NEW DELHI: India’s cable TV industry is on the ropes, reeling from a perfect storm of digital disruption, regulatory overkill, and changing viewer habits. A blistering new report by EY and the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) reveals a 40 million plunge in pay TV homes since 2018—down from 151 million to just 111 million in 2024—and warns that the bleeding isn’t over yet.

By 2030, the figure could drop to as low as 71 million, as Indians flock to OTT, Free Dish, and smart TVs offering slicker content, better tech, and zero monthly bills. The fallout? A staggering 31 per cent collapse in employment across the Local Cable Operator (LCO) network, with up to 1.95 lakh jobs on the chopping block.
The pay TV playbook, once defined by “kam daam, zyada samaan,” is now buckling under rising channel rates, bundling woes, and what LCOs call a “regulatory regime rigged for broadcasters.”

A whopping 93 per cent of LCOs surveyed reported a drop in take-home income, with 79 per cent saying their earnings have nosedived by over 20 per cent since 2018.

* Revenue for major distribution platform operators (DPOs) has shrunk by over 16 per cent since 2018, while EBITDA margins have plunged by 29 per cent.

* Cable TV subscriptions have halved to 60 million, while smart TVs connected to the internet hit 50 million monthly active sets in 2024.
* Pay TV now makes up just 58 per cent of the TV pie, down from 81 per cent in 2018, even as India’s TV household base touched 190 million.

Despite being the backbone of India’s broadcast reach—physically connecting over 500 million people—LCOs remain the industry's ignored foot soldiers, calling out a “top-heavy system” that allegedly favours deep-pocketed broadcasters and digital players.

AIDCF proposes radical surgery: from activating over 20 million inactive set-top boxes and offering subsidies in “TV dark” zones, to limiting near-simultaneous OTT releases of pay TV content, and ensuring a level playing field between cable, OTT, Free TV and FAST channels.

But with TRAI’s piecemeal tariff reforms (NTO 1.0 to 4.0) fuelling more legal duels than industry stability, stakeholders are demanding a full-blown reset. As OTT juggernauts steam ahead and content increasingly lives in the cloud, the cable industry’s survival may hinge not just on policy support but on reinventing itself as a digital services hub, not just a pipe.

As the report bluntly puts it: without immediate intervention, the sun may set on the 30-year reign of India’s cable TV kings.