Eastern Europe and HD to lead pay TV revenue growth

Revenues for the top European pay TV channels are expected to reach US$4.24 billion (€3.27 billion) this year and to grow to US$5.28 billion by 2017, according to a report by Digital TV Research.

According to the report, TV Channel Revenues in Europe, carriage fee revenue is slowing as markets mature and most growth will come from a combination of higher penetration in eastern Europe and the emergence of HD channels that either command higher carriage fees or allow channels to protect carriage fees when negotiating with platform operators.

“Advertising has more room for growth as non-traditional channels gain audience share and greater acceptance among ad agencies,” said report co-author Simon Murray. “However, the international players face great competition as traditional domestic terrestrial players push their thematic channels. Advertising revenues for the channels featured in this report will increase by 53.1% from US$1.32 billion in 2012 to US$2.02 billion by 2017.”

Viacom is the top channel group by revenues, with US$741 million anticipated for 2012. The report did not look at revenues from premium subscription movies and sports channels.