dittoTV eyes share of OTT pie with new business model

Launched in 2012, dittoTV changed its positioning in June 2016, from being a video-on-demand service to a live TV OTT player

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | December 5, 2016

dittoTV, after changing its business model from a video-on-demand (VOD) format to a pure live TV format, is eyeing a volume game in the Over the Top (OTT) space. Starting the pricing at a mere Rs 20, the platform is being made affordable and accessible to everyone.

Archana Anand

Archana Anand, Business Head, dittoTV explained, “By offering dittoTV at such a low price, we're reducing the entry barrier sufficiently to encourage many people to try the service and subscribe. We really see it as being a volume game. That's also where our strategic partnerships come in – with telcos, Siti Cable and others -- to help us reach their customer base through attractive offers that make it a win-win for us and our partners, and most importantly the consumers.”

dittoTV is the first OTT platform in the country. In June this year, the platform launched its new logo and announced it's positioning as 'Desh Ka TV, Bees Ka TV' playing on the low price. Explaining the idea behind the change in business model, Anand said, “With dittoTV, we aim to leverage the immense popularity of television and democratise television viewing in India. dittoTV allows viewers to watch their favourite television programmes live and on-the-go at an extremely affordable price. It not only serves as a second or alternative screen option for people but can also be the primary screen for people across various economic segments that don't have easy access to a television set.”

According to Anand, the SVoD market in India is growing rapidly and we expect it to evolve further with the increasing penetration of 4G services, rationalisation of data prices and greater use of alternative payment models. The broadcast network that owns dittoTV expects it to be at the forefront of this growth, considering the low price point.

“The strength of the proposition will lie in how easily we can enable payments and renewals, so partnering with telecom operators and other partners who can help us in that regard, as well as with distribution is crucial,” said Anand.

As per the new model of the OTT platform, it is now a live streaming platform where the users can watch their favourite TV shows on the go. Users can watch TV shows live as they air, as well as catch up on the last seven episodes of their favourite Zee shows.

But India has been known for the bandwidth issues and internet problems. Anand agreed to the challenge but seemed optimistic. “While that has been an issue, we see huge improvements already in this space. The base of Indian mobile internet users is increasing YOY at an average of 24 per cent, and this would give a major fillip to content consumption on their devices. (Source: KPMG Future Streaming Report & IAMAI) Apart from this, availability of WiFi across college hostels, offices, cafes, restaurants, railway stations and airports is increasing at a much faster pace. This is enabling consumers to access and use their phones at every possible touch point, especially in the metros and tier 1-2 cities.”

dittoTV has also partnered with telecom players such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea to offer the services to their data subscribers. The OTT player is also looking at the download and watch offline feature in future.

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