Indian free-to-air (FTA) satellite television provider DD Free Dish has transpired to be the enabler of competitiveness in the media and television industry with its presence in more than 40 million Indian households, according to the CEO of Prasar Bharti, Shashi Shekhar Vempati. The statement was made by Prasar Bharti’s CEO on Wednesday where he talked about the astounding growth witnessed by the platform in the last few years. Vempati was delivering the keynote at the 18th edition of Video and Broadband Summit (VBS).
Growth of DD Free Dish and M&E Industry
According to the CEO of Prasar Bharti, when he joined the platform back in 2017, DD Free Dish had its presence in over 2 crore households which have doubled since then. Talking further about the remarkable growth of DD Free Dish, he said that the growth of channels like Dangal and genres such as Bhojpuri has become popular because of the Free Dish user base. He further stated that the platform allows for new channels that have been challenging the bigger media houses. He said that DD Free Dish allows users to subscribe to the content according to their wishes.
Talking about the changes that he has witnessed so far in his five-year journey with the company, Vempati said that there has been a remarkable change in the TV and Video viewing industry. These changes can be credited to regulatory interventions, the phasing out of analogue terrestrial TV and the surge in demand for OTT platforms. Talking about the Free Dish itself, the CEO said that the company has transformed into IT-based from paper-based ever since the pandemic has hit. He said that the situation demands the players in the industry to think innovatively and always prioritize technology.
It is to be noted that Prasar Bharti has been able to almost double its growth every year, with its YouTube channel registering billions of views every month. The CEO said that most of the technology that is required for the betterment of the M&E industry is imported from other countries and thus the royalties are received by them as well. He said that it is about time India leverages its strength as the biggest media market and largest English-speaking market to build a domestic ecosystem for technology that can support the M&E sector.
