Bharti Airtel and the Tata Group have officially ended discussions to merge their Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services.
Airtel released a statement saying, “After failing to reach a satisfactory agreement, both parties have mutually decided to stop the discussions.”
Back in February, the two companies had announced they were in direct talks about a possible deal. The plan was for Airtel to buy Tata Group’s DTH business, which operates under Tata Play Limited. This was to be merged with Airtel’s DTH arm, Bharti Telemedia Limited.
At the time, Airtel said, “We are in bilateral discussions with Tata Group to explore a potential merger of their DTH business with ours, in a way that works well for everyone involved.”
Read More: Airtel Just Leveled Up 5G with Adani’s Spectrum—Here’s Why It Matters for You
Currently, the DTH market in India is shrinking. In the third quarter of 2024, the number of active users dropped by 2.3 million, bringing the total to around 60 million. Tata Play holds the largest market share with 32%, followed by Bharti Telemedia with 29.4%, Dish TV with 19.5%, and Sun Direct TV with 19.1%.
