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Time of India
10-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Pay TV homes fall by 40 mn, 1.14-1.95 lakh job cut at local cable operators since 2018
New Delhi: The number of paid TV homes fell by 40 million to 111 million in 2024 from 151 million in 2018, leading to an estimated employment reduction of 1.14 lakh to 1.95 lakh by the local cable operators, according to a report. The employment generated by the LCOs has fallen by 31% since 2018, according to findings of a joint report by the industry body All India Digital Cable Federation (AICPDF) and EY India. The decline in pay TV homes is due to growing popularity and adoption of digital means of content consumption, such as OTT platforms, connected TVs and free DTH service, which led to a fall from 151 million in 2018 to 111 million in 2024. "The impact of this decline in pay TV homes has been significant, particularly on the local cable operator (LCO) ecosystem," said the report titled " State of Cable TV Distribution in India". The impact of this decline in pay TV homes has been significant, particularly on the local cable operator (LCO) ecosystem, said the report, which is based on a survey of 28,181 LCOs between November and December 2024. They collectively reported reducing the number of employed people by 37,835. "The key impact of this decline is that employment generated by the LCOs has fallen by 31% since 2018," the report said adding "Extrapolating this to all-India level, the approximate reduction could be between 1.14 lakh and 1.95 lakh, given that TRAI data suggests there are approximately 85,000 registered LCOs in India and AIDCF 's 12 members claim 1.62 lakh LCOs between them." The study further said 93% of LCOs reported a decline in their subscriber base and 49% reported a drop in their monthly income. Besides, 35% of the LCO reported a subscriber loss of over 40% from 2018. According to the study, the key challenge faced by the LCOs is their inability to increase collections from customers when broadcasting majors has increased their channel rates. Moreover, another factor, which are leading to cord-cutting, are a lack of "quality content on linear TV " which is not on par with the quality of content on OTT platforms. There is also a "decline in second TV set connections" within households, besides "consumers movement from pay TV to OTT platforms, Free Dish and Connected TVs". The study has pot views from the cable industry that could be evaluated, including " a level-playing field across all content distribution mediums -Free TV, OTT platforms, FAST channels and pay TV" and "permitting differential pay TV pricing for different territories based on their ability to pay." Commenting on the report, AIDCF President and CEO of DEN Networks S N Sharma said it provides a comprehensive bottom-up view of the Pay TV distribution sector in recent times. "We urge all stakeholders - including broadcasters, regulators, and our parent ministry - to use the report as a base to bring practical reforms and support the cable TV industry to thrive once again," he said. PTI
Mint
09-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Pay TV homes fall by 40 mn, 1.14-1.95 lakh job cut at local cable operators since 2018
New Delhi, June 9 (PTI) The number of paid TV homes fell by 40 million to 111 million in 2024 from 151 million in 2018, leading to an estimated employment reduction of 1.14 lakh to 1.95 lakh by the local cable operators, according to a report. The employment generated by the LCOs has fallen by 31 per cent since 2018, according to findings of a joint report by the industry body All India Digital Cable Federation (AICPDF) and EY India. The decline in pay TV homes is due to growing popularity and adoption of digital means of content consumption, such as OTT platforms, connected TVs and free DTH service, which led to a fall from 151 million in 2018 to 111 million in 2024. "The impact of this decline in pay TV homes has been significant, particularly on the local cable operator (LCO) ecosystem," said the report titled "State of Cable TV Distribution in India". The impact of this decline in pay TV homes has been significant, particularly on the local cable operator (LCO) ecosystem, said the report, which is based on a survey of 28,181 LCOs between November and December 2024. They collectively reported reducing the number of employed people by 37,835. "The key impact of this decline is that employment generated by the LCOs has fallen by 31 per cent since 2018," the report said adding "Extrapolating this to all-India level, the approximate reduction could be between 1.14 lakh and 1.95 lakh, given that TRAI data suggests there are approximately 85,000 registered LCOs in India and AIDCF's 12 members claim 1.62 lakh LCOs between them." The study further said 93 per cent of LCOs reported a decline in their subscriber base and 49 per cent reported a drop in their monthly income. Besides, 35 per cent of the LCO reported a subscriber loss of over 40 per cent from 2018. According to the study, the key challenge faced by the LCOs is their inability to increase collections from customers when broadcasting majors has increased their channel rates. Moreover, another factor, which are leading to cord-cutting, are a lack of "quality content on linear TV" which is not on par with the quality of content on OTT platforms. There is also a "decline in second TV set connections" within households, besides "consumers movement from pay TV to OTT platforms, Free Dish and Connected TVs". The study has pot views from the cable industry that could be evaluated, including " a level-playing field across all content distribution mediums —Free TV, OTT platforms, FAST channels and pay TV" and "permitting differential pay TV pricing for different territories based on their ability to pay." Commenting on the report, AIDCF President and CEO of DEN Networks S N Sharma said it provides a comprehensive bottom-up view of the Pay TV distribution sector in recent times. "We urge all stakeholders — including broadcasters, regulators, and our parent ministry — to use the report as a base to bring practical reforms and support the cable TV industry to thrive once again,' he said.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
DTH cos asked to pay ₹16,000 crore licence fee dues
