Digital TV Research forecasts 134 million additional pay-TV subscribers between 2016 and 2022 to take the total 1.09 billion. Based on forecasts for 138 countries, the number of pay-TV subscribers will pass the 1 billion mark in early 2018.
Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Doom mongers in the US have been predicting the demise of pay-TV for some time. Although the US is losing pay-TV subs, there is still a lot of life left in the sector. Furthermore, they are ignoring the rest of the world. Asia Pacific will add 92 million subs between 2016 and 2022 – and Sub-Saharan Africa will double its total.”
Excluding analogue cable TV, the Global Pay TV Subscriber Forecasts report concludes that digital pay-TV growth is really impressive – rocketing from 380 million subscribers in 2010 to 852 million at end-2016 and 1,088 million by 2022.
China will continue to supply about a third of the world’s pay-TV subscribers. India will bring in another 16% of the total by 2022. Therefore, China and India together will provide nearly half the world’s pay-TV subscribers.
Pay-TV subscriber counts will double in 26 countries between 2016 and 2022. However, pay-TV subscriber numbers will fall in a further 18 countries.
Murray added: “We believe that the worst of the losses in now over for North America, with “only” 5 million fewer subscribers forecast between 2016 and 2022.”
For more information on the Global Pay TV Subscriber Forecasts report, see the Broadband TV News webshop.
