A significant upheaval is being experienced in the television broadcasting industry of India where up to 50 TV channels have given up on their licences within the past three years showing a swift change in viewer behaviour and pressure on the traditional broadcast economics. Gaining momentum is the rapid uptake of digital, the deteriorating pay-TV subscriptions and the deterioration of advertising revenues.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting data has indicated that some of the prominent broadcasters have left the TV arena by abdicating licences. These are the big networks like JioStar, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Eenadu Television, TV Today Network, NDTV and ABP Network. In a related move, Culver Max Entertainment, which is the operator of Sony Pictures Networks India, gave up 26 downlinking permissions after being granted the right to uplink and downlink the same range of channels- in effect consolidating its operation.
Industry analysts explain the reversals of the licences by prolonged stress in the pay-TV landscape of India. Wealthy households in the city are also migrating to the over-the-top (OTT) streaming services as price-sensitive viewers switch to free-to-air (DD Free Dish). This two-way movement has seriously diminished the number of subscribers to the direct-to-home (DTH) television and cable services.
Statistics indicate that the number of pay-DTH subscribers in India decreased to 62 million in FY24 compared to 72 million in FY19 and it will reduce further in the years to come. The declining viewership has affected advertisement revenues directly which has been the foundation of television broadcasting.
The situation has been aggravated by the trend of advertising. The world biggest advertising agency WPP has estimated that the revenue of television advertisement in India will decrease to ₹477.4 billion by 2025 by 1.5%. Conversely the total advertisement market will expand by 9.2 per cent annually to 1.8 trillion in 2025, which is mainly due to digital platforms, and increase further to 2 trillion in 2026.
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