DTH firms pivot to content aggregation as subscriber count falls

Struggling to get customers, direct-to-home (DTH) companies are shifting their focus to new revenue streams by diversifying or offering more content in partnership with streaming platforms.

- ROSHNI SHEKHAR

The DTH industry had 50.07 million paying subscribers in the April-June quarter, down 12 per cent from 56.92 million in January-March, according to reports by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). India has four pay DTH operators: Bharti Telemedia has a market share of 30.20 per cent, followed by Tata Play (31.42 per cent), Sun Direct TV (19.32 per cent), and Dish TV (19.06 per cent). Tata Play refused to comment for the story and Bharti Tele-media did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Dish TV recently launched VZY Smart TV, which integrates DTH and over-the-top (OTT) entertainment service in one device.

Tata Play has collaborated with Warner Bros. Discovery to launch Cartoon Network Forever, an ad-free platform to watch Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo, and The Powerpuff Girls Classic.