Liberty Global, BSkyB Top Euro Pay-TV Operator Rankings

LONDON: Liberty Global ranks as Europe's top pay-TV operator by subscribers, while BSkyB tops the rankings by subscription and VOD revenues, according to Digital TV Research.

The new report covered 102 operators across 26 countries reaching 131.9 million customers in 2012; this is forecast to rise to 147.1 million by 2018. At the end of 2012, Liberty Global had 21 million customers across Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Ireland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and the U.K., followed by Sky in the U.K. and Ireland with 10.3 million, Tricolor in Russia with 9.2 million, Germany's Kabel Deutschland with 8.1 million and Russia's Rostelecom with 6.6 million. In 2018, Liberty Global will remain in the number one spot, Digital TV Research projects, with 21.25 million subs, followed by Tricolor (15.7 million), Sky (10.8 million), KDG (8.15 million) and Rostelecom (7.1 million).

Total subscription and VOD revenues for the 102 operators covered in the report were $34.5 billion in 2012, with limited growth forecast over the next few years; revenues are expected to rise to just $35.1 billion in 2018. Over the next five years, Digital TV Research estimates that 36 percent of these 102 operators will see their customer bases shrink, and 44 percent will see their subscriber and VOD revenues fall.

Sky tops the rankings by revenues, generating $6.6 billion in 2012, followed by $5.06 billion for Liberty Global, $3 billion for Sky Italia, $2.3 billion for CanalSat and $1.4 billion for KDG. That ranking is expected to be the same in 2018, with all top five operators seeing their revenues fall.