 months.”The number of DTH TV homes is likely to grow by an additional 11-12 million in a year from now and we aim to have 40 per cent market share of that,” CEO Arun Kapoor said

The DTH subscriber base is likely to go up to 60 million by 2015, he added.The service will be available in over one lakh outlets across country’s 6,500 towns including over 2,000 exclusive Reliance branded stores. By March next year, the reach would be extended to 10,000 towns. “We are ready to provide the service to five million homes,” Kapoor said adding that STBs would be outsourced from various vendors including Hyundai and ZTB

Big TV is also likely to bundle offers like discounts on 26-inch LCD television sets along with its subscription. Big TV is expected to spend Rs 200 crore on marketing and promotions in the first year of its launch.

Big Tv was Launched in Mumbai on August 19th. Big TV DTH service will be available officially across India from August 21st onwards especially in small towns.

For areas other then south there will be Rs 1000 Installation charges. Inclusive of that the minimum package is 2490 which will fetch 6 months free popular pack or thrtee months free premium pack. For south indians in other than south they can get south pack for three months free for 2490 which includes a 1000 recharge voucher.

BIG TV will offer MPEG 4 technology[ SUN DTH also offers the same] to provide DVD like video and CD like audio quality TV viewing. BIG TV also has Functions such as Zapper Banner; Mosaic;Favourites; Search etc.

Rumours are that Reliance is in advanced talks with Toshiba to sign an agreement for about 15 million LCD TVs, to be given along with the DTH connection. The proposal deal stands like this: BIG DTH will offer its DTH connection for Rs 10,000-12,000 and
the consumer will get a Toshiba LCD TV free along with the DTH hardware.

Big TV will have a call centre capacity of more than 50,000 calls a day, in 11 languages, across two locations.

Mudra Radar, the advertising agency handles the creatives for all Reliance ADAG brands. The TV commercial has been directed by a European production house, Mad Productions. “The TVC will be like a 60 second blockbuster movie,” Behl states. Big TV’s logo, creative templates and retail signage have been designed by Bonsey Design, a Singapore based firm that has also worked with brands such as Paramount, BBC and CNBC. The mass media campaign includes outdoor (which will be launched today), print, online, cinema, advertising at retail touchpoints and points of sale and 15,000 spots on television in the first week of launch. The first phase will be a teaser ad. The main concept is, ‘It better be big’. Therefore, the campaign will revolve around the line, ‘Ho Toh Big Ho’.

Big TV is the official DTH partner of the Indian Premier League for the next four years

Big TV DTH service would be available at 11,711 outlets, including 24 Reliance World and 92 Reliance Stores across 452 cities in Tamil Nadu.

“Reliance is coming up with its own channels which will increase our portfolio,” Big TV DTH CEO Arun Kapoor said here. He said the plan is to come up with 20 channels of which two, three would be launched by the fourth quarter of this year.

Another four, five channels would be launched early next year,” he said at the launch of the DTH services in Delhi. Sources said Rel ADA group plans to launch mostly general entertainment channels along with regional ones in the line of Zee and Star.

Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications Ltd, may look at carriage fee as one of the revenue streams in future. Carriage fee is paid by television broadcasters to multi-system operators and direct-to-home (DTH) players to beam their channels on their network.

ITS TIME TO MAKE YOUR TV BIG.