The number of TV households worldwide will reach 1.502 billion in 2016, an increase of 9.4% in five years, according to France-based Idate.
According to the research, cable will the remain the chief access channel but will gradually lose ground to satellite and IPTV, which will account for 30.0% and 7.3% of TV households respectively at the end of 2016.
Despite the development of hybrid TV solutions, terrestrial TV will continue its decline and drop down to number three spot by 2016, with a roughly 26% share of the global market.
The development of hybrid solutions that combine live programming on broadcast networks (terrestrial and DTH) and OTT video services over the open Web is a key variable in the future development of the various TV access modes.
According to Idate, the penetration of digital TV households worldwide will come to 77.6% of TV households in 2016. Three factors in particular will shape the development of digital TV: governments’ ability to steer the digital switchover of national terrestrial broadcasting networks; cable companies’ investments in upgrading their infrastructure and how popular IPTV and satellite pay-TV services are with TV households.
The research company also has said the the global TV industry’s revenue will come to €340.1 billion in 2012: pay-TV revenue will grow by 12.1% between 2012 and 2016, or by an average 2.9% annually. Ad revenue will enjoy even stronger growth of 21.2% between 2012 and 2016. Public financing/licensing fees will continue to increase significantly (+7% in five years).
Pay-TV providers are set to going international. Pay-TV is nearing saturation in the world’s more developed TV markets. The emergence of new OTT video services on televisions and other connected devices increases the threat of cord-cutting. For a great many pay-TV providers in the West, emerging markets therefore represent vital sources of future growth.
Florence Le Borgne-Bachschmidt said in a statement: “It is particularly important to put into context the transformational movements in television, which have never been greater than they are today, in order to measure the revolution taking place”.
