Indian MobileTV Service Crosses Half Million

Hello TV has registered 500,000 subscribers to its mobile broadcast service, carried by India’s BSNL cellular network.

Brought to the market by Percept Knorigin, the digital arm of media company Percept Holdings, Hello TV is integrated into BSNL’s WAP portal allowing subscribers to watch streamed video from their browsers.

Both 3G and 2G users have subscribed to the service since its launch a year ago and single channel packs for Hello TV are priced at Rs10 per day, Rs 20 per week, and Rs 30 per month, while a mix of 30 channels is available for a month priced at Rs 149.

Apalya, a competitor to Hello TV, is also available on BSNL via its MiMobi TV application. Single channel packages are priced at Rs 10 per day or Rs 50 per month, and Rs 150 per month for a subscription to all of the TV channels it has to offer.

“The ARPUs [average revenues per user] for mobile TV services are in the range of Rs20 and the churn is high,” said Viraj Malik, managing director and chief executive officer of Percept Knorigin to online publication MediaNama.com. “We are open to working with operators who believe in equitable revenue share and commit to promoting the service.”

Percept Knorigin is currently planning to launch a targeted mobile TV Apple iPad application for Indians living abroad, according to the publication, and is also in discussions for the roll out of 3G and GPRS mobile TV services with three major operators in the next three months.source

Hello TV On BSNL Crosses 5 Lakh Subs; Percept Knorigin MD Viraj Malik On ROI

HELLOTV the mobile TV service deployed by Percept Knorigin with BSNL since February 2010, has crossed 5 lakh subscribers, including both 3G and non-3G users
Percept Knorigin MD and CEO Viraj Malik told MediaNama that running a Mobile TV business in India is tough for a VAS provider as content costs are high and service price points are low. “The ARPUs for mobile TV services are in the range of Rs 20 and the churn is high. We are open to working with operators who believe in an equitable revenue share and commit to promoting the service,” he reiterated. Percept Knorigin, which is the digital arm of media firm Percept Holdings, also plans to launch a targeted mobile TV app for the Indian diaspora in overseas markets, including an iPad app. In India, it is in talks with three major operators to roll out mobile TV services on 3G and GPRS in the next three months.
Percept has launched mobile TV through circuit switched data or video call on BSNL on the shortcode 51010, which is priced at Rs 2 per minute or Rs 299/month for unlimited use. The service will be launched on MTNL as well.
On BSNL, Hello TV services single channel packs are priced at Rs 10 per day, Rs 20 per week and Rs 30 per month. A combo pack of 30 popular channels is also available at Rs 149 a month in addition to Low Value packs of Rs 29/month for three channels and Rs 49/month for five. In addition to subscription charges, a usage charge of Rs 0.0025 per 10kb (25 paise per MB) also applies. The service is integrated with BSNL’s WAP portal BSNL Live, and does not require a separate application download: allows users to watch TV streams from their native mobile browsers.
Another player in the Mobile TV space, Apalya, which is also present on BSNL through its MiMobi TV app charges Rs 10 per day or Rs 50 per month for single channel packs, and Rs 150 per month for subscription to all channels.source