India’s first Hybrid DTH set-top box powered by Android TV

Background and Challenge

India’s Direct-To-Home (DTH) landscape has long been dominated by linear television, offering limited interactivity and personalization. With increasing internet penetration and the growing appetite for on-demand content, consumers began expecting more from their home entertainment systems—especially a seamless blend of broadcast TV and internet-enabled services.

The client, a leading DTH operator, recognized this shift and sought to redefine the television experience by integrating traditional DTH services with modern OTT content, all within a single device. The challenge? Designing a robust, user-friendly hybrid set-top box (STB) that could deliver a next-generation experience while addressing diverse technical, content, and usability expectations of Indian households.

Scope of Work

Tata Elxsi was engaged to lead the end-to-end design and development of a groundbreaking hybrid set-top box experience that seamlessly integrated traditional DTH services with Android TV’s OTT capabilities. The mandate included designing an intuitive and engaging user interface, developing a custom launcher to unify live TV and streaming apps, and implementing advanced features such as voice navigation, universal search, and personalized content recommendations.

The scope also extended to ensuring consistent performance across device variants, integrating parental controls and multi-language support, and complying with regulatory and Android TV certification requirements.

Solution

To address the evolving expectations of Indian consumers, Tata Elxsi crafted a unified hybrid TV interface built on the Android TV platform. The team designed a custom launcher that provided easy access to both live broadcast and OTT content, creating a fluid and familiar experience for users transitioning between linear and on-demand viewing. Voice-enabled navigation, powered by Google Assistant, simplified content discovery and system controls.

A recommendation engine tailored content to user preferences, while universal search spanned live TV, apps, and recordings. The solution was engineered for scalability and consistency, backed by a robust design system and thorough testing across diverse hardware and usage scenarios. By embedding personalization, accessibility, and seamless switching, Tata Elxsi ensured that the product was not only technologically advanced but also user-centric and future-ready.

Impact

The successful launch of India’s first hybrid DTH Android TV set-top box transformed the television experience for millions of viewers. It significantly elevated user engagement by merging scheduled programming with the freedom of on-demand entertainment, all within a single platform.

Customers appreciated the intuitive interface, voice-assisted navigation, and personalized recommendations, which enhanced satisfaction and increased brand loyalty for the client. The hybrid model also opened up new monetization avenues through targeted content and app integrations. Recognized as a first-of-its-kind innovation in the Indian market, the product positioned the client as a category pioneer and set a new benchmark for the convergence of broadcast and digital TV services.

Services Rendered

• OTT Experience Design
• Cross-Platform Streaming
• Hybrid Broadcasting
• Android TV Integration