Tata Play Lost 27.8 Lakh DTH Subscribers in a Year, Bets on Dish-Free 'Smart' Service

Tata Play lost an estimated 27.78 lakh DTH subscribers in the year to June 2026, a 15.8% drop that took its base from about 1.76 crore to 1.48 crore, according to BestMediaInfo's analysis of TRAI data. Its market share slipped from 31.42% to 30.56% as the overall pay-DTH industry contracted 13.4%.

How Airtel held its ground

Airtel lost a similar number of DTH customers, about 28.64 lakh, but made up for it by moving households to internet TV. Its IPTV base rose from 8.69 lakh to 40.91 lakh, lifting its combined DTH and IPTV base from about 1.73 crore to 1.77 crore. Airtel's home broadband network of about 1.11 crore connections, nearly 17 times Tata Play's, gives it the pipe to do that.

Falling revenue, wider losses

Tata Play's consolidated revenue fell 13.5% to ₹3,530 crore in FY26 from ₹4,082 crore, and its net loss widened to ₹551 crore from ₹529 crore, according to a Crisil assessment cited in the report. Its broadband arm grew to 6.53 lakh subscribers and ₹453 crore in revenue, but still lost ₹78 crore.

The company was also without 25 Sony Pictures Networks India channels for more than 14 months after dropping them from its packs in May 2025. They began returning to selected packs in July 2026.

The 'Smart' bet

Tata Play's answer is Smart, a dish-free service that streams more than 500 live channels over any broadband connection, with no dish or set-top box, from ₹199 a month for one language and ₹99 for each additional language. Its advertising campaign began on 15 October.

Managing director and CEO Harit Nagpal has rejected the idea that Smart is a defensive move, arguing that satellite and internet TV can coexist, while acknowledging it could cannibalise the DTH business. By Crisil-based estimates, Tata Play would need about 23 lakh continuously paying Smart customers just to replace the ₹552 crore of revenue it lost in a year.