Subscription video on demand (SVoD) services such as Netflix in emerging markets are expected to balloon by about five times to reach 102.7 million subscriptions by the end of 2019, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.
In 2014, SVoD was available to 1.3% of emerging market households, with a user base of 19.4 million.
The expected growth shows the extent to which OTT video has grown not only in developed regions but also in emerging markets, both as an alternative and as a complement to established free-to-air (FTA) and payTV platforms.
Emerging Asia Pacific and Latin America accounted for 90% of paid OTT revenue in emerging markets in 2014, with Latin America being the only emerging market region where Netflix operates.
The two regions are expected to drop marginal shares in the next five years, but still making up 86% of the total in 2019.
“In China the proliferation of hybrid models combining advertising-funded video on demand (AVoD) and SVoD will be a major driver for growth,”said Daniele Tricarico, senior analyst at Pyramid Research.