Advanced Television

Analyst: ¾ of pay-TV operators to gain subs

June 20, 2019

Three-quarters of the world’s pay-TV operators will gain subscribers between 2018 and 2024, according to analyst firm Digital TV Research. Covering 505 operators across 135 countries, the Global Pay TV Operator Forecasts report also estimates that two-thirds will increase their revenues over the same period.

“The top 50 operators accounted for two-thirds of the world’s pay-TV subscribers by end-2018, with this proportion not expected to change over the next five years,” explained Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. “The top 10 operators took 45 per cent of the total by end-2018.”

“China Radio and TV is the world’s largest pay-TV operator by a long, long way,” he advised. “It had 185 million subs by end-2018 [18 per cent of the global total] – as much as the next four operators combined. However, China Radio and TV will lose 25 million subscribers between 2018 and 2024, mainly to IPTV (faster broadband) and OTT (more content choice).”

Subscription and PPV revenues for the 505 operators will fall by $21 billion (€18.7bn) between 2018 and 2024 to $161 billion. Nearly all the pay-TV revenue losses will fall to the top 10 players. Nine of the top 10 operators in 2018 will lose revenues over the next five years.

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