Should we be worried about the prospects for pay-TV in Central and Eastern Europe?
Certainly, the forecast contained in the latest report by Digital TV Research that the number of homes in the region receiving services will fall by 1 million between 2016-2022 may raise a few eyebrows. We are also told that this year will mark the peak for pay-TV, with revenues reaching €6.11 billion before falling back to around €6 billion.
However, what we should bear in mind are the general industry trends in the region, along with the specificities of some markets within it.
In countries such as Russia, Poland and more especially Romania, for instance, pay-TV penetration is already close to saturation point, with little prospect of significant growth in subscriber numbers. On the other hand, the Czech Republic still has remarkably low pay-TV penetration, in part due to the popularity of FTA terrestrial services, and therefore some potential for further growth.
Take-up of IPTV is increasing throughout the region but still remains relatively low in most markets compared to cable and DTH, with the possible exception of Russia. Meanwhile, pay-DTT has failed to make an impact in most of the markets it is present in.
What is important to note, though, is that the number of digital pay-TV subscribers in the region will continue to grow over the next few years, reaching, according to the report, 77 million, or 61% of the total, by 2022.
Arguably, the trends in Western Europe and indeed North America will almost certainly also be seen in Central and Eastern Europe sooner rather than later. Providers of pay-TV services will have to sharpen up their acts if they are to retain their customers in what are increasingly competitive TV marketplaces in which OTT services are starting to make an impact and viewers’ preferences are changing.
