Report Sees Continued Growth in Western Europe Pay-TV Subs

LONDON: There will be more than 100 million pay-TV subscribers in Western Europe by 2018, up from 94.1 million in 2012, reflecting an average penetration rate of 57 percent across 15 markets.

The report from Digital TV Research notes that while some markets contracted last year—Italy and Spain both saw pay-TV subs fall in 2012—Germany and France both saw their pay-TV bases expand. Growth over the next five years will be led by digital cable—14.7 million additions—and IPTV, with 6.5 million new customers. Analogue cable subs will fall by 15.9 million and the pay DTT base will lose 187,000 subs. Pay DTH will be up by just 2.5 million subs. Penetration rates will range from almost 100 percent in the Netherlands to a low of 24 percent in Spain.

"Despite the number of pay-TV homes increasing, pay TV revenues will remain flat at about $32 billion," said Simon Murray, author of the report. "The main reason for this is that ARPU is falling in most countries and on most platforms. The pay-TV arena is becoming more competitive as new platforms (especially IPTV ones) launch and as cable operators upgrade their networks to offer bundles and advanced services such as HD channels and DVRs. Additionally, rapid growth in higher-speed broadband connections allows more online video viewing [over-the-top]. So cable operators now offer cheaper and scaled-down basic packages to retain subs and to attract new ones. The knock-on effect resulted in DTH operators also dropping their basic package prices (and are reducing channel choice).”

DTH will be the biggest revenue generator, with $15.3 million in 2018, down from $15.4 million in 2013. Cable TV revenues will also decline, but IPTV revenues will gain 28.6 percent to $4.2 million.