The cable industry is expecting a revenue increase of 5% over the next 12 months, driven by broadband, mobile and next generation television services.
In its 5th Survey of European Cable Communication, Solon says cable operators remain optimistic about their growth prospect with EBITDA margin expanding by two percentage points up to 48% on average up to 2014.
For the first time cable operators are forecasting a decline in basic TV penetration – a trend that has been clearly emerging in recent years – though pay-TV penetration is forecast to continuing growing.
Next generation TV services are cited as the means to protect the TV customer base of cable operators. Major elements of future TV services include multiscreen, TV-everywhere and next-generation STBs. In addition, cable operators highlight the importance of turning OTT from a threat into an opportunity.
“TV customers increasingly prefer tailor-made video offerings rather than 20-30 analog channels. TV customers look for HD TV, digital recorders as well as movies and TV series on demand. This is the reason why 86% of participating cable CEOs put next-generation-TV on top of their strategic agenda”, explains Christian Teichmann, managing director at Solon Management Consulting in London.
The cable operators participating in the survey between them serve 25 million customers in 11 European countries.
