TATA Sky is a direct broadcast satellite

Direct broadcast satellite

Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...

 television provider in India, using MPEG-2

MPEG-2

MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...

 digital compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4A at 83.0°E

Celestial coordinate system

In astronomy, a celestial coordinate system is a coordinate system for mapping positions on the celestial sphere.There are different celestial coordinate systems each using a system of spherical coordinates projected on the celestial sphere, in analogy to the geographic coordinate system used on...

.

Its primary competitors are cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 and other DTH service providers—Airtel digital TV

Airtel digital TV

Airtel digital TV is an Indian direct broadcast satellite service provider owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. Its satellite service, launched on 2008, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in India. It uses MPEG-4 digital compression with DVB-S2 technology, transmitting...

, Reliance Big TV

BIG TV

Reliance Digital TV is one of the largest Indian pay TV providers, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to commercial and residential customers in India. It uses MPEG-4 digital compression technology,...

, DD Direct+, Dish TV

Dish TV

Dish TV India Limited is an Indian company engaged in the business of providing direct-to-home satellite television service, which includes teleport service, customer support and transponder space leasing. Dishtv is a division of Zee Network Enterprise . It uses MPEG-2 digital compression...

, Sun Direct, and Videocon D2H

Videocon d2h

Videocon d2h is one of the largest Indian pay TV provider, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to commercial and residential customers in India...

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It is a joint venture between the Tata Group

Tata Group

Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Tata Group is one of the largest companies in India by market capitalization and revenue. It has interests in communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy,...

, that owns 80% and STAR Group

STAR TV

Satellite Television Asia Region is an Asian TV service owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. It is headquartered in Hong Kong, with regional offices in mainland China, Taiwan....

 that owns a 20% stake. Tata Sky was incorporated in 2004 but was launched only in 2006.