DTH industry revenue falls 10% to Rs 11,000 crore in FY23

The combined operating revenue of the four private direct-to-home (DTH) companies—Tata Play, Bharti Airtel-owned Bharti Telemedia, Dish TV, and Sun Direct—declined nearly 10% to Rs 11,072 crore in FY23, compared to Rs 12,284 crore the previous fiscal year, according to data obtained from the four firms’ regulatory filings.

Furthermore, the four DTH companies have incurred a net loss of Rs 2143 crore cumulatively, with Dish TV posting the biggest loss of Rs 1684 crore. All four DTH operators recorded losses in FY23, while three of the four DTH operators—aside from Dish TV—reported profits in FY22.

However, Dish TV’s losses in both FY23 and FY22 were due to exceptional items amounting to Rs 1,908 crore in FY23 and Rs 2,654 crore in FY22, the company said in a statement.

It added that the exceptional items were due to the impairment of intangible assets under development, trademarks or brands, property, plant equipment (PPE), and goodwill related to its merger with Videocon D2H and related accounting.

Experts say that the DTH business is under stress due to a decline in the subscriber base and the average revenue per user (ARPU). In FY22 and FY23, the paid DTH operators lost over four million customers.

The experts further state that the top end of the DTH subscriber base is switching to over-the-top (OTT), while the bottom end is migrating to DD Free Dish. However, it’s DD Free Dish that has harmed the paid DTH operators more than the OTTs.

“The DTH segment has been losing most of its subscribers to DD Free Dish, while capital challenges hinder investment in new hybrid TV solutions. To thrive, the industry must prioritise investing in and upselling subscribers to HD and hybrid TV subscriptions, expanding ARPU, and retaining high-value customers,” said Mihir Shah, Vice President, Media Partners Asia.

During the Q2 FY24 earnings call, Bharti Airtel MD & CEO Gopal Vittal stated that the company’s DTH business, although losing 1.69 lakh users during the quarter, had entered September with increasing momentum.

He also stated that the price increase implemented during the quarter was the primary driver of DTH revenue growth.

“Having said that, we continue to gain market share, and this is driven by our focus on quality acquisitions and simplified pricing. Our market-specific strategy to address the challenges of DTH has started to show some green shoots in Maharashtra and Gujarat,” Vittal noted.

The active pay DTH subscriber base stood at 65.25 million as of March 31, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data. While there is no official data on DD Free Dish’s customer base, observers say the Prasar Bharati-owned free DTH platform covers 40–50 million TV households.

A Dish TV India spokesperson said that DD Free Dish and OTT have impacted every DTH operator to varying degrees, depending on the strength of each player in individual geographies.

“Dish TV India has acted with agility and has diversified itself into the emerging OTT business as well. The company has been leveraging digital opportunities and is optimistic about ramping up subscriptions from the OTT business in FY24,” the spokesperson added.

DTH operators such as Tata Play, Dish TV, and Airtel Digital TV have also responded to OTT platform competition by launching hybrid STBs that offer both linear TV and OTT content, as well as OTT aggregation services that provide consumers with the convenience of single billing and a unified interface.

Tata Play has launched Tata Play Binge, while Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV have Watcho and Airtel XStream, respectively.

Dish TV, which has become net debt-free, intends to use the cash flows towards capital expenditure in acquiring new customers. In Q2 FY24, the DTH operator had 1 million gross additions.