Oligopoly

APO GROUP - 5
Oligopoly market structure
The word Oligopoly is derived from two Greek words – ‘Oligi’ meaning ‘few’ and ‘Polein’
meaning ‘to sell’

An oligopoly is an industry which is dominated by a few firms. In this market, there are a few
firms which sell homogeneous or differentiated products.

Some examples of an oligopolistic market are automobiles, cement, steel, aluminum, etc.
Characteristics
DTH Industry
Indian Market
History
DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996. The proposal was not approved due to
concerns over national security and negative cultural influence.
In 1997, the Government of India banned DTH services when Rupert Murdoch owned Indian
Sky Broadcasting (ISkyB) was about to launch its DTH services in the country.
After deliberations among groups of ministers, DTH services were permitted by the NDA
government in November 2000.
History
The ministers made four key recommendations to governing DTH services:
 no single entity, either private or state-owned, should be permitted a monopoly in DTH services

the vertical integration of DTH and cable television services should be monitored in order to
prevent the formation of a monopoly in television distribution
 the vertical integration of DTH operators and television channels should be avoided in order to
ensure fair competition among TV channels.
The new policy announced in November 2000 required all DTH operators to set up earth
stations in India within 12 months of receiving a license. DTH licenses were priced at $2.14
million with a validity of 10 years.
DTH (Direct to home)
Company Market share

Tata Play (formerly Tata Sky) 33.48%

Bharti Telemedia (Airtel Digital TV) 26.37%

Dish TV  22.04%

Sun Direct 18.11%

History – TATA Play
Tata Sky was a joint venture between the Tata Group and 21st Century Fox which owned 80% and 20%
stakes respectively until 2008, when Singapore based Temasek Holdings picked up a 10% stake in Tata
Play from the Tata Group.

Tata Sky was incorporated in 2001, but launched services on 8 August 2006.

Tata Sky partnered with E to launch the first Video on Demand (VOD) services in India in 2012

January 2015, Tata Sky became the first Indian DTH operator to offer 4K set-top-boxes to its consumers.

Tata Sky was rebranded into Tata Play as the company decided to drop the 'Sky' brand name after 15
years.
Marketing campaigns
To bust myths around the DTH service, the company launched a campaign called ‘Poochne
Mein Kya Jaata Hai‘ to urge people to not deny the product assuming that it would be costly
simply on the basis of premium features.
It was their flagship ad campaign  — ”Isko laga dala toh life jingalala” — that changed the
whole game.
Featuring Bollywood star Aamir Khan, the company released a set of quirky advertisements
endorsing their unique features for the users.
One of the ads showed Khan stressing the need of ‘family time’ as he highlighted the ‘record’
feature of the DTH service, a revolutionary upgrade in the viewing experience for the common
man.
Differentiating factor
Along with its DTH box, Tata Sky offered various features at

Different price points/packages including

Inbuilt games, exclusive content

 premium shows and movies

Recording option

Schedule of shows/movies on different channels

Thankyou