The global pay-TV subscriber base is expected to surpass 924.2 million this year, with 14 percent growth of the IPTV market, according to ABI Research.
This is a 5 percent overall gain for the worldwide pay-TV market. “IPTV is expected to grow a market leading 14 percent in 2014, followed by satellite TV platform at 7 percent,” commented Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of core forecasting at ABI Research. “The growth rates of cable and terrestrial TV platforms are expected to slow to around 3 percent.”
The Asian-Pacific and Latin American markets are leading the gains in the cable market. A combination of the two regions is likely to add over 13 million subscribers in 2014, while the cable TV market in North America is expected to decline approximately 1 percent in 2014. As video streaming services such as Netflix and TiVo continue to lure pay-TV customers with attractive pricing models, traditional pay-TV operators are now trying to compete with these services by developing their own video-streaming products or by integrating these services in their existing services. Bundled packages help pay-TV operators try to reduce churn. In addition, HD channels, advanced DVR services and premium content such as sport content contribute to increased ARPU.
“The worldwide HD subscriber base is growing on all pay-TV platforms,” said Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst. “Approximately 57 percent of total pay-TV subscribers will be HD subscribers by 2019. ABI Research forecasts the global pay-TV market will generate $324 billion in service revenues by 2019.”
