The worldwide pay-TV market surpassed 900 million subscribers in the first quarter this year, despite the growth in the Over-the-Top (OTT) TV market, according to ABI Research's recent pay-TV market data. With the current penetration standing at 48%, the pay-TV market is expected to surpass half of the world’s households by 2017, representing 1 billion subscribers.
ABI Research said that as pay-TV service providers experience increasing competition from alternative platforms such as OTT, ARPU continues to decline across the various platforms in many markets. Many of the operators have added OTT, multiscreen services, and on demand services in order to compete with OTT service providers. These services have contributed additional revenue to pay-TV operators and helped them maintain customer loyalty.
Khin Sandi Lynn, Industry Analyst
Worldwide pay-TV market is expected to reach 1.1 billion subscribers, generating US$307.5 billion in service revenue by 2020. The Asia-Pacific pay-TV market is likely to grow faster than most other regions in the years to come. ABI Research forecasts that pay-TV market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5%, generating US$79.4 billion in 2020.
