Sun Direct, SunNXT Set to Drive Up Sun TV Network Revenue Growth

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Sun Direct, the fourth largest Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator in India is still witnessing “tremendous demand” for its Set-Top Box (STB) with the company expecting the DTH sector to generate double-digit revenue growth. The development was shared by SL Narayanan, group CFO of Sun TV Network in the second quarter earnings call on November 12, 2020. Sun TV Network on November 12, 2020 reported its second quarter financial results for the period ended September 30, 2020, with the company recording 14% improvement in subscription revenues. The company that operates satellite TV channels across multiple Indian languages highlighted that the DTH sector generated Rs 232 crore revenue in its second quarter, up 12% Year-over-Year (YoY).

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Sun Direct Set to Import Additional Set-Top Boxes to Meet Demand

Narayanan said that the DTH sector “still has some steam left” but that the cable TV segment “may not grow double-digit in the foreseeable future.”

“I’m saying this because we know what’s happening in our sister company, Sun Direct,” Narayanan said in the earnings call. “I think at least for another year, we should be able to post double-digit growth, because there is certainly that demand, and we are getting ready with imports of set-top boxes and all that.”

However, Narayanan said that the New Tariff Order (NTO) “created a huge disruption” for the company as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) “forced” the operators “to price every channel.”

“We had to price it accordingly to protect the erstwhile ARPUs and which is why everything went into a different pattern,” Narayanan said. “But if you see the overall revenues, we are still growing at about 13.5%, 14%. Because there is some kind of a swing that’s happening, because some people are now taking fewer channels.”