Dish TV FY22 operating revenue stands at Rs 2802.5 crore

Direct to Home (DTH) operator Dish TV's operating revenue for the fiscal ended 31st March has declined 13.8% to Rs 2802.5 crore from Rs 3249.4 crore in the previous fiscal. The company attributed the decline to volatile viewing habits, emergence of the third wave of the pandemic, high inflation, and conservative spending.

While subscription revenue dropped 15.3% to 2531.1 crore compared to Rs 2987.4 crore a year ago, advertisement income went up 45% to Rs 49.3 crore from Rs 34 crore.

EBITDA dropped 18.5% to Rs 1644.2 crore from Rs 2017 crore. Expenditure fell 6% to Rs 1158.2 crore from Rs 1232.4 crore. The company's net loss expanded to Rs 1867.2 crore from Rs 1189.9 crore.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, operating revenue declined 14.5% to Rs 642.7 crore from Rs 751.7 crore in Q4 FY21. Subscription revenues came down by 16.1% to Rs 574.8 crore from Rs 685.2 crore. Advertisement income was up 14.5% to Rs 14.8 crore compared to Rs 12.9 crore.

Expenditure narrowed by 10.9% to Rs 290.1 crore from Rs 325.7 crore. EBITDA declined 17.2% to Rs 352.5 crore from Rs 426 crore. Net loss zoomed 44% to Rs 2032 crore from Rs 1415.2 crore.

The company noted that the DTH industry in India has been running the capital expenditure treadmill to increase the number of paying subscribers, but competition from streaming platforms, free-to-air government-run distribution platforms, telcos, cable TV, and intermittent undercutting within the industry itself, has been either churning subscribers or intensifying CAPEX or both.

Dish TV India, it added, had its share of challenges during the quarter and throughout the year but managed to stay on track for business, reaching out to far more viewers than the year before. The company did 3.4% higher new additions during the year but remained vulnerable to shifting viewing habits which continued to influence the recharge behaviour of its subscribers.

The quarter also witnessed lingering effects of the pandemic-related weakness in consumer sentiment with global geo-political developments and resultant inflationary spikes worsening buyer confidence. High churn resulted in a net reduction in the subscriber base during the quarter.

Commenting on the same, Dish TV India Group CEO & Executive Director Anil Dua said, “Pay-TV consumer sentiment has been oscillating between indulging on content to sometimes being frugal with it. Consumers have been choosier than ever, often moving between linear and streaming content, as a result renewing their subscriptions less regularly. Dish TV values customers’ changing tastes and preferences and is working towards adapting to and leveraging these emerging trends.”

Talking about the opportunities arising from the presence of multiple content delivery platforms and Dish TV India’s initiatives to utilize them, Dua, said, “These are challenging yet exciting times and we are reviewing everything that has existed for years. We are actively looking beyond our contemporary offerings of Hybrid Boxes and OTT platform ‘Watcho’ and are working towards new ways to serving our valued subscribers, both existing as well as new.”

Talking about the issues being faced by the pay TV sector, especially the DTH business, Dish TV India CMD Jawahar Goel said, “Competition is always good for the growth of any industry, what is important though is that there should be a level playing field. Pay channel procurement which is subject to strict regulations for the pay-TV sector is under forbearance when it comes to broadcaster-owned channels being streamed on their own OTT platforms. This is despite cross-holding restrictions that prevent broadcasters from getting into distribution. Moreover, within pay-TV, DTH is the only business that is subject to a license fee payable to the government. As we work towards keeping up with the times, we also hope that a common licensing regime and forbearance over excessive regulation will be the norm going forward.”