Despite economic growth concerns, pay-TV subscriptions for Asia Pacific’s top 68 operators will increase by 74 per cent from a collective 376 million in 2014 to 535 million by 2020, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. These operators from 20 countries will climb from 75 per cent of Asia Pacific pay TV subscribers in 2014 to 83 per cent by 2020.

The Asia Pacific Pay TV Operator Forecasts report concludes that China and India dominate the operator rankings by subscribers. Government policy to consolidate cable TV operations means that China Radio & TV has become the world’s largest pay TV operator by a long way, with 198 million subscribers by end-2014. The operator will soon represent every cable TV home in China, with 252 million subscribers expected by 2020 – up by nearly 54 million on 2014.
At the other end of the scale, Korea’s CJ Hellovision will lose 827,000 subscribers over the same period. In fact, nine operators are expected to experience subscriber decreases between 2014 and 2020.
Total subscription and VoD revenues for the 68 operators will climb by nearly $10 billion between 2014 and 2020 to $33 billion. These operators will account for 80 per cent of Asia Pacific pay-TV revenues by 2020, up from 74 per cent in 2014.
The dominance of China and India is diminished when the operators are ranked in revenue terms [subscriptions and VoD only]. China Radio & TV will add a massive $2.16 billion between 2014 and 2020. In fact, five operators will add more than $500 million in revenues. However, 10 operators will lose revenues, with Foxtel (down by $151 million) declining by the most.

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