Based on 138 countries, Digital TV Research estimated 254 million additional pay-TV subscribers (up by 35%) between 2010 and 2016 to take the global total to 969 million.
According to the Global Pay TV Subscriber Databook, digital cable TV created the most additions by platform – at 256 million between 2010 and 2016. However, analogue cable TV lost 218 million subscribers; dampening overall cable gains. There were 76 million extra subs for IPTV to nearly quintuple its total. Satellite TV added 77 million and pay DTT 5 million.
Excluding analogue cable TV, digital pay-TV rocketed from 380 million subscribers in 2010 onto 852 million at end-2016.
Asia-Pacific is the world’s largest pay-TV subscriber region; contributing 60% to the global total. China supplies about a third of the world’s pay-TV subscribers, with 313 million by end-2016.
Pay-TV subscriber counts doubled in 53 countries between 2010 and 2016. However, pay-TV subscriber numbers fell in nine countries, with the US down by 4.4 million and Italy by 2.3 million.
For more information on the Global Pay TV Subscriber Databook report, see the Broadband TV News webshop.