INDIA’S PAY-TV MARKET GROWS AT A SLOW PACE AMID OTT SUBSTITUTIONS

According to a forecast report released by Globaldata, revenue from pay-TV services is expected to increase at a sluggish compound annual growth rate of 0.7% from US$3.19 billion in 2020 to US$3.30bn in 2025 as a result of users decision to shift to OTT platforms. “Cable will be the leading pay-TV technology in India throughout the forecast period, followed by DTH,” Deepa Dhingra, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData said. 

The data analyst’s report,  “India Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report” indicates that even though pay-TV services revenues will drop by 0.6% year-over-year this year as a result of the OTT streaming substitutions as consumers seek new content during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The projected rise in the direct-to-home (DTH) and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) subscriptions will contribute to the general growth pay-TV services market over the next five years. 

India’s pay-TV market is highly fragmented, with over 50% of share in the total pay-TV subscription in the possession of several smaller players in 2020. Operators have also been focusing on offering over-the-top (OTT) content as a bundled service with pay-TV plans to drive pay-TV services adoption.

According to Dhingra, IPTV subscriptions will grow at the fastest CAGR of 19.4% within the next five years, with Dish TV as the leading provider. The network will receive support from the DTH segment and strong focus on the expansion of pay-TV services portfolio with higher quality localized content, such as six new HD channels to its DTH platform, which targets users in the Southern regions.