Telefónica sees TV base decline, with positive signs in Spain

Source: Telefónica

Telefónica saw its global pay TV base decline by 3.1% in the year to December, ending with 10.259 million subs.

In its domestic Spanish market, the group’s TV base increased by 8,000 during the last quarter, but was down 2.8% year-on-year to 3.568 million. The company said it had achieved a pay TV turnaround in its domestic market, with deregulation giving it more flexibility going forwards.

In Brazil, pay TV numbers fell by 12.6% year-on-year to 845,000. IPTV numbers were down 5.9%, with the balance in the decline accounted for by the operator’s now discontinued satellite TV offering.

In Spanish-speaking Latin America, Telefónica’s overall pay TV base declined by 2.1% to 2.84 million, with the IPTV base growing by an impressive 21.5% to 1.683 million, offset by a decline in satellite.

The telco said that the quarter had confirmed the commercial and financial recovery of the Spanish business overall. The company’s convergent subscriber base in Spain, stable over the course of the year, grew by 3,000 in Q4.

Telefónica overall revenues for the year stood at €40.7 billion, up 1.6%. OIBDA was down 11.4% at €11.4 billion.

“Telefónica is today a company with a higher ambition. After the operational transformation process we started in 2016, we are clearly seeing the benefits this transformation has brought to Telefónica in 2023. We are back to Growth, with increased Profitability and are doing this in a more Sustainable manner,” said José María Álvarez-Pallete, chairman and CEO.