India Pay-TV Subs to Top 180 Million in 2023

MUMBAI: The number of pay-TV subscribers in India will rise to 184 million in 2023—generating revenues of almost $16 billion—up from 140 million last year and revenues of $7.7 billion, according to data from Media Partners Asia (MPA).

By 2023, the pay-TV penetration rate will rise to 83 percent. Digital pay-TV penetration will be around 67 percent, up from 46 percent last year, with the base rising from about 68 million to 126 million. Digital conversion will help drive ARPU up from $3.20 last year to $4.70 in 2023.

Pay-TV channels are expected to hit about $8 billion in revenues in 2023, with 67 percent coming from advertising and 23 percent from affiliate fees. Pay-TV channel revenues are forecast to grow by a 9 percent compound annual growth rate from 2014 to 2023. The CAGR from 2014 to 2019 is estimated to be 12 percent.

Cable is expected to remain the dominant pay-TV platform in India, with a 60 percent share in 2023, down from 71 percent last year. New sub additions will largely be to DTH players.

Mihir Shah, the VP of MPA, noted, "The pace of digitalization has slowed to a crawl as the cable industry pauses to address issues in order to improve monetization. This will help the industry deliver more ROI on already digitalized markets before addressing the remainder 70 million plus analog cable homes that require conversion. This is a big opportunity for cable, DTH and other emerging alternative pay-TV platforms."