Panicking or Preparing

The last few days we have seen a spate of extra channels being allocated to Dialog TV packages such as Diamond & Pearl. These two were possibly some of the cheapest packages on Dialog TV & were designed to contain a bare minimum of channels.

In case you wondering why there was a sudden change of heart, it's because competition has decided on a launch date. We know that Dialog have dreaded this day for the past few years & have been taking positive steps towards this day. The recent addition of channels, conversion to MPEG4, as well as the allocation of all channels to the Gold Package instead of the creation of a super rich Vibranium Package (Vibranium is the metal used by Captain America on his shield :) ) were all indications that Dialog was preparing for the competition, however the recent allocation of channels to the lower packages suggest a bit of panicking too.

To be fair it should be said that the competition is most likely to include Indian feeds for channels for which we have traditionally enjoyed Asian feeds. Also we don't see too many reductions in the HD area because competition is not looking into HD at the moment.

Dialog indeed has an edge over the competition, in terms of Asian feeds, HD & channels that competition lacks. If Dialog can get Fox Movies Premium it will help them. These advantages that Dialog has over the competition is not hard for this competitor to achieve. Being touted as Asia's largest DTH provider it will be a simple task. Unless Dialog does something drastic, competition might just eat into Dialog's share of the market. Maybe not immediately but in the foreseeable future.