Rising marketing income and scaling back customer acquisition incentives, in terms of subsidised set-top boxes (STBs), by select players will also support revenue and cushion profitability. "The subscriber churn continues as more affluent users switch to over-the-top (OTT) media services and budget-conscious ones switch to DD Free Dish," Crisil Ratings said in its report.
The subscriber base of private DTH providers reduced from 7.2 crore in fiscal 2019 to 6.19 crore by fiscal 2024. This further slipped 9 per cent in fiscal 2025 and is expected to drop below 5.1 crore by the end of the current fiscal, the report noted.
“Although cord-cutting has put pressure on DTH companies, leading to secular revenue degrowth over the past six years, operators are making inroads in new areas such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) to drive bundled services (OTT, broadband, live TV)," said Ankit Hakhu, Director, Crisil Ratings.
IPTV services have gained significant traction, with their customer base almost quadrupling to 21.3 lakh as of September 2025 from 5.7 lakh in fiscal 20241, he added.
There are pockets of resilience amid the challenges to linear television. For instance, in South India, the pace of cord-cutting has been limited, with the leading DTH operator there managing to increase market share by keeping its subscriber numbers largely intact amid declining subscribers across the industry.
“Though the revenue of private DTH players will be impacted by the reduction in subscriber base, this will be partially offset by income from marketing on the players’ own OTT aggregator platforms offered via hybrid boxes," said Gauri Gupta, Team Leader, Crisil Ratings.
As a result, margins, which fell from 48 per cent in fiscal 2023 to 45 per cent in fiscal 2025, are expected to remain stable at 44-45 per cent this fiscal on account of milder revenue degrowth.
Greater stickiness of consumers in certain parts of the country due to a stronger focus on regional content and limited offerings by competing DD Free Dish, which offers only three of the top 10 most viewed channels, will remain an advantage for DTH players.
Also, monthly OTT subscription charges with broadband continue to be more than twice as expensive as DTH packs, thus limiting their adoption by the more value-conscious populace, said the report.
The report was based on a survey of all private DTH companies in the country, covering 53 million subscribers (as of September 30 this year).
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