India has now more than 800 private satellite TV channels

In India there are presently 819 registered private satellite TV channels, out of which 254 are pay-TV channels.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) revealed this data following the decision in September 2015 taken by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to grant 226 Multi-System Operator(MSO) permanent registration and provisional registration to 173 MSOs to provide cable TV services in the country through digital addressable systems (DAS). Some 90 teleports had been permitted by the end of the same period.

The maximum number of pay-TV channels carried by cable operators in non-conditional addressable system (CAS) areas rose from 214 to 233 in the same period. The maximum number of free-to-air (FTA) TV channels carried by cable operators in non-CAS areas in the three months to September 2015 increased from 179 to 197.

The total number of registered subscribers registered to India’s six private direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operators reached 81.47 million, while active DTH subscriptions stood at 41.05 million as of 30 September 2015.