Reliance Big TV DTH - Review

Since the recent past, watching television has been no longer the same. It has become DTH (Direct – to – home ) way  in which the reception of satellite programes with a personal dish in an individual home using a set-top box (STB). Reliance knows how to catch up the starter market in terms of cost and delivery. That is how BigTV DTH is making one of the fastest growths when compared to others (Zee’s Dish TV , TataGroup’s TataSky, Airtel DTH). Reliance communications subsidiary, Big TV, has crossed one million subscriber mark within 90 days of launch. Big DTH is growing exponentially and is now next to Dish TV and Tata Sky with its 15 per cent market share. Launched in August this year, BIG TV is available at over one lakh retail outlets across 6,500 towns along with over 2,000 exclusive Reliance branded stores. Their starting offers and packages are better than other DTH and provide more channels. Which will mean we will get more while paying less! Reliance is known to crush the market this way and they’re doing nothing different. Here is a detailed review on this product.

MPEG-4 Video Technology

It is essential to mention that Big TV is based on MPEG-4 technology which means that you will be able to have an entirely new and enhanced viewing experience. Viewing, in particular, will be something extraordinary as you will be able to get a pure digital viewing experience by going with them. The positives being use of  MPEG-4 technology to transmit a signal on the transponders of Satellite -  Measat 3. The MPEG Compression will allow space for much more channels. They can crunch a lot more channels in the available capacity saving Reliance added costs. It also means better picture quality better interactivity and a more powerful chip used to decode the signal than the ones used by tatasky and zee (still MPEG-2 ).
Pay Per View (Video On-Demand)

Get this freedom to watch the movie of your choice, anytime.  You can select movies of your choice from the movie library and pay as you watch. It features around 32 movie channels exclusively. The cost per movie will be Rs. 50 for hindi/Rs. 60 for english in comparison to Tatas with Rs.75 for hindi. This is one among the pullers !

DTH Package and Subscription Details

For initial setup, the package cost is 1490+1000 = Rs. 2490 onwards which is inclusive of Set-top box+remote and installation charges. Otherwise, it includes starter packs, regional packs and top-ups. With this trio packs, you can create your favourite entertainment combination.

For initial setup, the package cost is 1490+1000 = Rs. 2490 onwards which is inclusive of Set-top box+remote and installation charges.

Otherwise, it includes starter packs, regional packs and top-ups. With this trio packs, you can create your favourite entertainment combination.

Starterpacks  (during initial set-up)

Popular pack133 - Rs 200

Premium pack146 - Rs 265

Max pack158 - Rs 405

For the long run, the package details for the trio are as follows.

Starter Pack:  97 channels @ Rs. 175/- (South India)

Regional Pack: 3 channels @ Rs. 30/-  (TamilPlus / Kannada Plus/ Hindi-Punjabi Plus each Rs. 30 )

Top Ups: @ Rs. 25/-

. News Plus: 3 channels CNN ZEE?  ZEE ?

. Hindi Movie Plus: 3 channels Filmy, Zee Cinema, Zee Premier

. Elite Plus: 3 channels BBC, Zee Cafe, Zee Trends

. English Movie Plus: 3 channels HBO, World Movies, Zee Studio

. Kids Plus: 3 channels Hungama, Cartoon NW and Pogo

. Uni Plus: per channel Star Cricket or 10 Sports or Zee TV

. Sports Plus: 2 channels @ Rs. 40/- Star Sports, ESPN or Neo Sports n Cricket

Miscellany

Feature wise, it has a good numbers as that can be realized in Digital TVs.

* With a easy- to- follow Electronic Program Guide(EPG) that lists all the channels available on TV, Radio and BIG Cinema, you will also have an up-to-date program schedule for 7 days.

* You can set up a personal programme guide of the channels you watch the most and create up to 8 of your favourite channel lists with personalised name and unlimited channels.

* There is a ‘select’ feature which is an interactive mosaic window that displays 12 Live TV channels from one category per screen. On the selected channel, you can even view a short description of the current programme. Select and decide what you want to watch.

* Other features include Advanced predictive Search by Director, Actor, Title, Keword ; Sort by Channel category, names and numbers.

* You have Toll Free numbers for your help. Currently, Service is not up to the mark and their service numbers seem to be jammed.

From the end-user’s feedback, despite the cons outnumbering the pros, Big TV is still a kind of hype to the ignorant mass. Yet, if our expectancy for an improved service is to be fulfilled, Reliance can be in good books as far as the DTH market is concerned. It is nothing wrong you go very sceptical before going for one like Big TV or any other service for that matter. Sure, Reliance is providing a good delivery with this satellite TV output in the contemporary sense, but how it would be really suitable in the long run is still questionable doubt.