While India's first DTH platform, Dish TV, of the Zee group, has touched 16 lakh subscribers in three years, the country's third, Tata Sky, has got two lakh customers in one month.

According to Kaushik, "The east is the cultural and intellectual hub of India, and definitely an important market for us. We are focused on providing subscribers in the region top-quality, comprehensive, and affordable entertainment".

Tata Sky Ltd, an 80:20 JV between Tata and Star, launched its Tata Sky satellite television service across 300 cities in India on August 8, bringing unprecedented TV entertainment to viewers across the country. "Only eight weeks since the launch and the service has expanded to include over 100 popular TV channels and eight interactive services. The distribution has also been expanded to 3499 cities during this span," he said.

The platform provides channels from Star, Sony, Zee, HBO, Cartoon Network, Discovery, Disney, MTV, NDTV, ESPN-Star Sports, National Geographic, Eenadu, TV Today, Animal Planet, and many more in DVD picture quality and CD quality sound. To enjoy the platform, a subscriber will have to pay Rs 4000 to buy the set and Rs 200 per month (inclusive of taxes).

Kaushik said their DTH will rule the TV industry, despite the high monthly rent, owing to quality and value-added services. "We may air an audio channel soon. There is likely to be a JV with Tata Teleservices to provide data through our DTH."