AIDCF-EY report: India's Cable TV sector loses over 5.77 lakh jobs, 40mn Pay TV homes
All India Digital Cable Federation
(AIDCF) in collaboration with EY India. The report, titled—State of Cable TV Distribution in India, highlights an estimated cumulative job loss exceeding 5.77 lakh and a significant drop in Pay TV households, urging immediate policy reforms to stabilise the industry.
The comprehensive study, based on extensive field data from over 28,000 Local Cable Operators (LCOs) across the country, paints a grim picture of the industry's health since 2018. The workforce of surveyed LCOs has plummeted by 31 percent since 2018, resulting in a reported loss of 37,835 jobs. When extrapolated nationally, the estimated job loss ranges between 1.14 lakh and 1.95 lakh. Factoring in the closure of approximately 900 Multi-System Operators (MSOs) and 72,000 LCOs over the past six years, the total cumulative job loss is estimated to exceed a staggering 5.77 lakh.
Beyond job losses, the sector has seen a dramatic decline in subscriber numbers. Pay TV households have fallen by 40 million, from 151 million in 2018 to 111 million in 2024. 93 percent of LCOs reported a decline in their subscriber base since 2018, with 49 percent experiencing a drop in their monthly income. Alarmingly, 35% of LCOs reported a subscriber loss of over 40 percent. The report attributes these challenges to a combination of rising channel costs and intense competition from unregulated digital platforms, which often offer content for free or at significantly lower prices.
To mitigate the crisis and ensure the sustainability of the cable TV industry, the report proposes several key reforms. These include enabling a level-playing field across all content distribution mediums to ensure fair competition and permitting differential Pay TV pricing for different territories based on consumers' ability to pay. The report also calls for measures to activate over 20 million inactive Set-Top Boxes (STBs) in India, restricting or limiting the provision of live or slightly delayed transmission of Pay TV content for free on other platforms, and fostering a unified stand against piracy across the broadcasting ecosystem.
Sanjiv Shankar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs; Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shared his remarks, "This report is truly one of its kind—comprehensive, data-driven, and grounded in the realities of the ground-level cable ecosystem. It brings into focus the structural shifts and challenges within the sector, and provides a valuable evidence base for future policymaking.'
S.N. Sharma, CEO of DEN Networks and President of AIDCF, emphasised the human impact of the crisis. He stated, 'This report is perhaps the most comprehensive bottom-up view of the Pay TV distribution sector in recent times. The report presents not just statistics but stories of lost livelihood impacting families and entrepreneurship, and they need to be heard across the broadcasting ecosystem. We urge all stakeholders — including broadcasters, regulators, and our parent ministry — to use the report as a base to bring practical reforms and support the cable TV industry to thrive once again.'
Ashish Pherwani, Partner, Media & Entertainment Sector, EY India, highlighted the report's unique contribution, remarking, 'This is a first-of-its-kind report that captures the true pulse of the cable TV distribution network in India. Its scale, depth of field data, and insight into last-mile realities make it a valuable resource for both industry and policymakers alike.'
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