he direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting segment in India is gearing up for big-time action with the Government clearing applications of Space TV (a joint venture between the Tata group and STAR group) and Kalanidhi Maran's Sun Direct. (Mind you, the two companies would be granted a licence only after depositing bank guarantees of Rs 10 crore.) With these two, there will be four players in the DTH segment. The Subhash Chandra-promoted Dish TV and Prasar Bharati�s free DTH service, DD Direct, have started operations already.

The advantage of direct-to-home? Follow the path in red. With DTH, signals bypass the MSO and cable operator to reach your home directly. Earlier, television signals used to reach your TV sets following the path in blue.... more