As per an industry estimate reported in 2022, pay DTH and cable sector together has a subscriber base of 122 million as in March 2021.
[2] Pay DTH sector has attained a total active subscriber base of around 65.58 million in the quarter ending 30 September 2022.
The new policy announced in November 2000 required all DTH operators to set up earth stations in India within 12 months of receiving a license.
The limit for foreign direct investment in the DTH sector was capped at 49%, and a company operating the services was required to be headed by an Indian citizen.
[4] Following legal proceedings between Star and Zee, in 2007, the two companies called a truce and began offering their channels on each other's services.
[6] The service acquired 1 million subscribers within 90 days of launch, the fastest ramp-up ever achieved by any DTH operator in the world.
[12][13] The regulation states, "All broadcasters will compulsorily offer all their channels on a la carte basis to DTH operators.
[15] Several broadcasters, such as Star, Zee Turner Limited, Set Discovery and Sun TV, challenged TRAI's order in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
TRAI challenged TDSAT's order in the Supreme Court, and stated in proceedings on 22 July 2010 that "in the analog, non-addressable environment, the authority is of the view that a la carte should not be made mandatory at the wholesale level as technological constraints in any case make it impossible for the benefits of a la carte provisioning to be passed on to subscribers".
[20][21] TRAI ordered that pay television customers in India must be given a free choice of channels rather than be forced to choose package deals, enforcing a January 2011 deadline to implement the changes.
[25][26][27][28] The price of set top boxes (STB) in India plummeted in the decade since DTH services were launched.
The channel is not dedicated to single genre and instead broadcasts video on demand (VOD), lifestyle and travel content, sports, infotainment, concerts and Hollywood films.
The first programs telecast on the channel were live broadcasts of select matches from the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.