Tata Sky

TATA Sky is a direct broadcast satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2 digital compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4A at 83.0°E.^[1]

Its primary competitors are cable television and other DTH service providers—Airtel digital TV, Reliance Big TV, DD Direct+, Dish TV, Sun Direct, and Videocon D2H.

History

It is a joint venture between the Tata Group, that owns 80% and STAR Group that owns a 20% stake.^[2] Tata Sky was incorporated in 2004 but was launched only in 2006. It currently offers close to 196 channels (as of december 2010) and some interactive ones; this count includes some numbers off HD channels offered by Tata Sky (as Tata Sky-HD) and interactive services also.

In March 2010, Sun Microsystems partnered with Tata Sky to provide IT Infrastructure solutions and support for the launch of the company's direct-to-home (DTH) television.^[3]

The company uses the Sky brand owned by British Sky Broadcasting.^[4]

In October 2008, Tata Sky announced launching of DVR service Tata Sky+ which allowed 90 hours of recording in a MPEG-4 compatible Set Top Box. The remote is provided with playback control keys and is being sold with special offers for existing suscribers. After 2011, TATA Sky+ started selling only HD Version of TATA Sky+ know known as TATA Sky+ HD.

In 2008, Singapore-based Temasek Holdings picked up 10% stake in Tata Sky from the Tata Group. This has diluted Tata's stake in the venture to 75%.

STAR’s parent company, News Corporation, owns an International group of DTH businesses that include Sky Italia in Italy and Foxtel in Australia.

Make my pack

In 2010, Tata Sky launched India's first à la carte service that enables subscribers to either create their own pack with only individual channels, or do a mix-n-match of the existing TruChoice packs with stand-alone channels.^[5][6]

Tata Sky+

Tata Sky+ is a premium set-top box PVR (Personal Video Recorder) or even known as DVR (Digital Video Recorder) that allows recording up to 130 hours of live TV, recording one programme while watching another, pause, fast-forward and rewind a live telecast and review a TV programme.

Tata Sky HD

Tata Sky HD was launched on June 14, 2010, and has channels in their native resolution of 1080i or 720p. The STB is compatible with 5.1 CH surround sound as well. The service currently offers Eight HD channels - National Geographic Channel HD, Discovery HD World, STAR Movies HD, STAR Plus HD, STAR Cricket HD, STAR World HD, STAR Gold HD, ESPN HD.

Tata Sky+ HD

Tata Sky have launched their HD DVR Set Top Box. Tata sky plus HD comes with a 500 GB hard-disk allowing 625 hours of SDTV recording.

Subscriber Base

Tata Sky had about 7 million subscribers as of April 2011.^[7] There are about 30 million DTH subscribers in India as of February 2011.^[8]

Channel List

The following is the list of channels provided by Tata Sky as of January 2012.^[9]

In October 2011, Tata Sky removed most of the Malayalam Channels from its list. Even customers who subscribed to their South Jumbo Package are provided only channels from Sungroup (Surya and Kiran) and Asianet (Asianet and Asianet News). Channels dropped are Kairali TV, Amritha TV and DD4 Malayalam. Many suscribers have made complaint to TRAI alleging it to tbe racial discrimination by Tata Sky towards one language

Active Channels

• DD Girnar
• DD Kashir
• DD Punjabi
• DD Saptagiri
• NDTV Hindu

Tata Sky Active Services

• Active Cooking
• Active Darshan (Shirdi Saibaba/ISKCON/Siddhi Vinayak/Kashi Vishwanath/SVBC)
• Active Doordarshan (DD Gujarati/DD Saptagiri/ DD Punjabi/ DD Kashir)
• Active English
• Active Games
• Active Learning
• Active Mall
• Active Music
• Active Stories
• Active Wizkids

Certifications and Honours

ISO 27001: 2005 accreditation

In March 2009, Tata Sky, became the first Indian direct-to-home (DTH) service provider to be awarded the ISO 27001:2005 accreditation, the benchmark for information security.^[10] ISO 27001:2005 is an international standard that provides specifications and guidance for the establishment and proper maintenance of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). The assessment for the certification was conducted by Intertek Systems Certification, the management systems business unit of Intertek Group. This certification confirms that every transaction carried out through Tata Sky’s IT systems are highly secure.

Superbrand 2009–2010

Tata Sky was selected as a SUPER BRAND for the year 2009-2010 by an independent and voluntary council of experts known as Superbrands Council. It is the only Indian DTH to have won this distinction.

See also

• DD Direct+
• Dish TV
• Reliance Big TV
• Sun Direct DTH
• TATA Sky
• Videocon D2H
• Tata Group
• British Sky Broadcasting

References

External links

• Official website
• Unofficial Discussion Forum
• Official Tata Sky+ website