Lead tungsten tellurite (LTT) glasses doped with different Dy3+ ion concentrations have been prepared and characterized through optical absorption, photoluminescence and decay measurements. The glassy nature of the LTT host has been confirmed through the XRD measurements. The three phenomelogical intensity parameters Omega(lambda) (lambda = 2,4, 6) have been determined from the absorption spectral intensities using the Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory. The hypersensitivity of H-6(15/2) -> F-6(11/2) transition based on the magnitude of Omega(2) parameter has also been discussed. By using the J-O intensity parameters several radiative properties such as spontaneous transition probabilities (A(R)), fluorescence branching ratios (beta(R)) and radiative lifetimes (tau(R)) have been determined. The effect of Dy3+ ion concentration on the emission intensities of F-4(9/2) -> H-6(J') (J' = 15/2, 13/2, 11/2 and 9/2) transitions has also been reported. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.