India’s Dish Partners Shemaroo For Punjabi TV Service

Dish TV India has partnered with Shemaroo Entertainment to launch an ad-free service aimed at airing Punjabi movies and shows across its channels.

Punjabi Active will offer unique and engaging content to Punjabi viewers across DishTV and d2h, including movies, TV shows, short plays and even music, DTH provider Dish said.

The service includes daily Gurbani, devotional songs and latest Punjabi pop songs along with telefilms. It will also premiere significant Punjabi movies such as High End Yaariyaan, Saggi Phull, Laavaan Phere, Nanak Naam Jahaz hai, and Rabb da radio.

Shemaroo Entertainment Limited CEO Hiren Gada said: “We are delighted to partner with Dish TV and offer our extensive Punjabi service to a varied set of audiences through the launch of ‘Punjabi Active’ with Dish TV. As content leaders, over the years we have seen that the engagement is much higher when content is served in preferred language and through preferred medium. We are sure this partnership will entertain a massive set of audience across India.”

Punjabi Active will cost a nominal subscription fee of over 40 Indian rand per month and joins Dish’s platform which has over 700 channels and services.

Dish is already India’s leading DTH provider with around a 37% market share, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data. 61% of Dish TV is held by Essel Group, an Indian media conglomerate which is valued at more than $10 billion.

It comes as Dish TV has been linked to a merger with rival Bharti Airtel’s DTH platform, which would create one of the world’s largest TV distribution companies in terms of user numbers.

Anil Dua, Executive Director and Group CEO, Dish TV India Ltd., added, “Dish TV India strongly believes that the best way to engage our subscribers is to provide a range of wholesome, exclusive and relevant content. We are glad to announce our partnership with Shemaroo to launch Punjabi Active service on both our platforms DishTV and d2h.

“With this latest addition to our value-added service, we take the entertainment quotient a notch higher and allow subscribers to watch specially curated entertainment covering the latest Punjabi movies, shows, music and more in the comfort of their home.”―IBC