GLOBAL PAY TV REVENUES ARE SET TO FALL DRASTICALLY TO US$150 BILLION BY 2025

Global pay TV revenues are set to fall drastically to US$150 billion by 2025, in spite of the fact that the number of subscribers will actually increase by 35 million in that period, according to a new report by Digital TV Research, which compares this number to global pay TV’s peak of 2016, when it hit US$202 billion.

The report notes that revenues are set to decline in 61 countries, with the United States providing the most drastic fall of US$31 billion – though this is hardly surprising given the over-inflated cost of pay TV packages and the high rate of cord-cutting in the country. Elsewhere, Brazil and Canada will both each lose more than US$1 billion.

Breaking the figures down by delivery type, satellite TV revenues are expected to fall the most by US$18 billion between 2019 and 2025, with the US once again being the biggest loser with its decline amounting to the vast majority of the total loss (US$14 billion). Cable TV revenues will fall to US$63 billion in 2025 from a 2012 peak of US$97 billion, while IPTV revenues will see no major change at around US$27 billion.

India will be the biggest growth market, gaining US$812 million in pay TV revenues between 2019-2025 to a total of US$6 billion. This growth is almost met by Indonesia, which is expected to gain US$719 million in revenue in five years.

“Much of the losses are down to subscribers converting from standalone TV to a bundle where they pay more overall to the operator but less on TV services. Cord-cutting is also a major problem, especially in the United States,”  said Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. “Our forecasts assume that professional sports will restart in August following relaxations in the Covid 19 lockdown. If this does not happen, then pay TV will experience considerable churn,”  he added.