India’s media sector saw mixed trends in 2025-26, with 917 private satellite TV channels permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as of March 31, 2026, including 342 pay channels. The pay DTH subscriber base, however, declined to 49.05 million from 56.92 million a year earlier, as per TRAI data released yesterday.

According to TRAI’s ‘Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators 2025-2026’, during the period ending March 31, 2026, there were four pay DTH service providers in India — Tata Play, Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV and Sun Direct.

As of March this year, the pay DTH players’  net pay active subscriber base stood at approximately 49.05 million.

The pay DTH data is in addition to the subscribers of the free DTH service of pubcaster Prasar Bharati, Doordarshan Free Dish, for which TRAI offered no data.

Of the 917 permitted satellite TV channels, 908 were available for downlinking in India, TRAI said. The total included 238 standard-definition and 104 high-definition pay channels, while 566 were free-to-air.

Private FM radio sector expanded marginally to 390 operational channels across 120 cities, while advertisement revenue fell to Rs. 1,616.42 crore from Rs. 1,818.71 crore.

The number of private FM radio operators fell to 31 from 33, even as operational channels rose to 390 from 388. Community radio stations increased to 564 from 531 during the year under review.

Meanwhile, according to the TRAI analyses, the telecom sector continued to expand, with total internet subscribers rising 12.76 percent year-on-year to 1,092.79 million by March 2026.

Broadband subscribers grew 12.90 percent to 1,065.88 million, while narrowband subscribers increased 7.72 percent to 26.91 million.

Wireless data consumption recorded stronger growth, with wireless data subscribers rising 9.29 percent to 1,026.75 million and total data usage increasing 24.74 percent to 2,85,376 PB in 2025-26.

Wireless data revenue rose 11.53 percent to Rs. 2,39,874 crore, while average revenue realisation per GB declined 10.59 percent to Rs. 8.02. Average monthly wireless data usage per subscriber rose 18.49 percent to 25.51 GB.

Total telephone subscribers increased 10.81 percent to 1,330.58 million, taking overall tele-density to 93.26 percent from 85.04 percent during the 2025-26 period.

Wireless subscribers rose 10.19 percent to 1,282.33 million, while the wireline subscriber base grew 30.25 percent to 48.25 million.

Rural telephone subscriptions grew 3.20 percent to 551.79 million, compared with 16.92 percent growth in urban subscriptions to 778.79 million.

The rural-urban gap thus remained pronounced despite overall expansion in the subscriber base.

Telecom revenues also strengthened during the year, with gross revenue rising 8.59 percent to Rs. 4,04,067 crore, applicable gross revenue increasing 7.12 percent to Rs. 3,81,645 crore and adjusted gross revenue rising 10.44 percent to Rs. 3,34,659 crore.

Monthly wireless ARPU increased 3.59 percent to Rs. 180.73, while pass-through charges declined 13.63 percent to Rs. 45,673 crore.