Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has stated that 68% of Cable TV digitization has been achieved in four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. This announcement was made after a recent review of the digitization progress by the ministry in the four metros, where digitization of cable TV has been made mandatory by October 31, 2012. Methodology: The ministry noted that the review was done based on the 2011 Census data related to the total households, TV penetration, and households having television sets in the country and the data received from Multi System Operators (MSO) and Direct-To-Home (DTH) operators. I&B ministry mentioned that there are 103.76 households in these metros, according to the Census 2011 data. Considering an average 80% TV penetration among these metros and a 20% additional provision for multiple TVs installed in home & offices, there are 68.40 lakh cable TV subscribers in these four metros who should install a set top box, while there are only 46.71 lakh Set Top Boxes installed, resulting in a total 68% cable TV penetration, with six weeks to go for the Oct 31 deadline. Note that this calculation doesn't take DTH subscribers into account. The ministry notes that if DTH subscribers, which accounts to 25.59 lakh subscribers in these four metro, are taken into account, the percentage of digitization goes up from 68% to 77%. Metro-wise Breakdown: Among the four metros, Mumbai has achieved the highest level of digitization with a 95% digitization level, followed by Kolkata with 67% digitization level,…
