Spain: Pay-TV subs up, revenues down
October 7, 2022
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Pay-TV saw record subscriber numbers in Spain for the first quarter of the year with over 9.21 million, up 118,000 on the fourth quarter of 2021 and 646,000 more than the same period last year.
According to the regulatory body CNMC, IPTV is the market leader for delivery with over 5 million subscribers, followed by streaming services with 2.73 million, up 833,000 in a year.
The largest telcos (Telefónica, Orange, Vodafone, MásMóvil) take the majority of the market, with 61 per cent of subscribers (5.4 million) having access to TV services through a convergence package.
Despite this significant growth in subscriber numbers, pay-TV revenues are still falling, mainly due to a range of low-cost promotions. Revenues fell by 3 per cent in the first quarter to €496.8 million. Overall TV revenues stood at €916.8 million, up 0.6 per cent year-on-year with FTA TV increasing its revenues 3.3 per cent.
Telcos reported €8 billion in revenues in the first quarter, up 2 per cent versus the same period last year, but lower than that of €8.4 billion in the same period in 2019.
In Spain, 8 out of 10 broadband lines are FTTH, up 8.3 million lines in a year, reaching 68.3 million.