Dish TV, the direct to home (DTH) service owned by the Zee group, is scouting for a new creative agency. The incumbent agency is Lowe Lintas. A multi-agency pitch is on but only Rediffusion Y&R and Contract could be confirmed as the participating agencies, at the time of filing this report. Lowe is also fighting to retain the account.
Confirming the development, Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV, maintains that the brand is looking for a fresh perspective, but refused to divulge any other reasons for the pitch. There are rumours that Dish may launch a service similar to Tata Sky Plus and is, therefore, looking for an agency to handle the consolidated duties for the brand. However, Kapoor dismisses any such reasons for the pitch.
Recently, Dish TV had announced its new positioning, which was executed by Lowe. This was done with the view that competition in the DTH market is heating up, and old and new players alike are looking for differentiating factors.
Presently, the market has five players, while a sixth one, from the Videocon stable, will be launched soon.
In 2007, Dish had launched a campaign with brand ambassador, Shah Rukh Khan. The tagline was, ‘Wish karo, Dish karo’. That tagline has now been extended to, ‘Sabse zyada wish karo, Dish karo’, as a result of the repositioning.
It is estimated that in 2008-09, DTH operators suffered a loss of Rs.2, 000 crore, of which Dish TV and Tata Sky accounted for nearly half.
Dish TV added 2 million subscribers last year, double the number added in the previous fiscal year. Currently, its subscriber base – at 5 million – is the highest among the private operators.
In terms of packaging, Dish TV added 37 new channels during the last fiscal and now has 240 channels, which, it claims, is the highest in the category.
The company also claims that its market share is 42 per cent among private DTH operators, which has come down from 53 per cent in 2007.
During 2008-09, Dish TV spent 12 per cent of its revenue, close to Rs.90 crore, on advertising.