Why Tata Play’s sharp drop in pricing matters in a changing DTH market

New Delhi: Tata Play recently slashed prices across a wide range of channel packs, signalling a decisive shift in strategy as the platform adapts to a transforming pay DTH landscape where consumer value, retention and broader industry realignment are becoming central to growth.

It comes at a time when India’s pay DTH market is shrinking and DD Free Dish is rapidly catching up. This seems to have forced the country’s largest DTH operator to reset its value proposition with a clear focus on long-term customer retention.

Also read: Tata Play slashes curated pack prices by up to 60 per cent from December 1

As per the latest data submitted to the regulator, the total active pay DTH subscriber base stood at around 56.07 million at the end of June 2025, down from 56.92 million in the quarter ending March 2025. In parallel, Prasar Bharati has recently quoted an estimated 50 million subscribers for DD Free Dish across industry forums, a number now almost at par with the entire pay DTH universe.

If the current downward trend in pay DTH continues at the same pace as last year, industry executives expect the active pay DTH base and Free Dish homes to converge sometime in 2026. In that scenario, the battle is no longer just between DTH operators but between pay DTH as a category and a free, ad-funded alternative that already commands comparable scale.

Within pay DTH, Tata Play remains the largest operator with a 31.42% share of active subscribers. On a base of 56.07 million, this translates to roughly 1.76 crore active Tata Play connections. Bharti Telemedia (Airtel) has about 29.33%, or 1.64 crore homes; Sun Direct 20.13 % (around 1.13 crore); and Dish TV 19.13% (about 1.07 crore). Together, Tata Play and Airtel control around 61% of the pay DTH market.

It is against this backdrop that Tata Play has announced steep reductions in the prices of a wide range of curated channel packs across Hindi, English and regional markets, with the revised tariffs coming into effect from December 1, 2025.

A reading of the new rate card shows that reductions broadly range between 7 % and 60%, with most mass entertainment and regional value bouquets falling in the 20–35% band.

Among Hindi packs, mass entertainment and news bouquets have seen sharp corrections. Hindi TV Shows HD has been repriced from Rs 111 to Rs 71, a reduction of around 36% while Hindi TV Shows (SD) goes from Rs 98 to Rs 65, down nearly 34%. At the entry level, Hindi News falls from Rs 2.50 to Rs 1 per month, implying a 60% cut.

English packs have also become cheaper. English Combo moves from Rs 80 to Rs 70, English Movies HD from Rs 108 to Rs 92, and English TV Shows from Rs 16 to Rs 12. English Knowledge and Lifestyle is revised from Rs 26 to Rs 24.

In the Bangla market, entry-level packs witness some of the steepest changes. Bangla Hindi Basic drops from Rs 245 to Rs 176 per month, while Bangla Hindi Dhamaal moves from Rs 219 to Rs 160. The basic Bangla TV Shows pack falls from Rs 50 to Rs 28, and Bangla Regional is revised from Rs 83 to Rs 54.

In the South, the repricing spans Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam offerings. Tamil TV Shows HD goes from Rs 150 to Rs 130, and Tamil TV Shows from Rs 138 to Rs 117. Telugu Basic falls from Rs 245.60 to Rs 208, and Telugu Prime from Rs 225.60 to Rs 175. Kannada Basic is revised from Rs 201.60 to Rs 164, and Kannada TV Shows from Rs 105 to Rs 85. In Kerala, Malayalam TV Shows HD drops from Rs 80 to Rs 65, while Malayalam TV Shows go from Rs 72 to Rs 60.

Premium sports and kids bouquets have been reduced as well, though at the lower end of the range. Malayalam Sports Kids English HD moved from Rs 471.60 to Rs 439, and Tamil Thalaiva Sports Kids HD from Rs 445 to Rs 407.

Tata Play sources have described this as a strategic, routine price revision, emphasising that it is not driven by any single short-term trigger. However, the combination of a declining pay DTH base and a 50-million-strong DD Free Dish platform points to a clear competitive context.

For millions of low- and middle-income homes, Free Dish has become the default entry point into television, with pay DTH regarded as an upgrade for those seeking more channel choice, better picture quality or HD content. With Free Dish now almost matching pay DTH in scale, the next wave of growth for platforms like Tata Play will come less from first-time TV adoption and more from conversion, persuading a Free Dish household to take the next step.

By sharply lowering curated pack prices, Tata Play aims to ensure that when a Free Dish viewer decides to upgrade, the jump to pay TV does not feel prohibitively expensive. The company is also signalling that for those already on pay DTH and considering switching to Free Dish or going OTT-only, a reasonably priced bouquet still offers compelling value.
Distribution executives note that in this phase of the market, profitability must be viewed over a longer horizon. In their words, margin is short term, but customer retention is long term. A platform that loses a home to Free Dish today will find it significantly harder and costlier to win that household back in future, compared to absorbing a lower ARPU now to keep the connection active.

The revised tariffs will apply to subscribers who migrate to, or newly select, the rebranded “New” packs from December 1, while the current prices remain in force till the end of November. This gives distributors a short window to communicate the changes and guide existing customers into the new structures.

For competing DTH operators, the move sparks an immediate strategic question. If Tata Play can offer sharply cheaper curated packs while retaining its 31% market share, others may be compelled to re-evaluate their own pricing and bouquet configurations, particularly in markets where Free Dish is strong and OTT is steadily chipping away at higher-value urban homes.

What is evident is that the pay DTH business is no longer a straightforward volume-growth story. With the active base declining and Free Dish at 50 million subscribers, the category is entering a phase where every household retained, upgraded or lost carries disproportionate weight.

Tata Play’s price reset is one of the first major visible attempts to adapt to that reality and position itself as the natural upgrade destination for Free Dish viewers, even if it means trading some near-term profitability for longer-term customer stickiness.