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India to be the largest DTH market by 2012: MPA
MUMBAI: Indian direct-to-home (DTH) industry is set to become the largest market in the world by 2012 in terms of subscriber base, according to Media Partners Asia.
India‘s subscriber base in 2009 stood at 17 million and will overtake US by 2012, said the report titled ‘India specific pay-TV and broadband markets 2010’.
India‘s DTH subscriber base is expected to reach 45 million by 2014 and 58 million by 2020.
The report also predicts digital cable to grow to 17 million subscribers by 2014 and 29 million by 2020.
In 2009, 15 per cent of India’s pay-TV homes had at least one set-top box. This number will grow to 38 per cent by 2014 and almost 50 per cent by 2020 with HDTV gaining more traction after 2010, driven by DTH satellite networks.
Cable broadband, a key driver of future cable sector profits, will grow from 850,000 homes in 2009 to three million by 2014, MPA said.
Commenting on the report, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “Cable MSOs probably face the most challenging future as capital intensity and competitive dynamics are such that the premium placed on funding and execution skills is growing at an alarming rate. Nonetheless, most national MSOs will be able to forge stronger last-mile links with the consumer long-term, with positive implications for future funding as well as large-scale deployment of digital pay-TV and broadband.”
MPA is more positive on India’s DTH opportunity than previously, especially when anchored to consolidation and improved pricing power with continued growth, Couto added.
“We suspect the DTH market will consolidate from six to four platforms within three to five years, and estimate four will be making money at the EBITDA level by FYE March 2013. Finally, the combination of a strong economy, a larger pay-TV audience and digitization will also boost the market for broadcast groups. Competition will remain intense, as the main theater of war shifts to regional markets. The major risk to all our growth assumptions is regulation, which continues to commoditize and destroy industry value.”
The future of pay-TV in India will be driven by media owners and distributors expanding market share with an eye on profits.
Projections from MPA suggest that Indian pay-TV subscribers will grow from 105 million in 2009 to 149 million by 2014, and 173 million by 2020. This means pay-TV penetration will grow from 78 per cent in 2009 to more than 90 per cent long-term. Cable will retain 70 per cent market share by 2014, falling to 64 per cent by 2020, while DTH will scale up to almost 35 per cent share long-term.
Total pay-TV subscription revenues will grow at an average annual rate of 14 per cent over the next five years and 10 per cent over the next decade, reaching $8 billion by 2014 and more than $12 billion by 2020.
Revenues from HDTV and VAS (including VOD, HDTV and PVR) will contribute more than $500 million by 2014, rising to $1.5 billion by 2020.
A resurgent economy, an expanded pay-TV market and the growth of regional media should help bolster pay-TV advertising growth to an average annual rate of 14 per cent over the next five years, and 10.5 per cent over the next decade.
MPA expects the total pay-TV advertising market to reach $3.2 billion in 2014, and $5.1 billion by 2020.
The Indian pay-TV sector generated sales of $6.5 billion for FYE March 2010, while EBITDA profits for the sector reached $800 million, implying a modest profit margin of 13 per cent. MPA sees industry sales growing to $12.1 billion by 2014 and $18.5 billion by 2020; margins will improve to 15 per cent and 23 per cent over the same period, with EBITDA profits reaching $2.3 billion and $4.4 billion.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
