Western Europe to Shed 4 Million Pay-TV Subs

The number of Western European pay-TV subscribers will fall by 4 million between 2020 and 2026 to 103 million, according to the latest report from Digital TV Research.

IPTV, the top pay-TV platform by subscribers, will gain 4 million subs between 2020 and 2026 to reach 47 million. Pay satellite TV will be down by 5 million to 18 million, and cable will be down by 2 million to 37 million.

Pay-TV revenues will decline by $4 billion (15 percent) between 2020 and 2026 to reach $23 billion. The pay-TV subscriber count will slip by 4 percent, revealing lower TV ARPUs and less emphasis on TV from the operators.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “European operators shifted their emphasis from premium TV to high-speed broadband delivery. This is particularly true in Denmark and Italy—which are at opposite ends of the pay-TV penetration spectrum—where most operators promote OTT platforms ahead of traditional pay-TV ones.”