While DPOs have a steady revenue stream in NCF besides commission on selling bouquets/à la carte channels and placement/marketing fee, the very thought of losing subscribers to OTT and DD Free Dish will make them lose sleep.įrequent changes in pay-TV regulation has also meant that cable TV companies are not able to fully focus on building their broadband business, which is the next big opportunity in the era of a growing digital economy.ĭTH operators have tried that route with limited success.
This might have a short-term impact on the bottom line, but it will future-proof the business of large TV networks.ĭPOs the other important player in the ecosystem will be severely impacted as they might not be able to fully pass on the tariff hike to the consumers. Broadcasters will start aggressively investing in acquiring customers for OTT, which will encourage some viewers to cut the cord and shift to OTT. Unlike the pay-TV market, the OTT market is unregulated as there is no restriction on pricing. The overzealousness of the TRAI to regulate pay-TV pricing will also force large TV networks to invest more into scaling up their OTT business. Already, pay-TV subscription numbers have not seen significant growth in the recent past, and this price hike might make matters worse as subscriber growth could head south for the first time. As consumers realign their channel selection, will the reach of their popular channels take a hit? This has consequences for both the subscription and advertising revenue streams. And Broadcasters also have a lot to ponder upon. Increasing prices is not a decision filled without serious pitfalls, though. While GEC, movie, sports, and kids genres will manage to get their share, niche genres, even Non-GECs might find the going even tougher. The pay-TV industry is already grappling with the migration of subscribers to OTT and DD Free Dish at the upper and lower end of the funnel, respectively, and NTO 2.0 will likely accelerate that churn.īadly hit by NTO 1.0, niche channels now have no place to hide as the subscription wallet gets redistributed owing to the increase in prices of popular channels. And that runs in the face of TRAI's stated objectives of easing consumers' pain.Īnd considering the plethora of options available before the viewer today, the pay-TV industry will also have a difficult time stopping the migration of customers to other platforms.Īs many channel packages become costlier than annual OTT subscriptions packs, the dice could gradually get loaded in favour of OTTs. NTO 2.0, whenever it gets implemented (TRAI has hinted at giving an extension to the industry), will force consumers to pay significantly more than what they have been paying so far.