Pay TV Market in India 2023

A pay TV subscription is a subscription to a television service supplied by a cable, satellite, or telephone company. Pay television, often known as subscription television or premium television, provides programs for both residential and commercial television. Pay TV offers movies, sporting events, news networks, and other content.

Market insights:

The pay TV market in India was valued at INR 720.00 Bn in FY 2022. It is expected to reach INR 995.70 Bn by FY 2027, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~6.92% during the FY 2023 - FY 2027 period. The number of satellite TV channels has been increased by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) from 875 at the end of March 2018 to 898 at the end of March 2022. In addition, the MIB registered 1,764 Multi System Operators (MSOs), 1 Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) operator, 4 pay DTH operators, and 20 Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) operators, in addition to the public service broadcaster Doordarshan, which provides free-to-air DTH service in India.

Segment insights:

Advertising revenue in the sector has increased by 24.7% to INR 313 Bn in FY 2022, up from INR 251 Bn in FY 2021. Among the total 357 pay TV channels, there are 165 channels whose maximum retail price (MRP) is less than INR 5.00 per month. Among them, 41 channels are priced at INR 0.10. There are 103 high definition (HD) channels that are charged twice the price of standard definition (SD) channels.

Market drivers:

Pay channels in India have minimal monthly membership fees, making them cheap. Most of the entertainment and news channels are free to watch. Customers must only pay for the channels that they wish to watch, and if they choose packages given by broadcasters, the price per channel reduces significantly.

Market challenges:

Young generation TV viewers prefer innovative OTT content over regular TV shows. Many filmmakers have chosen OTT as their main platform to release their films. Also, the medium of viewing content has gradually shifted from television to other electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets over the years.