RealVU DTH was Beximco Communications LTD's first attempt to bring Direct to Home Service in Bangladesh. RealVU DTH started its journey in 2016 but had to shut down its operation till April 2019, almost the same time around AKASH DTH came along.
Did Beximco Communications LTD abandon RealVU DTH for AKASH DTH? Or was it a matter of simple Rebranding?
Let's do some fact-checking on why RealVU DTH failed.
1) Migrating to Bangabandhu Satellite 1
DTH services distribute Multi-channel programs to your TV using satellite services. Shifting to a New Satellite service costs time & money. RealVU did not command that strong of a subscriber base to fund the operational costs in between the migration phase. So for the time being, Beximco Communications LTD decided to put a final nail in the coffin of RealVU.
2) The REALIST Audience base
Yes, TV was still the number 01 medium of entertainment back in 2016. But DTH services were considered an Unwanted Luxury when you could just settle for a cheap cable plug-in. Not to mention, you could sneak in two more connections for the price of one. So back then, the idea of DTH service was away ahead of its time in the context of our country.
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3) Releasing a Half Baked Product in the Market
RealVU was undertaking a tech enhancement, according to the reason given for the temporary closure of operations. From the looks of the reactions & feedback of the customers, it seems that RealVU couldn't deliver the Promised Quality for the money it was charging. Hence, there were more complaints than praises from users.
4) No Diversity in Program Marketing
If you go through the media posted on Facebook by RealVU, you would be convinced that RealVU is only practical for watching cricket. Surely cricket has a huge fanbase in the country & cricket does not adhere to any gender. But that does not mean cricket is a strong enough reason for customers to make a purchase. Diversity in Program marketing should have been a key focus here.
5) The Website was hacked by a Pakistani Hacker
This is a True Story. Though it might not be that much of a reason for the product's failure, it shows how much mismanagement happened throughout RealVU's lifetime.
Beximco Communications LTD., in my opinion, wanted a fresh start. As a result, RealVU was dropped in favor of AKASH DTH. However, should there be a lesson for AKASH DTH from all these past mistakes of RealVU? You tell me!
Thank you all for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts.
Yasir Arafat
Email- yasirarafatbusiness@gmail.com
Contact- 01821954321
Straight to the point and an interesting analysis! It's so refreshing to read an article which is not full of verbose language.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think Beximco Communications should learn from this mistake. From reading your analysis, I would say that their greatest mistake was not promoting diversity in the programs. As you pointed out DTH was considered a luxury back in 2016. So, although, cricket is a very popular sports in our country, you cannot convince someone to get a luxury service just to watch Cricket. So, I think the lesson here for BEXIMCO is that a company should ALWAYS consider how its brand is being percieved and act accordingly.
Nice job on the article by the way. Really enjoyed it.