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India’s telecom and broadcasting ecosystem witnessed some key shifts in the quarter ended March 31, 2025, as per the latest Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). One of the notable highlights of the quarter is the dip in the total active subscriber base for pay DTH services. As of March 2025, the number stood at 56.92 million, marking a drop from 58.22 million in December 2024. This decline of about 1.3 million subscribers in a single quarter, points to shifting consumer preferences or possibly the impact of recent pricing and bundling changes made by broadcasters and DTH operators.
India currently has four operational pay DTH service providers. In addition to these, DD Free Dish, the free-to-air DTH service offered by public broadcaster Doordarshan, continues to operate separately and is not included in the pay DTH subscriber numbers.
The report outlines important trends in the pay TV and DTH segments, while also providing a snapshot of the overall industry’s revenue performance.
Breaking it down further, 232 channels were standard definition (SD) and 101 channels were high definition (HD).
The gradual erosion in DTH subscriber base is indicative of a larger trend wherein viewers are moving toward broadband-based entertainment options, including OTT platforms, experts said.
With growing internet penetration and affordable data plans, cord-cutting appears to be slowly gaining momentum in the Indian market, especially in urban and semi-urban areas.
At the same time, the sizable base of nearly 57 million active pay DTH subscribers highlights that linear TV—especially via satellite—is still relevant for a large section of Indian households, particularly in non-metro and rural regions.
The figures come at a time when the broadcasting and distribution sectors are undergoing structural changes. The implementation of new Reference Interconnect Offers (RIOs), shifting dynamics between broadcasters and DTH operators, and recent pricing adjustments may continue to influence subscriber behaviour in the coming quarters.
Industry watchers will be closely monitoring how the subscriber numbers evolve in the next quarter, especially with ongoing regulatory and pricing discussions likely to shape market sentiment.
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