Having lost customers to over-the-top (OTT) platforms, traditional TV distribution platforms are looking at bundled services to retain customers. In 2023, the domestic pay TV industry lost two million customers, according to a Ficci-EY report.
Telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have been bundling data and content for several years. Among standalone players, DTH company Tata Play has been bundling linear TV and OTT offerings for subscribers through a single billing.
Airtel is offering a combination of direct-to-home (DTH), broadband, and OTT through the Airtel Black plan, while Jio has been providing linear TV and OTT through wired broadband service, JioFiber. In fact, Airtel Black has helped the Bharti Airtel-owned DTH platform, Airtel Digital TV, build customer stickiness. “Today 25% of our DTH acquisitions are happening through the converged plans,” Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal said during the company’s Q3 earnings call.
Dish TV has also launched an integrated bouquet that offers both linear TV and OTT content to consumers for the same price. The move is part of the company’s strategy to stem customer churn and save capex on new customer acquisitions.
“We felt that there is a need gap in the market to provide a bundled offering to customers who want one subscription for both TV and OTT content,” said Dish TV CEO Manoj Dobhal. He added that the initiative will help the DTH company retain subscribers amid increasing churn in the industry.
“Our capex will come down if we manage to retain subscribers because of this initiative. It will also help us acquire new customers,” Dobhal said. Cable TV operator GTPL Hathway is bundling cable TV services with broadband to retain customers. Both DTH and cable TV service providers are facing 0.5-1% customer churn every month. During its Q4 earnings call, GTPL Hathway chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj said the company’s overarching strategy involves the convergence of both cable TV and broadband services to provide holistic bundles to subscribers. He also added that the company is adding other services such as gaming, OTT, and TV to offer a holistic offering to subscribers.
“This will not only help improve customer stickiness, thereby reducing the churn but will also help us increase our ARPU and thus improve our margins,” Pankaj said.
