DTH Providers' FY24 Earnings Down Amid Significant Subscriber Attrition

In the March fiscal year, the combined income of Indian private DTH operators Tata Play, Bharti Telemedia, Dish TV, and Sun Direct decreased by almost 5% to ₹10,230 crore. This was due to a shift in consumer preferences towards digital platforms for streaming video, including live content.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's Performance Indicator Report, which governs the DTH sector, also showed a major subscriber loss of 3.28 million for the business. Bharti Telemedia, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, was the sole operator to increase revenue by 3%, reaching ₹3,045 crore. Tata Play, which also provides broadband services, reported a 6% decrease in DTH income to ₹3,983 crore.

In Bharti Airtel's annual report, CEO Gopal Vittal stated, "After two years of decline, we grew our customer base by 201k, making us the only operator in the industry to grow its customer base during the year."

Airtel Digital TV, Bharti Telemedia's DTH brand, had 16.1 million users at the end of the fiscal year, compared to 15.9 million the previous year.

Dish TV, the lone public DTH provider, reported an 18% revenue reduction to ₹1,856 crore, while Sun Direct's sales fell 1.46% to ₹1,346 crore.

Sun Direct was the sole DTH operator to declare a profit of ₹9 crore, up from a loss of ₹5 crore the previous year.

Tata Play reported a ₹247 crore loss in the DTH market, compared to a ₹20 crore profit in FY23. Bharti Telemedia's net loss decreased 78% to ₹76 crore, while Dish TV's loss increased 17% to ₹1,966 crore due to deferred tax asset adjustments.

Rising competition from OTT and DD Free Dish services has prompted DTH operators to aggregate OTT services and provide HD and hybrid STBs in order to boost average revenue per subscriber and reduce churn.

Dish TV forecasts a shift away from traditional set-top boxes, resulting in a significant change in its business model and lower capital expenses, according to chief executive Manoj Dobhal in the company's annual report.

Consolidation debates have heated up, with churn and content consolidation changing the DTH environment. The number of DTH operators has already decreased from six to four, with Videocon d2h combining with Dish TV and Reliance Digital TV closing after being sold to Veecon Media.

The pay-DTH base fell to 62 million in FY24 from 70 million in FY21, while the first quarter of this fiscal year showed a tiny increase of 0.2 million members, owing to cricket tournaments.

Tata Play has a 33% share of the pay-DTH market, followed by Bharti Telemedia (28%), Dish TV (20%), and Sun Direct (19%). DD Free Dish, Prasar Bharati's free DTH service, reaches an estimated 40 million households.