GTPL Hathway has overtaken Tata Play in FY26 revenue, reshaping India’s television distribution rankings as cable and DTH face streaming pressure.
GTPL Hathway has overtaken Tata Play to become India’s largest television distribution company by revenue, marking a major change in the country’s pay-TV market. GTPL reported FY26 revenue of Rs 3,746 crore, compared with Rs 3,530 crore for Tata Play, according to regulatory filings.
The reversal is notable because Tata Play had held the leading revenue position in India’s television distribution industry for several years. GTPL has moved ahead despite having a smaller active television subscriber base, highlighting the different revenue models used by the two companies.
GTPL Hathway Revenue Crosses Rs 3,700 Crore
GTPL Hathway reported FY26 total revenue of Rs 3,746.6 crore, representing annual growth of around 7%. The company’s FY26 revenue included Rs 1,186.2 crore from digital cable TV and Rs 558 crore from broadband, alongside other operating and non-operating revenue streams.
GTPL ended March 2026 with around 9.4 million active digital cable TV subscribers and 8.7 million paying subscribers. Its broadband business had more than one million subscribers, giving the company an additional connectivity revenue stream alongside television distribution.
Tata Play, meanwhile, reported FY26 revenue of Rs 3,530 crore, down 13.5% from Rs 4,082 crore in the previous financial year. Its net loss widened to Rs 551 crore from Rs 529 crore as the DTH business continued to face subscriber pressure.
GTPL Moves Ahead Despite Fewer TV Subscribers
The difference in subscriber scale makes GTPL Hathway’s revenue position particularly noteworthy. GTPL had around 9.6 million active cable subscribers during FY26, while Tata Play had more than 15 million DTH subscribers.
However, the comparison needs some context. GTPL’s reported consolidated revenue includes its broadband business, meaning the revenue ranking is not a direct comparison of television subscription revenue alone. The figures therefore show a change in the overall financial scale of the two distribution companies rather than proving that cable television has overtaken DTH on a like-for-like subscriber basis.
This also means GTPL’s lead should not be interpreted as a broad revival of India’s cable TV industry. Both traditional cable and satellite television are dealing with competition from streaming platforms and changing consumer viewing habits.
GTPL Expands Beyond Traditional Cable TV
GTPL has been building a broader entertainment and connectivity business around its cable network. Its portfolio includes digital cable television and broadband, allowing the company to generate revenue from both entertainment and fixed-line internet services.
The company has also launched GTPL Infinity, a headend-in-the-sky platform designed to extend television distribution beyond its traditional regional cable footprint. The HITS model can help GTPL distribute television signals across wider markets while working with local distribution networks.
GTPL has also been expanding through acquisitions. In 2026, the company announced a business transfer agreement to acquire seven ACT Group digital TV businesses for Rs 36.23 crore. The transaction is expected to add around 600,000 digital TV subscribers across four states and strengthen GTPL’s presence in southern and eastern India.
The acquisition is therefore part of GTPL’s broader strategy to add subscriber scale while creating opportunities to cross-sell broadband and other services to its television customer base.
India’s TV Distribution Market Faces a Larger Challenge
GTPL’s rise to the top of the revenue ranking comes at a difficult time for traditional television distribution in India. Consumers are increasingly using streaming services, while free television options such as DD Free Dish have also affected the addressable market for paid DTH services.
The pressure is visible in Tata Play’s FY26 performance, with revenue falling sharply and losses widening. The company’s decline reflects broader challenges facing the DTH sector rather than simply a loss of market share to GTPL.
For GTPL, the revenue lead could therefore become more important if it can continue combining digital cable, broadband and newer distribution platforms. Its ability to add broadband revenue to its television operations gives the company a business model that is less dependent on television subscriptions alone.
GTPL Hathway vs Tata Play: What Changed in FY26
The FY26 numbers put GTPL Hathway ahead of Tata Play on consolidated revenue for the first time, with a difference of roughly Rs 216 crore.
That does not mean GTPL has become India’s largest TV operator by every measure. Tata Play continues to have a larger DTH subscriber base, while the two companies operate fundamentally different distribution models.
The more significant development is the changing economics of India’s television distribution industry. As traditional pay-TV growth slows, operators increasingly need broadband, connected entertainment, acquisitions and alternative distribution platforms to maintain revenue and profitability.
GTPL Hathway’s emergence as the revenue leader shows how the television distribution market is evolving from a pure pay-TV business into a broader combination of television, broadband and digital connectivity.
