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| India to have 100-mn cable homes this year |
| Ashish Sinha / New Delhi Jan 04, 2010, 00:04 IST |
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The new year has brought good news for broadcasters, with the number of cable homes in the country set to cross the 100-million mark and reach 103 million, up from 90 million in 2009.
This means, the number of cable homes in the country has doubled in less than six years — phenomenal growth of the Rs 24,000-crore television industry. Also, the number of television-owning households has gone up to 134 million, a 9 per cent jump from the 2009 level of 123 million, according to the latest result of a study undertaken by TAM Media, the country’s leading television audience measurement company, whose data form the benchmark in determining the popularity, reach and rankings of television channels in the country.
However, direct-to-home (DTH) and digital cable (cable accessed via set-top boxes) will continue to remain the fastest-growing segment within the television and cable universe, says TAM. In 2010, there will be 20 million-plus digital homes (mostly DTH subscribers), up from 15 million last year — a near-30 per cent growth rate, the study shows. This means broadcasters may soon charge premium advertising rates from marketers, as they now reach over 15 per cent more homes compared to 2009, when cable- and satellite-owning households stood at 90 million. These data are part of the TAM’s ‘Digital Universe Update 2010’, conducted in association with market research agencies like IMRB and the Nielsen base line study, was done in November and December 2009. This study was based on a sample size of over 100,000 face-to-face interviews conducted across urban and rural India.
In the rural homes versus urban homes comparison, the TAM study throws up interesting results. According to the study, of the 64 million television-owning households in urban India, 85 per cent homes have access to cable television, while only 9 per cent homes have access to DTH or digital cable. However, in the 70 million television-owning homes in rural India, DTH and digital cable have a 20 per cent penetration. The share of cable homes in rural parts of the country is only 70 per cent. This reiterates the fact that DTH is growing faster in the rural areas than the urban parts and metros, often disputed by some leading DTH players.
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