Kagan: IPTV has overtaken DTH globally

IPTV overtook DTH as the second-largest multichannel platform in the world by subscribers after cable TV last year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence research outfit Kagan.

According to Kagan, IPTV grew by 14.3% year-on-year, making the fastest growing of the three major distribution platforms. IPTV accounted for 23.4% of the total market of 1.07 billion households at the end of the year, with Kagan predicting that it will post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% over the next five years, second only to pay digital terrestrial television with a projected 8.5% five-year CAGR.

While cable TV is expected to remain the largest multichannel platform globally in the next five years, its subscriber total is expected to decline at 0.3% CAGR by 2023, largely due to migration to IPTV in Asia Pacific and Western Europe.

According to Kagan, the global multichannel market grew by 3.1% year-over-year in 2018. China, India and the US remain the largest multichannel markets, collectively claiming 57% of the global subscriber total in 2018. China and India alone are expected to account for 50% of the global market by 2023.

The number of multichannel subscribers worldwide is modelled to grow at a 2.4% CAGR over the next five years to reach 1.21 billion. Multichannel penetration breached 60% by 2018 year-end and is expected to increase to 61.2% over the next five years.

Kagan expects that global multichannel household growth will continue to decelerate with most markets across Europe, North America and advanced multichannel markets in Asia reaching saturation.