Advanced Television

Research: Subs gains despite fall in Americas

April 11, 2017

The total number of subscribers to the 100 television services in the informitv Multiscreen Index rose by 4.03 million or 0.93 per cent in the last quarter of 2016. Sixty-one of the 100 services in the Multiscreen Index reported net subscriber gains in the quarter, compared to 67 in the same period the previous year.

  • The number of subscribers to services in the Americas fell by 50,000, with the top 10 services in the United States declining by 162,000.
  • The Asia Pacific region saw the greatest growth, up by 2.36 million, with the top 10 services gaining 1.80 million subscribers.
  • The number of subscribers rose by 1.72 million across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Sky added 397,000 customers across Europe, including 170,000 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
  • The largest quarterly gain was for Canal+ Africa, up by 516,000, although Canal+ lost 130,000 in mainland France.
  • The largest loss was for AT&T U-verse, down 262,000, as the American telecommunications company promoted its DirecTV satellite subsidiary, which added 235,000.

“While the subscriber numbers for some services in the Americas are flat or falling, we are still seeing growth in other regions, with cable and satellite remaining robust worldwide,” said Dr William Cooper, the editor of the Multiscreen Index, which also tracks the availability of services on screens other than the traditional television.

“Eight-eight of the 100 services offer some form of multiscreen access, now available to 90 per cent of homes subscribing to services in the index,” said analyst Dr Sue Farrell. “The adoption of multiscreen viewing is much lower, although the next generation of online services is now aiming at a new generation of video viewers.”

The Multiscreen Index comprises 100 leading multichannel television and video services that collectively account for around 420 million subscribing homes worldwide. The index provides an industry benchmark of the relative performance of television service providers against which customer gains or losses can be measured.

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