Revenue of TV industry in India FY 2014-2020, by source
India’s TV industry earned about 778 billion Indian rupees in fiscal year 2020 with subscriptions and advertising revenues put together. A large share of this came from subscriptions, with over 500 billion rupees during that year. Although the consumption of online content is on the rise in the country, television remains just as central in Indian households with over 188 million TV households in the country in 2018. In fact, the rate of penetration of paid cable and satellite television was forecasted to amount to over 80 percent of households from 2019 to 2023.
The story behind the numbers
The Indian television industry’s market size grew consistently in recent years. These are big numbers and can be attributed in part to the high number of paid TV subscribers in the country. The affordability of basic cable TV, which can be as low as two U.S. dollars per month for multiple regional, national and international channels, has made it possible for India to have the second highest number of pay TV subscribers in the world, second only to China.
The impact of digitalization
While the world has seen a steady decline in television viewership due to steep competition from the smartphone industry, as well as digital content platforms like Netflix, Indians seem to remain loyal to their television sets. On average, Indians spent about 3.44 hours watching television in 2017 and television viewership in the country has increased by 12 percent since 2016. Although these are surprising growth figures for an industry considered to be in slow decline globally, the numbers are a clear indication that Indians continue to be invested in their TV sets and that it is here to stay – at least for now.
The story behind the numbers
The Indian television industry’s market size grew consistently in recent years. These are big numbers and can be attributed in part to the high number of paid TV subscribers in the country. The affordability of basic cable TV, which can be as low as two U.S. dollars per month for multiple regional, national and international channels, has made it possible for India to have the second highest number of pay TV subscribers in the world, second only to China.
The impact of digitalization
While the world has seen a steady decline in television viewership due to steep competition from the smartphone industry, as well as digital content platforms like Netflix, Indians seem to remain loyal to their television sets. On average, Indians spent about 3.44 hours watching television in 2017 and television viewership in the country has increased by 12 percent since 2016. Although these are surprising growth figures for an industry considered to be in slow decline globally, the numbers are a clear indication that Indians continue to be invested in their TV sets and that it is here to stay – at least for now.
