Pay TV uptake in Asia Pacific to reach 68%

Pay TV penetration in Asia Pacific will rise from 59.0% of TV households in 2014 to 68.4% in 2020, representing growth of 142 million subscribers, according to Digital TV Research. 

The new Digital TV Asia Pacific Forecasts report claims that the total number of pay TV subscribers in the region will hit 642 million by 2020 – of which 628 million will be digital pay TV subscribers.

Total digital pay TV penetration in Asia Pacific will climb from 44.2% in 2014 to 67.0% in 2020, said the report.

China is tipped to account for 323 million pay TV households and India 179 million by 2020. Combined, China, India and Japan are expected to account for two-thirds of the region’s pay TV revenues by the same year.

Pay TV revenues in Asia Pacific will reach US$41.52 billion by 2020, after growing by US$10 billion between 2014 and 2020, according to Digital TV Research. Cable TV will remain the highest pay TV earner, with revenues of US$23 billion by 2020.

“The number of homes paying for IPTV will overtake pay satellite TV subscribers in 2018. IPTV revenues will climb to $7.13 billion by 2020, up from $4.43 billion in 2014. However, pay satellite TV revenues will remain higher than IPTV,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research.