Three-quarters of pay TV operators to gain subs

Cord-cutting might be the industry buzzword right now, but pay TV operators are set for a boost.

According to a new report from Digital TV Research, three-quarters of the world’s pay TV operators will gain subscribers between 2018 and 2024.

The report covers 505 operators across 135 countries, and estimates that two-thirds will increase their revenues over the same period.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “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. The top 10 operators took 45% of the total by end-2018.”

Murray continued: “China Radio and TV is the world’s largest pay TV operator by a long, long way. It had 185 million subs by end-2018 (18% 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 between 2018 and 2024 to $161 billion. Nearly all of 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.

The Global Pay TV Operator Forecasts report covers 505 operators with 733 platforms across 135 countries.