MUMBAI: India has more cable TV households than direct to home (DTH) homes, minister of state in the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has said in the Rajya Sabha.
As per the data available on Management Information System (MIS) developed by the MIB, cable TV has a share of 46.5% of the TV households in India while DTH companies have 42.4% share. The two modes of distribution have a collective share of 88.9% of the Indian market.
Apart from cable TV and DTH, TV broadcasting service is provided through headend in the sky (HITS) and internet protocol television (IPTV).
Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha whether the government is giving precedence to DTH platforms over the cable TV platforms, Rathore said that the cable industry has played a prominent role in the growth of the electronic media sector.
“As per data available on Management Information System (MIS) developed by the Ministry, the reach of TV households in Cable TV is 46.5% and in DTH services it is 42.4%,” he stated.
He further stated that the MIS data shows that both the platforms are in position and increasing simultaneously as per the choice of consumers.
On being asked about the threat to human life due to cable’s carrying TV signals, Rathore said that the Section 4B of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 empowers the Central Government to lay down appropriate guidelines to enable the State Governments to put in place an appropriate mechanism for speedy clearance of requests from cable operators for laying cables or erecting posts on any property vested in, or under the control or management of, any public authority and for settlement of disputes, including refusal of permission by the public authority.
He also added that the ministry had on 16 June 2017 had issued guidelines to all the state governments to enable them to put in place an appropriate mechanism for speedy clearance of requests from cable operators for grant of Right of Way (RoW) to maintain the cable infrastructure underground and/or over ground on any property vested in, or under the control or management of, any public authority.
“The guidelines have obligations on the part of Cable Operator while laying the cable lines, to ensure mitigation of public inconvenience and to provide public safety,” Rathore said in response to the question on public safety.
According to BARC, there are 183 million TV households in the country translating to 64% penetration of the total households in India. The TV universe has 780 million individuals.
TV penetration still has headroom for growth in rural India which has 52% penetration compared to 87% in urban. The urban and rural households stand at 84 million and 99 million respectively.
Terrestrial, which used to be the only form of distribution till the mid-90s, is nearly extinct with digital penetration touching a historic 98%.
Resource :http://www.televisionpost.com/cable-tv-ahead-of-dth-in-market-share-rathore/