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Programmes are telecast for special groups by cable. For example, Keralites, living in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa or Delhi can receive Asia net or Surya Malayalam programmes. Other ethnic/linguistic groups can watch programmes in their own languages. For example Tamilians, Kannadigas, Andhras, Gujaratis or Bengalis living in Bhopal or Delhi can watch TV programmes in their own languages.
Cable TV has grown into a huge business in Indian cities now. Up till a decade ago only certain developed countries in the West had this kind of service. They called it Community Antenna Television (CATV) some fifty years ago. It is called Cable TV now.
India has over 130 million homes with television sets, of which nearly 71 million have access to cable TV. The overall Cable TV market is growing at a robust 8-10%. The cable TV industry exploded in the early 1990s when the broadcast industry was liberalized. The emergence and notification of the HDVSL standard as a home grown Indian digital cable standard is likely to open an era of interactivity on cable networks.
Sun TV (India) was launched in 1992 as the first private channel in South India. Today it has 20 television channels in the four South Indian languages - Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. Channels of the Sun TV network are also available outside of India. Recently Sun TV launched a DTH service.
The Raj Television Network was started in 1994 and continues to be an important player in the South Indian cable TV provider space.
In 1992, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television. Five new channels belonging to the Hong Kong based STAR TV gave Indians a fresh breath of life. MTV, STAR Plus, BBC, Prime Sports and STAR Chinese Channel were the 5 channels. Zee TV was the first private owned Indian channel to broadcast over cable.
A few years later CNN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel made its foray into India. Star expanded its bouquet introducing STAR World, STAR Sports, ESPN and STAR Gold. Regional channels flourished along with a multitude of Hindi channels and a few English channels.
By 2001 HBO and History Channel were the other international channels to enter India.
By 2001–2003, other international channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, VH1, Disney and Toon Disney came into foray. In 2003 news channels started to boom.
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