IPTV Subs Forecast to Reach 70 Million by 2014

MONTEREY: SNL Kagan is forecasting strong growth prospects for IPTV, with subscriptions expected to grow from the 40 million reported at the end of 2010 to more than 70 million by 2014.

SNL Kagan analyzed the top 75 media economies across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and found that IPTV adoption has increased at a 92.4 percent compound annual growth rate over the past six years. The analysis indicates that over the next four years, Western Europe will continue to lead the world in IPTV subscriptions, reaching 26.7 million households by 2014. China will become the second largest IPTV market, reaching 12.4 million subscribers by 2014, with the U.S. in third place. Latin America will see gains of 114 percent, while Eastern Europe grows 24.4 percent.

Revenues from IPTV are forecast to grow from $12.9 billion in 2010 to $27 billion in 2014, equal to 11 percent of global pay-TV revenues.

Julija Jurkevic, the media and communications analyst at SNL Kagan, commented: “Although IPTV presently accounts for just 6 percent of the world’s pay-TV subscribers, the platform is fueling hyper-competition and video service innovation in major markets globally. Telcos often provide the spark igniting consumer interest in multi-screen services, HD and VOD, generating in parallel support for investment in next generation broadband networks.”