Brazil near 14m pay-TV subs
April 30, 2012
By Chris Forrester
Brazil is proving to be one of the fastest-growing pay-TV markets anywhere. For example, a Vivendi-backed newcomer, GVT, which transmits a hybrid service on DTH and via IPTV, and which only launched in October last year, has now added 95,000 subs since Jan 1st, and is adding subscribers at a rate of 45,000 a month. Current total as at the end of March is 127,000 subs, out of the nation’s overall total of 13.7 million.
The ANATEL regulator says that pay-TV is now in 23.1 percent of Brazilian homes. Drilling down to GVT’s long-established rivals, and the data shows that Net/Embratel Group (which includes subs from Net TV and the DTH operator Claro TV) added more than 455.000 new users, thus reaching 7.45 million subs overall. Sky Brazil is making progress adding 342,000 clients to its base in the first three months of the year and closed March with 4.1 million subscribers. The Telefónica/Abril Group (mostly cable and MMDS, and DTH) lost clients by recording only 692,000 subscribers as at March 31st, down from 707,000 subs as at December 31st. Oi TV added more than 44,000 DTH users and reached 395.000 subscribers.