IPTV Poised to Overtake DTH Market in Western Europe

LONDON: The number of paying IPTV subscribers is expected to overtake pay satellite TV ones in 2018 in Western Europe, according to Digital TV Research.

A new forecast predicts that IPTV subs will increase by 7.5 million (38 percent) between 2013 and 2020, compared with 1.2 million additions for both pay satellite TV (up 5 percent) and pay DTT (up 22 percent). Digital cable is expected to increase by nearly 13 million (up 42 percent).

Even with positive market conditions, pay-TV subs are only forecast to increase by 8.7 million (6.6 percent) between 2013 and 2020, reaching 103.65 million. The number of digital pay-TV subs, however, will increase by nearly 23 million (28.1 percent). Western Europe is expected to reach 159 million digital TV households by the end of 2014, up 4 million during the year and up 33 million since 2010. This is forecast to grow to 174 million by 2020. Free-to-air DTT is set to remain the most popular platform, with 44 million primary homes by 2020. Free-to-air satellite TV will add a further 27 million.

The U.K. will continue to be the most lucrative pay-TV market in 2020, raking in $7.5 billion. Germany's pay-TV revenues will be a lot lower than the U.K. at $4.7 billion, despite having the most pay-TV subs by some distance. Italy won't be too far behind Germany, at $4.5 billion, despite having fewer than half of its pay-TV subs.