Private DTH operators’ margins to stabilise at 44–45% even as revenues fall in FY26: Crisil

India’s private direct-to-home (DTH) television operators will continue to see a decline in revenue in FY26, though the contraction will ease to 3–4%, compared with a 5% drop last fiscal, according to a forecast by Crisil Ratings.

The marginal improvement will be driven by the sector’s expansion into Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and a stronger push towards bundled service offerings, Crisil said. Rising marketing income and reduced customer acquisition incentives—including lower subsidies on set-top boxes—are also expected to support revenue and cushion profitability.

DTH operators continue to face heavy subscriber churn, with affluent customers shifting to OTT platforms and budget-conscious households migrating to DD Free Dish. The subscriber base of private DTH players has steadily declined from 7.2 crore in FY19 to 6.19 crore in FY24, slipped another 9% in FY25, and is projected to fall below 5.1 crore by the end of FY26.

According to Ankit Hakhu, Director, Crisil Ratings, IPTV has emerged as a bright spot. The customer base for IPTV services almost quadrupled to 21.3 lakh as of September 2025, from around 5.7 lakh in FY24.

“IPTV provides significant upselling opportunities. By enabling operators to deliver both OTT and live TV via broadband without a dish, IPTV is likely to help arrest subscriber churn,” Hakhu said.

Crisil noted that some regional markets continue to offer growth potential. In South India, cord-cutting has been comparatively limited, and the leading DTH operator in the region has maintained strong subscriber retention, even growing market share.

Gauri Gupta, Team Leader at Crisil Ratings, said that the fall in subscriber numbers will be partially offset by marketing income from these operators’ own OTT aggregator platforms, offered through hybrid set-top boxes.

Operating margins, which fell from 48% in FY23 to 45% in FY25, are expected to remain stable at 44–45% in FY26, supported by milder revenue degrowth and improved operating efficiencies.

Crisil said the outlook will also be aided by higher stickiness in certain regions owing to strong regional content, and by the limited appeal of DD Free Dish, which carries only three of the top 10 most-watched channels. Meanwhile, OTT subscriptions bundled with broadband remain more than twice as costly as DTH packs, helping retain value-conscious subscribers.

However, Crisil cautioned that tariff hikes by DTH operators and intensifying competition from digital alternatives could further pressure linear TV viewership, warranting close monitoring.