There were more than 900 million pay-TV customers worldwide in Q1’15, according to ABI Research – representing 48% technology penetration. The market is forecast to grow ‘steadily’ over the next five years, with the main boosts coming from emerging markets. 50% penetration – 1 billion households – will be achieved by 2017.
ARPU is falling across all pay-TV platforms, as competition from alternative technologies (such as OTT) rises. Many pay-TV operators have added additional services, such as OTT, multi-screen and on-demand, to compete with OTT providers. These help to add additional revenue.
Mature markets, where penetration can be as high as 80%, have higher competition levels. Growth is expected to be slower in these markets. OTT players will look at the APAC region, as broadband infrastructure developments continue to speed up; for example, Netflix has announced launches in Australia and New Zealand, and is looking at Japan.
By 2020, ABI expects pay-TV penetration to reach 1.1 billion households worldwide, with service revenue of $307.5 billion. The APAC market will grow at a 5% CAGR between 2015 and 2020, generating $79.4 billion by the end of the period.
