Airtel Digital TV posts loss in Q3 FY26 as revenues remain flat

Bharti Airtel’s Digital TV (DTH) business remained under pressure in the third quarter of FY26, reporting a loss of Rs 63.7 crore, widening from a Rs 60.6 crore loss in the previous quarter and sharply reversing from a Rs 31.3 crore profit a year ago, even as revenues stayed largely flat and the company leaned on IPTV-led growth to stabilise the segment.

For Q3 FY26, revenue from the Digital TV services stood at Rs 755.2 crore, marginally lower than Rs 760.7 crore in Q3 FY25.

For the nine-month period ended December 31, 2025, the DTH arm posted a loss of Rs 112 crore, compared to a profit of Rs 115.8 crore in the same period last fiscal. Revenue for the nine months came in at Rs 2,271.2 crore, down from Rs 2,296.4 crore a year earlier.

The company said the DTH service’s total customer base stood at 15.4 million. Airtel highlighted that its IPTV service was seeing fast-paced adoption, driven by its convergence strategy and differentiated offerings. During the quarter, it expanded its entertainment portfolio with the exclusive launch of Airtel Cartoon Network Classics in partnership with Warner Bros., adding to its bouquet of value-added services targeted at families.

The quarterly performance comes amid continued subscriber attrition in the satellite TV segment. Rising content costs, competition from OTT platforms and a broader shift toward broadband-led bundled entertainment offerings have weighed on traditional DTH economics.

Airtel has been repositioning the business toward IPTV and bundled home services while tightening costs and reducing subsidies to improve cash flows.

In Q2 FY26, Bharti Airtel’s DTH business had lost 3.4 lakh subscribers.

The company had reported revenue of Rs 753 crore from digital TV services in Q2, marginally down by Rs 5 crore year-on-year. For H1 FY26 (Q1+Q2), revenue had stood at Rs 1,516 crore, down 1.24% from Rs 1,535 crore in H1 FY25.

Digital TV had recorded revenues of Rs 753 crore with a customer base of 15.4 million, while its IPTV offering had continued to gain traction with strong adoption.

However, the DTH service had reported a loss of Rs 60.6 crore before tax in Q2 FY26, compared to a profit of Rs 1.2 crore in the same quarter a year earlier. For H1 FY26, it had posted a loss of Rs 58.3 crore, versus a profit of Rs 84.5 crore in H1 FY25.

During that quarter, Bharti Airtel had entered into a partnership with Perplexity to offer a 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription free of cost to its Mobile, Home and Digital TV customers, aiming to enhance its digital value proposition through AI-powered services.

In terms of market share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, Tata Play had retained leadership with a 31.42% share of the subscriber base, followed closely by Bharti Telemedia (Airtel Digital TV) at 29.33%. Sun Direct had held 20.13% and Dish TV 19.13%.

Earlier, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, Airtel Digital TV had a 30.20% share compared to Tata Play’s 31.42%, indicating that while the overall DTH market had shrunk, competitive positioning among players had remained largely stable.

In Q1 FY26, Airtel Digital TV had posted revenue of Rs 763 crore, down 1.8% year-on-year, with a customer base of 15.7 million. For the full fiscal year 2024–25, revenue had stood at Rs 3,060.8 crore, nearly flat compared to the previous year.

The management had earlier said it was implementing structural changes, including eliminating subsidies in the DTH business, to strengthen cash flows despite industry headwinds.