Change is afoot in Western Europe where, by 2018, there will be more IPTV subscribers than those signed up for satellite services, a new report predicts.
Digital TV Research said in its Western Europe Report that digital cable will achieve the biggest gains in the years between 2013 and 2018, with nearly 13 million more subscribers coming on board. During that same time, IPTV will gain 7.5 million subscribers and satellite TV and pay direct-to-home will only increase by 1.2 million.
Total pay TV subscriptions are expected to increase by only 8.7 million in those seven years, topping off at 103.65 million subscribers. The difference will come as digital pay TV subscribers increase by 23 million and analog subs fall 14.03 million to zero by 2019.
With all this change there will be one constant: "pay TV revenues will remain flat at around $33 billion," the research firm said in a press release. And, even as it loses its position among the subscriber base, satellite TV "will remain the most lucrative pay TV platform," according to the release, noting that satellite revenues will continue to fall.
"Cable TV revenues peaked in 2012, but will lose $1.3 billion between 2013 and 2020" and digital cable TV revenues will peak in 2017, the research continued. IPTV revenues will climb to $4.91 billion in 2020 as subscriber numbers grow.
Market-wise, the U.K. with $7.54 billion in revenues, will be the most lucrative pay TV market by 2020, followed by Germany with $4.74 billion and Italy with $4.54 billion.
For more:
- see this press release
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