DTH viewers spend more time in front of television
30 Aug, 2008, 0000 hrs IST,Meenakshi Verma Ambwani, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Digital TV viewers are spending more time in front of the TV as compared to analogue viewers. Digital viewers include direct-to-home (DTH) viewers as well as households that get cable through a set-top box (CAS). As per the latest analysis by TAM India, digital consumers not only watch more television but also access larger number of channels in that span of time.

While analogue cable households spend 150 minutes per day, digital TV households watch television for at least 186 minutes per day. Thanks to larger bandwidth, digital cable TV homes devote that time to watch 43 channels as compared to 30 channels on analogue cable. TAM would start rating digital screens from this week.

The rating agency conducted a two-phase study spanning April 2006 to 2007-end and sampled 14 states covering 69,265 homes.

The number of paid DTH homes currently are estimated to about 6.5 million and number of cable set-top box homes is estimated to be 1.3 million. Interestingly, digital entertainment’s penetration has been three times higher in rural homes than urban homes, as per TAM’s analysis. Digital entertainment through cable and DTH reached 6 million households in rural areas as compared to 1.8 million urban homes. Also Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are the top three states that house the largest number of DTH homes.

While DTH and digital cable are head-to-head across SEC A B C , that DTH has scored in numbers over digital cable in rural areas. While in urban areas, analogue cable homes are shifting to DTH, it’s terrestrial homes (which use an antenna for receiving TV signals) are opting for the service in rural areas. Talking about DTH growth drivers, TAM, in its analysis, said that besides clarity of picture and more channels, it’s also the easy one-time payment that has triggered cable homes to shift to DTH.

DTH providers like Dish TV are offering one-time payment options for the entire year. Besides DTH and digital cable, TAM will also start rating internet protocol television (IPTV) also.

The rating agency is also testing a model to rate content viewing habits on mobile television.