MUMBAI: The ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued demand notices totalling ₹16,000 crore to the country's four private direct to home (DTH) operators over outstanding licence fees, industry sources told ET, potentially compounding problems for an industry battling dwindling revenues and subscriber losses to OTT platforms and DD Free demands cover both the principal amount and accrued interest on the dues, said the officials cited above. They said that the operators have communicated to the government that the notices cannot be enforced, as the matter is sub judice in various High Courts, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), and the Supreme Court. Dish TV CEO Manoj Dobhal acknowledged the pressures facing the sector. "The DTH industry is navigating a difficult phase, with factors such as subscriber churn driven by competition from OTT platforms and DD Free Dish, along with taxation and regulatory issues,' Dobhal said. 'Given these challenges, we would have hoped for a more supportive approach from the authorities." To be sure, the licence fee demand is more than the combined revenue of the four private DTH operators, which stood at ₹10,230 crore in FY24, down 5% from ₹10,837 crore the previous year, as per regulatory filings. In its correspondence, the ministry said the figures are subject to reconciliation based on the outcome of audits by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), as well as pending court decisions. In its Q4 FY25 regulatory filing, Dish TV disclosed that it had received a communication from the ministry dated 22 April 2025, directing the company to pay ₹6,735 crore toward licence fees, including interest, covering the period from the grant of its DTH licence up to FY24. The company added that it has disputed the demand in its response. As of FY24, Tata Play has received a consolidated demand of ₹3,628 crore, including ₹1,401.66 crore in interest. Sun Direct has received a demand of ₹1,051.84 crore (excluding interest) as of March 2024. As of March 2025, Dish TV had made a provision of ₹4,612 crore towards licence fee dues. Tata Play had provisioned approximately ₹2,002 crore and recognised a further ₹2,280 crore as a contingent liability. Bharti Airtel had made provisions of about ₹3,426 crore as of 31 March 2024. Bharti Telemedia, Tata Play and Sun Direct declined to comment on the matter. A senior DTH executive added that the ministry has raised similar demands in the past even when legal disputes remain unresolved. 'DTH operators have repeatedly urged the ministry to exclude pass-through costs, such as content expenses, from the licence fee calculations and to address the issue of double taxation. However, these concerns are yet to be addressed,' the executive said. The DTH industry lost 8 million subscribers between FY21 and FY24. The active pay DTH subscriber base stood at 58.22 million, as of December 2024. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has, on two occasions, recommended phasing out the DTH licence fee by the end of FY27. Since 2020, TRAI has issued 17 recommendations aimed at reforming the broadcasting sector. The ministry of information and broadcasting has historically calculated the licence fee as 10% of gross revenue, without deductions. However, in 2020, it amended the DTH guidelines to set the licence fee at 8% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR).
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Regulatory issues hurt DTH business: Bharti Airtel's Gopal Vittal
Mumbai: Bharti Airtel , which recently called off talks to merge its direct-to-home (DTH) business with Tata Play , said the decline of the DTH business in the country has more to do with regulatory imbalances than with technology. During the company's Q4 earnings call, vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said different distribution systems-like cable TV, DTH, and broadband-are governed by different regulations, despite serving the same set of consumers, with DTH facing stringent rules such as cross-holding restrictions and pricing caps. "The DTH industry is going through its moment of reckoning-not just due to legitimate technological disruption, like IPTV and broadband-enabled connected boxes, but also because of how it has been regulated," Vittal said, adding, "Today, three neighbouring homes-one with DTH, one with cable, and one with broadband-operate under entirely different regulatory constructs. DTH faces price controls and cross-holding restrictions; cable has a different set of rules, and broadband is completely unregulated." He also pointed out the impact of DD Free Dish on the pay-DTH universe, which he said was launched by the government for entirely different purposes. "Then there's the rise of DD Free Dish, which offers strong entertainment content at little to no cost. These are some of the other headwinds that the industry is facing," he said, pointing out that the original intent of DD Free Dish was to provide educational programming in domains like agriculture in rural areas. Despite these headwinds, Vittal believes DTH still has a future, as home broadband won't reach every household-out of 260-270 million homes in India, which includes 150-160 million TV homes. "Perhaps 75-80 million will have broadband in the next five years. That leaves a significant market for linear TV, where DTH will continue to play a role. And there's still an opportunity to grow from cable," Vittal said. On May 3, Airtel announced that it and Tata Play-70% owned by Tata Sons-had mutually agreed to end their discussions, having failed to reach a satisfactory resolution. The deal, if consummated, would have created India's leading pay-TV operator. Airtel has also done away with subsidies on set-top boxes (STBs) to reduce capex in DTH. In FY25, the company's capex on digital TV , which also includes IPTV from Q4, rose 16% to ₹1,665 crore. "We've taken a brave call and done it. We're waiting for the competition to follow, and we hope sense will prevail to strip those subsidies out-because there's no point in subsidies that just rotate your customer," he said. Airtel Digital TV, the DTH brand of Airtel, competes with Tata Play, Sun Direct and Dish TV in the DTH industry, which had 58.22 million paid DTH subscribers as of December 2024. "We've now launched IPTV, which will further enhance our customer experience drive. Convergence has also lowered our capex spend on the box," Vittal noted. Airtel's digital TV business added 76,000 customers in Q4, largely aided by the IPTV launch . In March, Bharti Airtel launched its IPTV service in 2,000 Indian cities, offering 600 TV channels, high-speed Wi-Fi, and on-demand content from 29 streaming apps. "Our IPTV launch has seen an encouraging response from customers. IPTV delivers enhanced convenience with a better user experience and flexibility to watch on demand as well as catch-up content, in addition to linear broadcast content," he noted.
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Star Utsav topples Dangal to become top FTA channel
Synopsis Star Utsav has surged to become the leading channel in the Free-to-Air universe, surpassing Dangal and securing the fourth position overall in the Hindi-speaking market. This resurgence follows its return to Free Dish on April 1st, quickly amassing 111 million viewers within 11 days. Market experts anticipate continued growth in the FTA sector, driven by affordability and content improvements.
