Bucking the typical trend for industries to consolidate as they mature, the pay-TV industry is set for the exact opposite and is set for a period of fragmentati.
Digital TV Research: Global Pay-TV Market Fragments
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the latest figures from Digital TV Research, the top 503 pay-TV operators will reach 853 million subscribers from the 1.02 billion global total by 2026.
The top 50 operators accounted for 64 percent of the world’s pay-TV subscribers at the end of2020, with this proportion poised to drop to 62 percent by 2026. The top 50 will lose 20 million subs over the next five years. However, operators beyond the top 100 will gain subscribers over the same period.
Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Most industries consolidate as they mature. The pay-TV sector is doing the opposite fragmenting. Most of the subscriber growth will take place in developing countries where operators are not controlled by larger corporations.”
01 June 2021
Of the 1.02 billion total pay TV subs in 2026, 62% will be served by the top 50 operators, a new Digital TV Research report predicts
(Image credit: Getty Images)
HARROW, U.K. A new report finds that the global pay TV business is fragmenting with the top 50 pay TV operators serving about 62% of the world’s 1.02 billion pay TV subs in 2026, down from 64% in the middle of 2020, according to Digital TV Research.
Its new Global Pay TV Operator Forecasts is predicting that the top 10 global operators will lose about 11 million subs over that five year period, dropping to 412 million in 2026 and the top 50 operators will lose about 20 million, declining to about 627 million in 2026.
The brakes to advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) are now off and the sector is projected to regain its momentum and expenditure for TV shows and films from 2020.
WORLD SCREEN
Global AVOD Spend to Top $65 Billion
ADVERTISEMENT
AVOD expenditure for TV episodes and movies is forecast to climb by 144 percent between 2020 and 2026 to reach $66 billion across 138 countries, according to Digital TV Research.
AVOD growth slipped to 9.2 percent in 2020, but high growth will resume from 2021, the firm projects.
From the $39 billion additional revenues generated between 2020 and 2026, the U.S. will contribute $21 billion and China $5 billion. Revenues will triple in India and the U.S. The U.S. became the largest AVOD country in 2019, as China saw expenditure down by 9 percent due to its economic downturn. With the coronavirus lockdown and the continued economic downturn, China’s AVOD dropped by a further 14 percent in 2020 and will not better its 2018 total until 2024, though it will return to growth from 2021.