The Polish pay-TV market is close to saturation, with some 70% of TV homes now receiving either cable or DTH services.
Rzeczpospolita reports that this is likely to be the last year of real growth in the DTH sector, while the number of cable subscribers will probably not increase for the second year running.
Several analysts estimate that Cyfrowy Polsat, the market leader, gained an additional 18,000-30,000 subscribers in Q1 this year, while n secured a further 15,000-25,000.
This compared to a combined increase of 50,000 subscribers in Q1 2010.
TPSA has already reported 36,000 more DTH subscribers in Q1 2011 than a year, while Cyfra+’s subscriber base has more or less stabilised.
Forecasts as to how many subscribers the DTH platforms will gain in 2011 vary considerably, with one, from DM IDM, expecting a total of 400,000. Of these, Cyfrowy Polsat will account for 160,000 and n 95,000.
