DTH
Tata Play loss widens to Rs 551 crore in FY26 as subscribers flee to streaming and free TV
Revenue fell 13.5 per cent and net losses widened to Rs 551 crore in FY26, as subscribers deserted the platform for free television and streaming apps. The bleeding shows no sign of stopping.
MUMBAI: The numbers are ugly and getting uglier. Tata Play, the direct-to-home (DTH) joint venture between Tata Sons (70 per cent) and Walt Disney (30 per cent), posted a net loss of Rs 551 crore in 2025-26, up 4.2 per cent from Rs 529 crore a year earlier, even as revenue slid 13.5 per cent to Rs 3,530 crore from Rs 4,082 crore. The culprit is familiar: subscribers are leaving in droves, and there is little sign they are coming back.
India’s pay DTH subscriber base has been shrinking steadily, falling to 51 million as of December 2025 from 57 million in 2024-25 and 62 million in 2023-24. Tata Play’s own market share has tracked the same downward curve, dropping to 31.08 per cent from 31.42 per cent in 2024-25 and 32.53 per cent in 2023-24. Customers are migrating to DD Free Dish, the free DTH service run by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, as well as streaming platforms including Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and JioHotstar.
The pain has been compounded by a prolonged commercial standoff with Sony Pictures Networks India, whose channels have been absent from Tata Play’s bouquets for more than a year. Industry executives say both sides have bled subscribers as a result. The dispute has landed before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal and shows no imminent sign of resolution. Queries to Tata Play went unanswered by press time.
There are modest bright spots. According to a Crisil report, average revenue per user (ARPU) rose about 1 per cent year on year in 2025-26, with further moderate increases expected as the company typically raises prices twice annually. Adjusted debt fell to Rs 3,357 crore from Rs 4,129 crore, reflecting management’s focus on shoring up the balance sheet. The company is targeting cable TV and DD Free Dish subscribers looking for a better viewing experience as a source of new customers.
Tata Play also carries a substantial legal overhang. The information and broadcasting ministry raised a licence-fee demand in 2019-20, and as of March 31, 2026, the consolidated demand stood at Rs 4,548 crore. The company has made provisions of around Rs 2,331 crore and recognised Rs 3,232 crore as a contingent liability. The matter remains sub judice; in the interim, the ministry has granted provisional 20-year licences to all DTH operators from April 1, 2021, pending a final court ruling.
The shareholder picture is equally unsettled. In 2024-25, private-equity firm Temasek sold its 10 per cent stake to Tata Sons for $100 million, implying a $1 billion valuation for the company. Disney, for whom Tata Play is a non-core asset, has been unable to exit despite multiple attempts at an initial public offering, all of which have faltered against the backdrop of a deteriorating pay-TV market. Talks last year between Tata Sons and Bharti Airtel over a merger of their respective DTH businesses collapsed over valuation differences; Airtel has since pivoted to IPTV.
One corner of the business is moving in the right direction. Tata Play Broadband narrowed its net loss to Rs 78 crore in 2025-26 from Rs 101 crore a year earlier, while revenue grew to Rs 453 crore from Rs 383 crore. Crisil said the subsidiary has reached operating profitability. Its net worth, however, slipped to about Rs 317 crore from Rs 397 crore, eroded by ongoing losses and the absence of fresh equity from its parent, which last injected capital of Rs 28 crore in 2024-25.
Broadband is a sliver of comfort in an otherwise grim picture. The core DTH business is losing customers, losing revenue and losing time. For Tata Play, the question is no longer whether the old model works. It is how long the balance sheet can hold while a new one is found.
