India 49 tv channels

Television is one of the huge industries in India, having thousands of programmes in many different languages. It has produced a huge number of celebrities with some even achieving national fame. Television is owned by more than half of all the households in India. The country has a collection of both subscription and free services over different distribution media as of 2012. Cherian channel is a distribution media through which there are more than 823 channels, including 184 pay channels.

The broadcast of free to air television in India is regulated through state owned “Prasar Bharati Corporation” with the Doordarshan group of channels being the sole broadcaster. As a result, the primary source of TV programming is cable television in India.

According to the TAM Annual Universe Update 2010, India is having more than 134 million households (out of a total of 223 million) with television sets. Over 103 million have access to Satellite TV or Cable TV which includes 20 million households that are DTH subscribers. More than 85% households have a TV in Urban India. The households owning TV in India have been expanding at a rate of 8% to 10% annually. According to an estimate, India is now having more than 823 operating TV channels covering up all the major languages spoken in the nation along with free live TV online services.

All through the 1990s, a few regional and English language channels developed along with a multitude of Hindi language channels in India. International channels like HBO and History Channel had started offering their service by 2001. Between 1999 and 2003, there has been a great increase in news channels in different languages out of which the most popular ones are Aaj Tak, CNN IBN and NDTV.

Zoom, UTV Movies, 9X, 9XM, Colours and UTV Bindass are some of the latest channels in India. There are a few more new channels in the line, including Leader TV.