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Dish TV India Limited (BSE: 532839, NSE: DISHTV, LSE: DTVL) today reported first quarter fiscal 2023 unaudited consolidated subscription revenues of Rs. 5,453 million and operating revenues of Rs. 6,086 million. EBITDA for the quarter was Rs. 3,238 million. Profit after tax was Rs. 178 million.

The Board of Directors in its meeting held today, has approved and taken on record the unaudited consolidated financial results of Dish TV India Limited and its subsidiaries for the quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Evolving in a Changing Landscape

The first quarter of the current fiscal to some extent was an extension of the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal. Not only did inflation-linked cautiousness in viewers remained intact, the changing landscape of the entertainment industry continued to influence subscriber retention and growth.

Growing number of content delivery and viewing options made the industry more dynamic than ever before and recurring capital expenditure remained the single most important factor to sustain growth.

Dish TV chose the middle path and maintained a moderate pace of capital expenditure while prioritising debt repayment over new acquisitions.  

External factors dominated and impacted the recharge behavior of DTH subscribers with top-end consumers swapping between DTH & streaming content and bottom-end subscribers alternating between free-to-air and pay DTH thus affecting revenues and net base.

However, notwithstanding the proliferation of video viewing platforms, the popularity of DTH as an all-encompassing, user and pocket-friendly option is well maintained in the many emerging alternatives in the market.

Dish TV's subscriber acquisitions were higher during the first quarter of the current fiscal as compared to the same quarter last year though, a weak consumer sentiment coupled with a broader shift in industry dynamics neutralized any positive change in net subscriber base.

Mr. Anil Dua, Group CEO, Dish TV India Limited, said, “In the changing industry landscape, Dish TV is committed to exploring and embracing new possibilities that would enable it to offer a more contemporary and bespoke service bouquet. As an entertainment distribution company, we would want to be a one-stop destination for viewers seeking video content and continue working towards that objective.”

Dish TV is gradually diversifying into a content distribution platform with multiple video streaming apps (OTT) in addition to linear TV content. During the quarter, Dish TV introduced yet another OTT app on its hybrid set-top-box, taking the total OTT count to 15. The hybrid offering enables customers with or without Smart TV's to access their choice of streaming content while parallely availing standard linear TV content thus addressing the dynamic needs of the consumer.

Financials

Operating revenues for the quarter were Rs. 6,086 million. Corresponding EBITDA was Rs. 3,238 million. EBITDA margin for the quarter was at 53.2%. Profit after tax for the period was Rs. 178 million.

The Company paid-off Rs. 903 million debt during the quarter thus reducing its overall debt to Rs. 2,853 million at the end of first quarter of 2023 as compared to Rs. 3,756 million at the close of fiscal 2022.

The Year Ahead

With a growing number of subscribers having access to OTT subscription, India's streaming video market is expected to garner a revenue of Rs. 490 billion by 2027 from Rs. 210 billion in 2022, according to a latest industry report.

Dish TV's home grown OTT app, 'Watcho' has been working towards carving a space for itself in the competitive and energetic streaming video services industry in India.

“The Indian OTT space has way to go before it experiences real consolidation, till then the industry is wide open to new content, formats, artists and ideas. 'Watcho', our in-house streaming app is amongst the many new entrants in this space who take pride in their content offering and customer connect. 'Watcho' aims to enhance subscriber stickiness and growth by offering differentiated content that would help us enter the next level of the game with elan,” said, Mr. Anil Dua, Group CEO, Dish TV India Limited.

Responding to viewers search for content beyond the regular Indian GECs, 'Watcho' continued to premier original web-series with diverse themes. The home-grown OTT platform of Dish TV India has been steadily growing its reach and crossed the 58 million downloads mark at the end of the quarter.

Dish TV India has been through a rough patch on the corporate front but hopes to sail through the current fiscal so as to enable it to plan for the challenges ahead.

 

Mr. Jawahar Goel, Chairman, Dish TV India Limited, said, “The Company has been actively pursuing relevant technological developments in the business space and looks forward to align with those that will help it achieve its strategic and commercial goals.”

 

“As an industry we also continue to seek and hope for a level playing field in the distribution space, by way of uniform application of license fees to either all players or to none of them, as Free DTH, Headend in the Sky (HITS), OTT and cable TV still remain outside the ambit of license fees,” added, Mr. Goel.

The Companies focus on paying down debt, like earlier years, should continue unabated and going as per plan, Dish TV India should be close to a net debt free Company by the end of the current fiscal.

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