October 27 2021: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has released a consultation paper on Market Structure in Indian Cable TV and DTH services.
Key statistics about Indian TV business has been extracted from the paper and is shared below.
Television is one of the most prominent mediums in India for the transmission of information, news, entertainment, etc. The television broadcasting and distribution services in India mainly comprises of Cable Television Services (Cable TV), Direct-toHome (DTH) services, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services, Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) services, and terrestrial TV services provided by Doordarshan, the public broadcaster.
The Indian Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry is a sunrise sector for the economy. It has shown tremendous growth over the years. The sector grew from INR 1.026 trillion in 2014 to INR 1.38 trillion2 in 2020. Further, with digitization and evolution of broadband networks, the sector offers huge potential for increased demand and business revenues.
Television continues to be the major contributor to the revenue of M&E sector. As per FICCI EY report published in March 20212 television registered a revenue of INR 685 billion in 2020.
India’s television industry stands at INR 68,5002 crores in 2020 as compared to INR 78,8002 crores in 2019. Subscription revenues account for around 60-65% of the overall industry revenue. Subscription revenues has fallen from INR 46,8002 crores in 2019 to INR 43,4002 crores in 2020. On a similar note, advertisement revenue during 2020 was INR 25,1002 crores as compared to INR 32,0002 crores in 2019. The decline is mainly attributable to the COVID 19. However, as the spread of coronavirus is reducing, the television industry is registering an upward movement and the situation is improving. As per a latest report issued by the Broadcast Audience Research Council, India (BARC) in June 2021, in the first half of 2021, weekly TV Viewership stood at an average of 921 billion viewing minutes
The traditional broadcasting and cable TV sector comprise of broadcasters, cable TV services (MSO and LCO), DTH services, terrestrial TV services, HITS services, IPTV services, and broadcast radio services.
The TV broadcasting sector encompasses 357 broadcasters as on August 31 2021. Further, there are 1733 registered Multi System Operators( MSOs) as on September 1, 2021, approximately 1,55,303 cable operators as on March 20217, 1 HITS operator , 4 pay DTH operators and few IPTV operators , in addition to the public service broadcaster –Doordarshan– providing a free-to-air DTH service in India.
At the end of March 2021, there are estimated 184.14 million TV households which are being served by the cable TV services, Direct to Home( DTH )services, HITS services, IPTV services in addition to a terrestrial TV network of Doordarshan. The pay TV universe consists of around 73 million Cable TV subscribers , 70.99 million total active DTH subscribers7 and 2.15 million ( Headend In The Sky ( HITS) subscribers . In addition, there are 38 million subscribers 2 of Free-to-Air DTH Service and terrestrial TV services provided by Doordarshan. Further, as per the data shared by the service providers with TRAI in May 2021, top 14 MSOs of the sector serve approximately 45.7 million customers.
The number of registered MSOs has increased significantly from around 160 at the beginning of 20158 to 1733 in September 2021.
Subscriber base of major MSOs/HITS operators at the end of June 2021
(More than one million subscribers)
Name of the operator/ Total Active Subscriber Base/ Area of Operation
1. Siti Networks /7861314/ Andhra Pradesh, Assam, BH, Chhattisgarh, GUJ, HAR, Jharkhand, KTK, KER, MP, MH, Manipur, Meghalaya, Delhi, Orissa, RAJ, Telangana, UP, Uttaranchal, WB
2. GTPL Hathway /7833694/ Andhra Pradesh, Assam, BH, Goa, GUJ, Jharkhand, MH, Manipur, Meghalaya, Pondicherry, Orissa, RAJ, TN, Telangana, Tripura, WB
3. Hathway Digital/ 5603942/ Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, HAR, KTK, MP, MH, Orissa, RAJ, SIKKIM, Telangana, UP, WB
4. DEN Networks /4862741/ BH, Delhi, GUJ, HAR, Jharkhand, KTK, KER, MP, MH, RAJ, UP, Uttaranchal, WB
5. Thamizhaga Cable TV Communication Pvt Ltd /3693943 /Andhra Pradesh, KTK, Pondicherry, TN
6. Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd 2889439 Kerala
7. Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV/ 2885583 /TN
8. Fastway Transmissions Pvt Ltd /2195619/ Chandigarh, Delhi, HP, Har, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Uttaranchal
9. NXTDIGITAL Ltd (HITS) /2025202/ All States except Daman & DIU
10. KAL Cables/ 2081801 /Andhra Pradesh, KTK, TN
11. VK Digital/ 1845823 /KTK, Puducherry, TN
12. Asianet Digital Network/ 1208681 /Andhra Pradesh, KTK, KER, Orissa, Telangana
13. NXT DIGITAL Ltd (Cable TV)/ 1105650 /Delhi, GUJ, HAR, KTK, MH, UP
Subscriber base of DTH operators at the end of June 2021
Sl. No. /Name of the DTH operators/ Total Active Subscriber Base/ Area of Operation
1. Dish TV India Ltd/ 16,386,112/ PAN India
2. Tata Sky Ltd/ 23,313,414 /PAN India
3. Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd. /12,164,149 /PAN India
4. Bharti Telemedia Ltd/ 17,998,950 /PAN India
Internet over cable TV
With the rapid pace of technological advancements, it is possible to provide internet and telephone services over cable TV networks. The cable TV networks have already expanded and cover a large proportion of the country. Therefore, many cable operators have started offering broadband services by taking feeds from the Internet service providers (ISPs) and Telecom service providers (TSPs)
OTT
In recent years another technological advancement has taken place in the form of “Over the Top” or “OTT” service providers providing video streaming services. The Authority in its consultation paper on Regulatory Framework12 for OTT services defined “OTT provider” as a service provider which offers Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services, but neither operates a network nor leases network capacity from a network operator. Instead, OTT providers rely on the global internet and access network speeds (speeds in the range of Megabits [0.5 to 3] for video streaming) to reach the user, hence going “overthetop” of a TSP’s network. The prominence of traditional cable TV services is being challenged by the latest technological innovations in the form of OTT services.
Bundling services
To derive benefit from OTT platforms, many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across the country are bundling subscription-based video streaming OTT platforms to allure new subscribers. For example, Jio Fiber, started to bundle varied OTT platforms like Disney+Hotstar, Zee5, Amazon Prime Video, etc. Reliance Jio also launched JioTV+ in July 2020 which enables consumers to access over 12 OTT platforms via its Set Top Box. Similarly, Airtel has launched its Airtel Xstream box with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Zee5 bundled for its broadband subscribers according to their plans. This pattern of bundling OTT services in their offerings is used by almost all the telecom service providers.
With the advent of digital technologies the television services landscape has changed substantially. Technological developments especially the IP technology and increasing use of packet switched digital communications have made converged services possible. The telecom networks can provide access to the broadcast content in addition to telecommunication services. Similarly with digitization, cable TV networks can also provide Internet access as well as telephone services. Market related convergence also occurs as consumers desire one-stop services
Link to full paper: Consultation Paper on “Market Structure/Competition in cable TV services” 25 October 2021