At a time the industry is slashing headcount, citing the downturn, direct-to-home (DTH) television service providers are adding employees.
For example, the two major DTH companies —the Anil Ambani Reliance group’s Big TV and Videocon group’s D2H — have added around 19,000 employees (direct and contractual) in the past two months. Dish TV, an Essel group entity, is also making “routine hiring”. The industry expects other players (Tata Sky and Sun Direct) to also hire.
“DTH is a nascent industry, but is on the threshold of becoming the largest sector of the entertainment country. And, this is the right time to enhance services and add subscribers, as the industry is expecting a lot of viewership and new connections due to IPL matches and elections,” according to an analyst who tracks the sector.
There are an estimated 15 million DTH subscribers in the country and with the industry adding around 700,000 every month, the number is expected to touch 20 million by the end of the year. Every DTH operator has recruited an average of 20,000 employees (both direct and contractual), totaling around 1,20,000 personnel (including those of Bharti Airtel and Doordarshan’s DTH ventures).
“This is part of the industry’s thrust to enhance customer service capabilities and retain subscribers in a market that’s indicating high subscriber restlessness with after-sales service of DTH operators,” said Big TV head Sanjay Behl. The company has added 15,000 technical experts and installation professionals as part of a plan to increase customer-service operations across 500 locations in the country.
The objective of the company is to offer “on the spot” service to subscribers, in line with the “Reliance BIG TV Cares for You” customer service motto. Big TV has around 20,000 employees (both direct and contractual).
Videocon, which is launching its DTH service on April 27 under the brand name, D2H, has recruited around 4,000 employees in the past two-three months.