MUMBAI: India’s direct-to-home (DTH) satellite pay-TV sector remains a growth oriented industry with significant potential for strategic and financial investors, according to a new report published by Media Partners Asia (MPA).
The report, entitled ‘India DTH Market Overview–Key Dynamics & Future Outlook’, forecasts that India’s DTH pay-TV sector will generate revenues of $ 4.04 billion by 2018, a CAGR of 19 per cent from $ 1.71 billion in 2013 and by 2023 the sector will generate revenues of $ 5.6 billion. In an earlier report, MPA had said that the DTH active subscriber base will increase from 37 million in 2013 to 60 million by 2018 and 70 million by 2023. This implies a 39 per cent share of the overall market by 2023 and a 56 per cent share of the digital pay-TV market.
DTH operators have been working together to improve the overall economics for the business by reducing the amount of free viewing offered to new subscribers and recalculating the incentives dealers receive for renewing subscriptions.
ARPU growth, according to the report, will be partially limited as DTH expands nationally, with low-income homes coming into the mix, although MPA sees a greater contribution from high- ARPU HD subscribers. According to the report, HD represented 6.9 per cent of the total active DTH base in 2013; which MPA expects to grow to 16.1 per cent by 2018 and to 20.1 per cent by 2023. MPA sees total DTH ARPUs expanding from $ 4.0 per month in 2013 to $ 5.7 by 2018.
Digital TV (DTV) has started to gain widespread acceptance across consumer households in India, driven largely by the growth of DTH satellite pay-TV platforms. Data from MPA indicates that DTV penetration, including digital cable and digital free and pay DTH platforms, has grown from less than 1 per cent in 2006 to 46 per cent as of 31 December 2013.
The six DTH pay-TV operators in the market have in aggregate contributed to 23 per cent penetration as of 31 December 2013, providing a level of market leadership due to superior capitalisation and a stronger consumer focus built around product strength and innovation, including tiering, HDTV and DVR services.
“DTH operators have been working together to improve the overall economics for the business by reducing the amount of free viewing offered to new subscribers and recalculating the incentives dealers receive for renewing subscriptions. ARPU growth will be partially limited as DTH expands nationally, with low-income homes coming into the mix, although we also see a greater contribution from high-ARPU HD subs. HD represented 6.9 per cent of the total active DTH base in 2013; we expect this to grow to 16.1 per cent by 2018, and to 20.1 per cent by 2023,” said MPA India VP Mihir Shah.
Key market trend highlights of the report: