Dish TV faced challenges on corporate and business front in FY22, says CEO

FY22 was "not the smoothest year" for the company and it faced "challenges, both on the corporate and business front", said Dish TV Group CEO Anil Kumar Dua in the latest annual report of the company. "Notwithstanding difficulties, the company continued to keep up with the times and remains optimistic about its capabilities to stay as one of the most relevant players in the content delivery space in India," said Dua while addressing shareholders of the company.

Its largest shareholder Yes Bank Ltd (YBL) and the promoter family led by its chairman Jawahar Lal Goel were locked in a legal battle over board representation in Dish TV.

YBL, having over 24 per cent share, was pushing for reconstitution of the Dish TV board and removal of Goel along with some other persons.

In Its AGM held on December 30, 2021, Dish TV shareholders rejected all three proposals, including the adoption of financial statements and the reappointment of Ashok Mathai Kurien as director.

Dish TV had not declared the outcome of voting at its 33rd AGM due to the ongoing litigations. It was later directed to disclose the results by the capital markets regulator Sebi.

Earlier in June this year, the shareholders in an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) had rejected the proposal for reappointment of Goel as managing director and Dua as a whole-time director of the company, following which both had to vacate their office.

On August 30, Dish TV in a regulatory filing said its chairman Jawahar Lal Goel will vacate his position at the company's upcoming AGM on September 26, 2022.

Goel, whose proposal for reappointment as managing director was rejected by the shareholders in the EGM in June this year, has not reapplied for continuation as chairman.

In the annual report, Dua said Dish TV's subscription revenues were lower in FY22 due to the volatile viewing habits of the consumers and the company is looking beyond its contemporary offerings of hybrid boxes and OTT platforms.

Dish TV, which saw its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) declined last fiscal, is exploring newer possibilities that would make its service bouquet more appealing to the audience, said Anil Kumar Dua.

"The media and entertainment space in India is witnessing a change in landscape with the growing number of content delivery platforms and viewing options available to consumers," he said.

Now consumers have a choice with over 850 channels in the linear space and over 40 big and small OTT platforms laden with movies, TV shows, web series, time-shifted content etc. Now entertainment watching has also spiked to almost 4.5 hours per day per user as against 3.6 hours in 2018.

"Competition has also increased from free-to-air government-run distribution platforms and telcos. Fall in subscriber numbers is due to top-end subscribers alternating between DTH and streaming content and bottom-end subscribers often choosing free-to-air DTH over pay DTH," said Dua over the industry developments.

Moreover, the popularity of DTH (direct-to-home) as a budget-friendly option is well maintained despite the many emerging alternatives in the market.

"Dish TV appreciates the changing tastes and preferences of consumers and is on track to leverage these emerging trends considering that technology-driven evolution and related growth of the sector is inevitable," said Dua.

For the financial year ended on March 31, 2022, Dish TV India's operating revenues were at Rs 2,802.5 crore, the annual report said.