The Indian cable TV industry suffered a severe decline because of the OTT revolution which resulted in more than 577,000 job losses from 2018 to 2025. The growing popularity of streaming platforms leads to a massive exodus of subscribers and declining revenues among local cable operators (LCOs) and multi-system operators (MSOs) and DTH providers.
The AIDCF and EY India report shows pay-TV households decreased from 151 million in 2018 to 111 million in 2024 and experts predict they will reach only 71 million by 2030. The market transition occurs because consumers face increasing channel costs while digital services improve and OTT platforms gain widespread acceptance. The three streaming platforms Netflix JioCinema and YouTube have become essential viewing choices for millions of households which have replaced traditional television.
The cable sector experienced severe financial decline because major players lost 16% of their revenue while Ebitda decreased by 29% during five years. The cable industry lost 72,000 LCOs and 900 MSOs exited the market. The remaining LCOs who survived the industry changes reported that they lost subscribers by a rate of 93%.
Industry leaders maintain optimism about unexplored media-dark areas but experts predict the entire ecosystem will collapse. Cable TV faces an uncertain future because of rising OTT dominance which requires immediate reforms and innovative solutions.
