Mumbai: The pay-TV industry is facing fresh challenges as leading broadcasters JioStar, Zee Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Networks India prepare to relaunch free-to-air (FTA) Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) on DD Free Dish, India's largest free direct-to-home (DTH) platform. These channels-Star Utsav, Colors Rishtey, Zee Anmol, and Sony Pal-featuring rerun content from pay Hindi GECs like Star Plus, Colors, Zee TV, and Sony TV, are expected to attract robust viewership, raising concerns about subscriber migration from pay-TV platforms. These channels had exited DD Free Dish in 2022 under pressure from pay-TV distributors like Tata Play.Industry officials say the course reversal by GECs has the potential to intensify industry churn, already being fuelled by competition from over-the-top (OTT) platforms and DD Free Dish, which reaches an estimated 40-50 million households, offering a variety of entertainment, news, and regional channels without any subscription fee. As per industry estimates, the pay-TV subscriber base has fallen further to around 84 million currently from a peak of 120 million a few years ago, largely due to changing viewer habits and growing popularity of streaming and free TV platforms.118396881 The pay-TV base has eroded even when these channels were not on DD Free Dish. While broadcasters' TV subscription revenue growth has slowed, they were also losing out on incremental ad revenue earned due to their presence on DD Free Dish, a senior executive at a leading broadcasting company said, downplaying concerns of pay-TV distributors.Till 2022, Sony Pal, Star Utsav, Colors Rishtey and Zee Anmol were collecting incremental ad revenues of over ₹1,000 crore due to their extended reach through DD Free Dish.While the availability of Hindi GEC content on DD Free Dish may impact pay-TV distribution platforms, it will generate incremental ad revenues for broadcasters, say experts. Broadcasters are making the right decision by returning to DD Free Dish, as it provides additional ad revenue at no extra cost by monetising existing pay-TV content, said Rajesh Sethi, media advisor at PwC India. He added that revenue generated from repackaged content on DD Free Dish will allow broadcasters to strengthen their content offerings for both digital and pay-TV. However, industry officials see a silver lining due to JioStar's decision to halt free cricket streaming which could provide some relief to the pay-TV sector. Live sports, particularly cricket, have long been a major driver of television subscriptions, and limiting free access to such content may encourage viewers to return to traditional pay-TV services. Sports broadcasting has been a big driver of subscription revenue both globally and in India, said the head of a TV distribution company.