Advanced Television

Brazil surpasses 15m pay-TV subs

September 28, 2012

By Chris Forrester

Brazil’s impressive enthusiasm for pay-TV continues unabated. Official numbers from the country’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) say that at the end of August the official tally surpassed 15.1 million subs, up 319,500 in the month (up 2.16 per cent on July’s total), and a 30 per cent uplift since the same month last year. Indeed, year-on-year the growth is an appealing 3.5 million net new subs.

DTH leads the market with a 59 per cent penetration rate, with cable again losing market share at 39.8 per cent penetration. DTH subscribers grew 2.9 per cent, and cable grew 1.3 per cent during August. MMDS is rapidly dying away, losing 9700 subs in the month (a 5.5 per cent decline).

As to the actual operators, the Net/Embratel operation accounts for the lion’s share, with just over 8 million subs (and a net gain of 227,000 in August). DirecTV’s Sky Brazil comes in second place with 4.68 million subs, followed by Telefonica’s Abril operation at 637,000 (down 22,244).

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