The pay DTH subscriber base decreased by 2.02% from 65.50 million in the quarter ended June 2023 to 64.18 million in QE September 2023. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report, pay DTH attained a total active subscriber base of around 64.18 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. This is in addition to the subscribers of the DD Free Dish (free DTH services of Doordarshan).

Since the introduction of the DTH Sector in the year 2003, Indian DTH (direct-to-home) services have displayed phenomenal growth, said TRAI. During the QE 30th September 2023, there were four pay DTH service providers in the country including Tata Play with 32.43% share followed by Bharti Telemedia with 27.01% and  Dish TV India with 21.54% share. Sun Direct TV had a 19.02 % share in QE in September 2023.

Pay TV Channels 

As per broadcasters' reporting in pursuance of the Tariff Order dated 3rd March 2017 as amended, out of 904 permitted satellite TV channels which are available for downlinking in India, there are 361 satellite pay TV channels as of 30th September 2023.

TRAI said, out of 361 pay channels, 257 are SD satellite pay TV channels and 104 are HD satellite pay TV channels.

Cable TV Sector 

According to the TRAI report, as of September 30, 2023, there are 995 MSOs registered with MIB. As per the data reported by MSOs and HITS operators, as of September 2023, there are 11 MSOs & 1 HITS operator who have a subscriber base greater than one million. With GTPL Hathway leading the charts with over 9 million subscribers.

FM Radio 

According to the report, the advertisement revenue reported by FM Radio operators during the quarter ending 30th September 2023 in respect of 388 private FM Radio channels was Rs 408.37 crore as against Rs 389.97 crore in respect of 388 private FM Radio channels for the previous quarter. The revenue grew by 4.72%.