Even while likening Doordarshan FreeDish to a ration shop offering non-premium basic TV entertainment fare to the masses, former chief executive of Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar Vempati admitted that distribution focus now is shifting to non-Hindi speaking markets like South and North-East India to fuel further growth.

“I see FreeDish as a ration-shop…if the consumers want premium products, they will go to cable or pay DTH (platforms) or to the OTT platforms because FreeDish will not provide premium content. It is more like a basic staple fare, which brings the (cable and DTH) dark zones into the (TV) coverage area,” Vempati said during a fireside conversation with media veteran Rajiv Khattar at the recently concluded SatCab Symposium 2023 in New Delhi.

According to Vempati, FreeDish’s growth story is a phenomenal one —- he estimated the total subscriber base to be more than 50 million contrary to industry numbers of 40-45 million — and that efforts are now on to seed the free DTH platform’s boxes in regional markets of India, away from Hindi-speaking markets (HSM).

Asked by moderator Khattar as to why FreeDish platform carries more Hindi language TV channels versus regional language ones, Vempati explained, “Actually there are two-three reasons, the first being the limited capacity of FreeDish.

“Second is the set-top box feeding is largely concentrated in the HSMs. But we are also trying to expand the footprint of the boxes in other areas like South, North-East, East India so penetration increases.”

The technocrat, who headed a government committee to review and suggest reforms in the functioning of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India in 2021, felt that an updated BARC establishment survey could help Indian regional language TV channels to properly understand the true worth and reach of FreeDish

“BARC establishment survey is already three years old. So, it is not reflecting the accurate picture of the current situation, even for the regional channels to be interested (in FreeDish). To come on the FreeDish (platform), they need to know what is the household mix. Hopefully, it will happen once the revised establishment survey is done,” Vempati stressed.

Vempati — who is largely credited with augmenting FreeDish revenues and that of Prasar Bharati in general several notches up during his five-year tenure — credited the growth of the FTA DTH platform to several reasons, including analog phaseout, presence of educational channels and cost-effective entertainment service in cable-dark areas of the country.

He said: “The growth of FreeDish will be attributed to three reasons. First, analogue transmission being phased out. So, FreeDish is providing an alternative by being a free-to-air platform.

“The Second reason is the (presence of ) educational TV channels…there are more than 50 educational channels, and I think that more educational channels will give more growth. The impact of the educational channels has been seen during the Covid when such channels were very helpful.

“And, the third reason is the penetration. Several TV households for TV viewing need an option, especially if we take North-East or the non-mainstream regions and border areas where pay DTH is not available. So, there are so many dark zones, and the growth of the pay DTH is only in urban areas.”

Interestingly, Vempati highlighted that some Indian houses have “FreeDish as a second box”.

This year’s SatCab Symposium, organised by the Avishkaar Media Group, was aptly themed ‘Is the Future of Indian Broadcasting Sector at Stake Now?’ It saw a jam-packed hall of delegates and speakers listen and discuss the various issues impacting India’s media and entertainment (M&E) sector, which currently is going through recessionary pangs owing to several reasons.

Asked about the role of the cable TV industry in the present scenario with OTT platforms weaning away consumers and DTH services aggressively trying to woo newer subscribers, Vempati’s advice was to be innovative with business ideas.

“Cable (TV) industry has access to the consumers, so will have to be innovative. Several services can be provided by cable operators. So, don’t just limit it to NTO and TRAI,” Vempati observed, making it clear that cable ops need to think out of the box.