Digital TV Research has released new figures which forecast that global pay TV penetration will reach 56 per cent of TV households by the end of 2023, and will fall slightly to 54 per cent by end-2029. The number of pay TV subscribers across 138 countries will remain at just under 1 billion says the company, which forecasts a slender decline until 2025, with a small recovery thereafter.
“IPTV is the pay TV winner,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research. “IPTV will add 36 million subscribers between 2023 and 2029 to take its total to 412 million. IPTV overtook pay satellite TV subscribers in 2018 and will overtake digital cable in 2024.”
The research went on to forecast that between 2023 and 2029, 82 countries will add pay TV subscribers and 56 countries will lose subscribers; notably, the US will lose the most, down by ten million subscribers over the period.
