The worldwide pay-TV market surpassed more than 900 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2015, representing a 48% penetration, according to ABI Research.
Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of core forecasting at ABI Research, said the market is likely to grow steadily over the next five years, mainly boosted by emerging markets.
According to ABI Research’s recent pay-TV market data, half of the world’s households will have access to pay-TV service by 2017, representing one billion subscribers.
As pay-TV service operators experience increasing competition from alternative platforms such as OTT (over-the-top) services, average revenue per user continues to decline across the various platforms in many markets.
In response, many pay-TV operators have added OTT, multiscreen and on-demand services, which have helped to maintain customer loyalty and contributed additional revenue.
OTT players are starting to target the Asia-Pacific region, where broadband infrastructure development has been speeding up.
Netflix launched its service in Australia and New Zealand in March 2015, and is likely to do so in Japan by the end of this year. Singtel has also developed an OTT platform, HOOQ, to provide services in the Philippines and other markets in Asia Pacific.
Worldwide pay-TV market is expected to reach 1.1 billion subscribers, generating $307.5 billion in service revenue by 2020. The Asia-Pacific market is likely to grow faster than most other regions, raking in $79.4 billion in service revenue by 2020.