Mr.Mehra ,who is happy to point out that his company is touching one million subscriber mark, though started only last August, wonders whether there is any better, simpler and cheaper way to relax at home other than the much maligned idiot box. This provides the entire family a wholesome entertainment and becomes a sort of a rendezvous for all the members of the family like “fire place” in the West.

Interestingly, against all estimates, the replacement demand for colour television sets alone has been 65 per cent. Any society, which has a considerable disposable income, is able to think of quality.

“Actually it is the mobile telephony which revealed to us how quality consciousness has taken over the Indian psyche. Though mobile phones were costlier than the landlines, still people went in for the former because they wanted choice, convenience, features and value for their money. And now you can see the tremendous strides mobile telephony has made”.

Similarly, DTH is able to provide DVD quality pictures of a minimum of 120 channels at a rate most of the middleclass homes can afford. These middle class families, who have been the votaries of the cable networks, could understand the quality difference in the reception of their TV sets. “And they become our ambassadors as the opinion regarding the DTH spreads through the word of mouth.”

With the booming economy, there is some sort of an attitudinal change among the Indians as a whole. For instance, shopping malls, multiplexes, DVDs, are slowly creeping into our system. Urban subscribers, who are fed up with cable operators because of the poor quality of service, feel “I need quality, choice and interactive appliances” and go in for DTH. In the rural areas, they get a maximum of 20 to 25 channels , that too of poor picture quality. They are immensely happy to see “great picture quality” on their TV if they were to opt for DTH. For DTH, whether you are in Rajasthan desert or in the mountain ranges of the North East , irrespective of where you are, the quality is the same. There is absolutely no urban- rural divide. In all countries of large geographical stretches like the US, Australia, Brazil, etc. DTH has been extremely successful. The billing system has also become very transparent.

Talking about the innovations that DTH churns out, Mr.Mehra points out that “movie” at any time of your choice by just sending an SMS, at a rate not exceeding a balcony ticket in a second-tier town, provides you instant gratification.And the entire family can watch the movie any number of times during the 24-hours and the quality is that of the DVD. Similarly, in programmes like “Indian Idol” and Sport Active, you can get highlights anytime. Wizkid provides children a variety of games which keep on changing. The basic objective of DTH is “I decide what I want to see and when I want to see”.

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