Catch United stars Ronaldo and Rooney on Dish TV

If the Dish TV launch in the city on Sunday offered an alternative to viewers tired of cable disputes, the company on Wednesday dished out some sporty reasons to switch to Zee Network?s direct-to-home (DTH) city venture.

?We have just tied up with Goal TV1 and Goal TV2, which will be available within the next 10 days,? said Sunil Khanna, CEO of Dish TV.

For soccer-crazy Calcutta, this means round-the-clock football action from different parts of the world in digital picture quality and stereo sound. ?Both are 24-hour soccer channels, which beam live action from French, Dutch and Scottish premier leagues. Also, thanks to tie-ups with the club channels of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, there is exclusive football content from there as well,? added Khanna.

With ESPN and STAR Sports already on the platform, this further strengthens Dish TV?s sports offering. The Dish TV subscriber base in India is a modest two lakh, with the eastern region accounting for 25 per cent. ?But it is the only way to successfully market niche channels right now,? claimed Khanna.

Viewers in Calcutta, unable to tune into VH1, Discovery Lifestyle or History Channel, would agree. DTH allows the viewer to bypass the cable operator completely by installing a small dish antenna and a set-top box to receive the channel feed directly from the satellite.

There are other bonuses on offer that aim to exploit the strengths of the platform. ?In May, we are launching our video-on-demand service,? said Khanna. A popular concept in the West, this allows viewers to watch movies of their choice at their own preferred time.

Dish TV would offer two models. One, where a movie would be available for viewing for a single day and subscribers can tune in any time they want. The other, for those with more high-end set-top boxes or personal video recorders, will let subscribers download around 20 movies to the recorder and view any of them.

The focus for Dish TV ? the only other DTH provider in the country besides national broadcaster Doordarshan ? has just shifted from rural to urban. ?We waited till we crossed 100 channels, since there?s no point in targeting the urban market with only 40-50 channels,? Khanna admitted.

The company has also taken a re-look at the pricing. Hardware ? dish, set-top box and installation ? costs Rs 4,990, while different channel combinations are available Rs 377 per month onwards. A no-frills option for the rural market ? hardware and annual subscription for 53 channels ? costs Rs 6,590.

The only hitch: STAR and Sony holding back its channels. ?STAR is clearly flouting Trai interconnect regulation, while we are in talks with Sony. The deal may be closed soon,? offered Khanna.

Up ahead: 200 channels by December, including more movie, sports, education and lifestyle channels and pushing the DTH base of the country to a million by March next year, with the east claiming at least a 20 per cent share.