Half of World’s Pay-TV Subs Are in Asia

SCOTTSDALE: A little more than 50 percent of all pay-TV subscribers are in Asia as of this year, according to In-Stat, with China alone encompassing 26.3 percent.

The rest of the Asia-Pacific holds 22.3 percent of the pie, according to the research firm, followed by 15.3 percent in North America and 15.6 percent in Western Europe. "By 2012, there will be nearly 3/4 billion pay-TV subscribers worldwide,” said Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst. “Asia will continue to represent over 50 percent of pay-TV subscribers through 2014 when we expect total subscribers to reach 855 million.”

IPTV is showing the greatest rate of growth, up 9.1 in Q4 2009 to reach 33.3 million subs, a 46.1-percent year-on-year increase. Just under half of all IPTV subs were in Western and Eastern Europe in 2009. The total number of worldwide cable subs increased 4.4 percent in 2009. In-Stat also notes that the Asia Pacific will become the world’s largest satellite-TV market this year, overtaking North America.