Cable TV industry is slowly moving towards extinction and the danger bells have already started ringing. The recent data released by the telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) is a testimony to the fact the DTH is gaining momentum and capturing the households with cable TV on one hand and the proliferation of OTT on the other hand.
It is a well-known fact that digitization and introduction of set top boxes as a mandatory requirement starting from 2012 was a pivotal moment for the cable television services when the DTH players in the distribution industry emerged as increasingly strong competitors to Cable TV operators. The table below shows how the cable TV households have decreased and the DTH increased.
Particulars 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
TV Households 169 175 181 183 183 197 212 184.14
Cable Connections 99 101 102 92 98.50 103 103 73
DTH Households 37.19 41.15 58.53 63.61 67.53 72.44 70.26 70.99
% of Cable
58.58 57.71 56.35 50.27 53.83 52.28 48.58 39.64
% of DTH 22.01 23.51 32.34 34.76 36.90 36.77 33.14 38.55
The OTT platforms that are presently outside the purview of any licensing and regulatory framework also enable the consumers to have access to video/television services and have evidently established themselves as yet another platform for distributing media content and video services including linear TV Channels. As per available information, the Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) OTT players account for an approximate cumulative subscriber base of 66.71 million1. It is therefore, verily established that there exists no monopoly/market dominance as the presence of so many players in the market provides effective and alternate choices to the consumers at competitive prices/tariffs.
Netflix slashes prices for subscription plans
Global streaming giant Netflix has reduced the prices of its subscription plans. The biggest hike has come for its Rs 499 basic plan that will not cost subscribers only Rs 199, a decrease of 60 per cent. The basic plan allows users to stream SD quality video across mobile, tablet, laptop and TV devices.
