The Indian television industry is experiencing a significant shift as users increasingly prefer digital platforms over traditional TV. As a result, several major broadcasters have surrendered their television licenses over the past three years. According to a report by the Economic Times, nearly 50 TV channels have given up their licenses due to the rising challenges in the sector. Companies such as JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Eenadu Television, TV Today Network, and ABP Network are among those that have surrendered their licenses.<\/p>\n
Industry executives believe that this move is a strategic restructuring effort, driven by financial unviability and changing market conditions. The shift to Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms has put pressure on the traditional paid television ecosystem, particularly among affluent Indians. Additionally, price-sensitive households are opting for DD Free Dish, a government-owned venture.<\/p>\n
A recent report by Crisil estimates that Indian private direct-to-home (DTH) television providers will continue to see a decline in revenues, albeit at a reduced rate of 3-4% compared to the previous 5% decline. The subscriber base of private DTH providers has decreased from 7.2 crore in fiscal 2019 to 6.19 crore by fiscal 2024, and is expected to drop below 5.1 crore by the end of the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n
Several channels have been affected by the license surrenders, including JioStar’s Colours Odia, MTV Beats, VH1, and Comedy Central. Zee Entertainment closed Zee Sea, while Enter10 Media rolled back on plans to launch additional channels and surrendered licenses for Dangal HD and Dangal Oriya. ABP Network closed ABP News HD due to high operating costs, and NDTV surrendered its license for the NDTV Gujarati channel.<\/p>\n
The trend of surrendering licenses is expected to continue as the Indian television industry adapts to the changing viewer preferences and market conditions. The shift to digital platforms and OTT services is likely to persist, leading to further consolidation and restructuring in the industry. The Crisil report notes that the overall margins of the sector are expected to remain stable at 44-45% in the financial year ending 2025-26, despite the decline in revenues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Indian television industry is experiencing a significant shift as users increasingly prefer digital platforms over traditional TV. As a result, several major broadcasters have surrendered their television licenses over the past three years. According to a report by the Economic Times, nearly 50 TV channels have given up their licenses due to the rising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-automobile"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9x89j-zt8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":136216,"url":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/2025\/12\/youtubes-acquisition-of-oscars-tv-rights-is-a-strategic-coup-for-neal-mohan\/","url_meta":{"origin":136346,"position":0},"title":"YouTube’s Acquisition of Oscars TV Rights is a Strategic Coup for Neal Mohan","author":"Team Small News","date":"December 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest episode of the \"Daily Variety\" podcast discusses the surprise move of the Oscar telecast to YouTube, starting in 2029. Variety's chief awards editor, Clayton Davis, is in favor of the decision, believing it will help the Academy meet potential watchers where they are and provide a more evolved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Automobile"","block_context":{"text":"Automobile","link":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/category\/automobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136242,"url":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/2025\/12\/athar-siddiqui-has-been-added-to-the-cast-of-the-zee-tv-show-lakshmi-niwas\/","url_meta":{"origin":136346,"position":1},"title":"Athar Siddiqui has been added to the cast of the Zee TV show Lakshmi Niwas.","author":"Team Small News","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Athar Siddiqui, an Indian television actor, has been cast in the upcoming Zee TV show \"Lakshmi Niwas\" in a significant negative role. The show, produced by Rashmi Sharma Telefilms, features a talented ensemble cast, including Rajendra Chawla, Mansi Joshi Roy, Raghav Tiwari, and Akshita Mudgal. Recently, it was announced that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Automobile"","block_context":{"text":"Automobile","link":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/category\/automobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136295,"url":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/2025\/12\/top-tv-thrillers-based-on-podcasts-to-stream-in-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":136346,"position":2},"title":"Top TV Thrillers Based on Podcasts to Stream in 2026","author":"Team Small News","date":"December 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The world of podcasting has proven to be a rich source of inspiration for television shows and documentaries. Several popular podcasts have been adapted into TV series, with many more in the works. Here are some examples: Dirty John: A true-crime podcast about a con man who manipulated a family\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Automobile"","block_context":{"text":"Automobile","link":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/category\/automobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallnews.in\/automobile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}