Spanish pay TV grows, boosted by IPTV and bundling

The Spanish TV industry closed 2018 with 6.8 million subscribers, including 6.2 million that took a pay TV service as part of a bundled offering with one of more of broadband, fixed phone and mobile fixed and broadband services, according to Spanish regulator the CNMC.

TV revenues by platform

According to the markets watchdog, pay TV in Spain generated total revenues of €553.4 million in the fourth quarter of last year, with IPTV and OTT TV services collectively growing their revenues while satellite and cable TV posted reduced sales.

Overall, the number of pay TV subscriptions grew by 87,000 in the quarter, with IPTV accounting for 4.5 million of the total of 6.8 million at the end of the year. Some 91.8% of IPTV customers took pay TV as part of a bundled offering.

TV advertising revenues for the traditionally lucrative fourth quarter amounted to €647.1 million, including traditional advertising, sponsorship, tele-shopping, promotions and product placement.

Pay TV channels accounted for 5.8% of the overall TV advertising pie in the quarter.

The main commercial broadcasters, Mediaset España and Atresmedia, accounted for 87.5% of free-to-air TV advertising revenues.

Spanish viewers watched an average of three hours 39 minutes of TV in Q4, up 31 minutes on the previous quarter thanks to the impact of increased viewing over the Christmas period. Digital-terrestrial TV channels still account for the lion’s share of viewing, although the proportion of viewing accounted for by the platform has declined over the last four years.