Cable TV digitisation in Delhi crosses 66%: MIB

Claims data provided by MSOs had discrepancies, and actual level of digitisation has now reached 84 per cent in the four metros

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | October 11, 2012

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has been monitoring the progress made towards digitisation with all stakeholders regularly. Data made available to MIB by Multi-System Operators (MSOs) puts the level of cable TV digitisation in Delhi at 66 per cent at present. According to Census 2011 data, the total households in Delhi are 33.41 lakh with 88 per cent TV penetration which implies that Delhi has 29.39 lakh TV households.

It has been reported by the six private DTH operators that 9.45 lakh households have got DTH connections in Delhi as on October 9, 2012. This implies that 19.94 lakh households have cable TV connections. Adding a provision of 20 per cent to account for multiple TV homes and TV sets in offices, etc., it is implied that about 23.93 lakh subscribers require set-top boxes (STBs). MSOs have informed that 15.88 lakh STBs have already been installed in Delhi.   

There have been reports in certain sections of the media questioning the reliability of data given by the ministry. During the initial stage of planning, the data was collated by the ministry based on the information supplied by the MSOs. On perusal of the data, it was observed that there were grave discrepancies, particularly on the number of cable TV subscribers in the four metro cities furnished by the MSOs as they did not present the true picture largely due to duplication of cable connections. Industry stakeholders also felt that the data projected by MSOs were on the higher side.

Moreover, the data did not reflect the numbers vis-à-vis service and entertainment tax collection. In view of the given discrepancy, MIB has undertaken the exercise to base the data on Census 2011. This data has authentic figures relating to households and TV penetration in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Census data is widely used both by government and non-government agencies for planning and policy purposes as data collection is done by house-to-house survey by an impartial body.

Data on the number of DTH subscribers in the four metros are also being collected by the ministry on a regular basis from six private DTH operators to know their reach in these cities.  

The analysis of data received from the four metro cities shows that overall 77 per cent of cable TV digitisation has already been achieved. City-wise data show that the achievement of Cable digitization in Mumbai is 99 per cent, followed by Kolkata at 73 per cent, Delhi 66 per cent, and Chennai 59 per cent. Taking into consideration, the progress made by DTH in this sector, the level of digitisation goes up to 84 per cent in the four metros.

Figures in lakhs

Detailed analysis has been given in the Annexes below covering four Metro cities.

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