Global OTT Revenues to Hit $65 Billion

LONDON: Revenues from OTT TV and video are set to reach $64.78 billion in 2021, surging from the $4.47 billion reported in 2010, according to Digital TV Research.

The global OTT TV and video market generated $29.41 billion in 2015. From the $35.37 billion extra revenues between 2015 and 2021, the Asia Pacific is expected to contribute $12.65 billion, Western Europe $8.25 billion and North America $9 billion.

The Global OTT TV & Video Forecasts report forecasts that Latin American revenues will nearly triple, with even greater growth expected in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa.

The U.S. is set to remain the dominant territory for online TV and video revenues, which will grow by $8.24 billion to $22.82 billion between 2015 and 2021. China will add a further $6.24 billion, with its total revenues nearly quintupling over the period to position it in second place.

SVOD will become the largest revenue source by 2018, but AVOD will regain top position by 2020. SVOD is expected to add $14.58 billion in revenues between 2015 and 2021, with AVOD up by $15.37 billion. SVOD revenues will spike from $89 million in 2010 to $11.13 billion in 2015 and onto $25.71 billion in 2021. This means that SVOD will contribute 40 percent of total OTT revenues in 2021, which is double the 20 percent recorded in 2010.

The firm forecasts 383 million SVOD subscriptions by 2021, up from 21 million in 2010 and 163 million by end-2015. From the 220 million SVOD additions between 2015 and 2021, 107 million will be in the Asia-Pacific region and 28 million in the Middle East and Africa. In the North American market, 28 million additions are expected between 2015 and 2021. Western Europe will bring in an extra 30 million to its total.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “It is important to note that these figures are for gross subscriptions. A home or a person can pay for more than one SVOD platform. This is reasonably commonplace in some countries such as the U.S., Scandinavia and the U.K.

“Furthermore, subscription figures for several countries (notably the U.S., Germany and the U.K.) are boosted by the inclusion of Amazon Video. Most of these homes access Amazon Video as part of their Amazon Prime subscription so they are not directly paying to receive Amazon Video. A significant proportion of Amazon Video viewers would probably not pay for it as a separate service.”

Murray continued: “Mobile SVOD is growing rapidly in Asia—and will do so in the Middle East and Africa. Mobile broadband is more established than fixed broadband in many developing countries.”