Pay TV revenues to decline in spite of increasing subscriber numbers

While the number of pay TV subscribers are continuing to rise, the segment’s global revenue will decline overall as operators look to stave off the competition from low-cost OTT services.

According to Digital TV Research, global pay TV revenues will fall to US$152 billion in 2025 – down from a 2016 peak of US$202 billion. This is set against a growing number of pay TV subscribers, which are set to rise by 345 million between 2010 and 2025.

To put into context the dramatic downturn in fortunes since the emergence of OTT as a primary form of viewing for many, global pay TV revenuse fell by US$9 billion in both 2018 and 2019.

The report adds that the top five countries – the USA, China, India, the UK and Canada – which currently account for 62% of all pay TV revenues, will see their market shares dip to 54% as users in those regions increasingly cut the cord and ermerging countries grow in prominence.

The US is expected to lose US$23 billion between 2019 and 2025 from a peak of US$105 billion in 2015. This will drop to US$56 billion in 2025. The UK and Canada meanwhile are set to lose nearly US$1 billion each.

India meanwhile, a nation which will always be prominent due to its massive population, is still emerging technologically and will continue to grow its pay TV base. The 1.3 billion strong country is expected to add US$0.8 billion in pay TV revenues.

The report was also optimistic about countries outside of the top five, adding that “there is still plenty of life left in pay TV.” It said that there will be an additional 34 million pay TV subscribers between 2019-25 to take the global total to 1.06 billion.