Growth Slows in LatAm Pay TV

LONDON: Economic woes and market maturity will result in slowing growth for pay-TV revenues and subscribers in Latin America, according to Digital TV Research.

Pay-TV revenues are expected to rise by 9 percent between 2015 and 2021. DTH remains the region’s dominant delivery method, generating revenues of $13.1 billion in 2021, up from $12.6 billion last year. Cable TV revenues are forecast to rise slightly from $5.1 billion in 2015 to $5.6 billion in 2021, according to the Digital TV Latin America forecasts report. IPTV revenues are expected to see greater gains, albeit from a much lower base, rising to $796 million in 2021 from $147 million last year.

Brazil is the region’s biggest pay-TV market by revenues, with $7.3 billion in 2021, followed by Mexico with $3.4 billion and Argentina with $2.2 billion. These three heavyweights account for two thirds of the pay-TV revenues from the 19 countries analyzed in the report.

Digital TV Research projects that pay-TV revenues will fall in Brazil, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

By 2021, pay-TV penetration in the region will top the 50-percent point, up from 45 percent at the end of 2015. The number of subs will hit 82 million, a gain of 14 million homes from 2015. In the five-year period between 2010 and 2015, the region added 27 million pay-TV subs.

Brazil will add 4.7 million subs in the period and Mexico 3.7 million; this compares with additions of 9.6 million and 7.1 million, respectively, from 2010 to 2015.

Markets with high pay-TV penetration rates in 2021 will include Puerto Rico (83 percent) and Argentina, Honduras, Panama and Venezuela all at above 70 percent. Brazil, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru will remain below 40 percent.