Digital TV Research: Pay-TV Revenues to Decrease by $30 Billion

According to Digital TV Research, global pay-TV revenues will fall to $143 billion in 2026 from $173 billion in 2020, despite the number of pay-TV subscribers rising by 15 million.

Global pay-TV revenues for 138 countries peaked in 2016 at $201 billion. U.S. pay-TV revenues peaked at $104 billion in 2015. Its total will slip from $80 billion in 2020 to $57 billion in 2026. The U.S. will account for 40 percent of global revenues by 2026, down from 52 percent in 2015.

China will see pay-TV revenues decrease from $9.3 billion to $8.9 billion from 2020 to 2026, while the U.K. trends downwards from $6.3 billion to $5.5 billion, Canada from $5.7 billion to $4.9 billion. India, meanwhile, is poised for growth, from $5 billion in 2020 to $5.6 billion in 2026.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Revenues will decline in 77 of the 138 countries covered between 2020 and 2026. The US will provide the most dramatic fall—by $23 billion.”

Global satellite TV revenues will drop by $16 billion, with digital cable down by $12 billion. Analog cable will lose a further $2 billion. IPTV won’t lose too much.