The media analysts reported a fresh surge of covid-19 cases may see a decline of 15-20% in cable and DTH (direct-to-home) subscribers.
Although, some may return once the situation improves and things go back to normal as the cycle repeats the same as last year.
Second Wave Effects On DTH Subscribers
With the hit of the second wave, many customers in low-income groups have moved out from metros to hometowns and villages.
At the same time, commercial spaces like restaurants and hotels have also been shut down for more than a month.
Shedding more light on the subject, the managing partner, west at GroupM-owned media agency MediaCom India, Vishal Shah said, “In metros, cable subscribers have shown a drop over DTH specifically with the lower middle class or low-income group shifting back to their hometown. These are cost-conscious consumers and constitute a large proportion of subscribers in India,”.
The economic hardship may force some lower and middle-end subscribers to drop out, but he thinks individuals and families will come back like they did last year, mentioned by Karan Taurani, the research analyst at Elara Capital Ltd.
He further added, “However, the challenge for DTH operators is that their premium base is skewed towards commercial spaces that will take longer to bounce back. Those are unlikely to see any real footfalls for very long,”.
Better Than Last Year
Compared to last year, which had seen a nationwide lockdown, people are better prepared to deal with disruptions this year and not all activity has been halted, according to Taurani.
So far, the DTH companies like Tata Sky and Dish TV declined to comment on the subject.
According to Global State of the Consumer Tracker, a survey by professional services network Deloitte, as far as discretionary spending goes, Indians have shown the highest intent on spending on cable TV as compared to any other country globally at 38%.
The DTH active subscriber base increased to 70.99 million in December 2020 from 70.70 million in September 2020, as per Trai’s Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report.
While the Ficci EY media and entertainment report suggest that cable saw a 3% year-on-year decline in 2020.
Digital Payment Getting Popular
“Digital payment is gaining an important presence in semi-urban and rural markets where data connectivity is low and the only source of infotainment is television,” Vynsley Fernandes, managing director and chief executive officer, NXTDIGITAL Ltd said.
Here mentioned NXTDIGITAL is a media company delivering services across cable, satellite and broadband.
Over 90% of its subscribers pay cable operators online.
While there may have been the discovery of web content in smaller towns, television will continue to be the mainstay with no significant migration to streaming services, said Fernandes.
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