Report: IPTV Cutting into Canada’s Cable & Satellite Market

EL SEGUNDO: The rise of IPTV is taking its toll on the dominance of cable and satellite in Canada’s pay-TV market, according to IHS Screen Digest Television Intelligence.

IPTV accounted for nearly 10 percent of Canadian pay-TV video subs in Q3 of 2012. This is up from the 6.6 percent reported for Q3 2011 and from 1.6 percent in Q3 2007.

This sets the pace for IPTV’s portion of Canada’s subscriber base to rise to 18.1 percent by the end of 2017, causing cable and satellite to fall to 81.9 percent. Both cable and satellite lost subscribers in Q3 2012. Each had a 2-percent year-on-year decline.

“Canadian telcos are adding IPTV subscribers at a rapid clip as Telus and Bell Canada engage in large-scale build-outs of their infrastructure in order to reach more potential customers,” said Erik Brannon, analyst for television research at IHS. “IPTV will continue to make strong gains in Canada in the coming years, eroding the dominant position now held by the cable and satellite services.”