List of DTH Operators in India

Direct-to-Home (DTH) television is a method of receiving satellite television by means of signals transmitted from direct-broadcast satellites. The Government of India permitted the reception and distribution of satellite television signals in November 2000. The first DTH service in the country was launched by Dish TV on 2 October 2003. DD Free Dish, the first free DTH service in India, was launched by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati in December 2004. ABS Free Dish is another free DTH service oprated by ABS Group.

India is the largest DTH market in the world by number of subscribers. As on 31 December 2016, there were 97.05 million registered DTH subscribers in the country, of whom 62.65 million were active subscribers. The market is serviced by 6 pay DTH providers and 2 free DTH providers.

DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996. The proposal was not approved to due to concerns over national security and negative cultural influence. In 1997, the Government of India banned DTH services when Rupert Murdoch-owned Indian Sky Broadcasting (ISkyB) was about to launch its DTH services in the country. After deliberations among groups of ministers, DTH services were permitted by the NDA government in November 2000. The group of ministers was headed by Home Minister L.K Advani and included Information & Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley, Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Law Minister Ram Jethmalani. The ministers made four key recommendations to govern DTH services:

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