According to recent Digital TV Research stats, Western Europe will lose 7 million pay-TV subscribers between 2021 and 2027 to reach 100 million. Pay-TV subscriber counts will fall for 14 of the 18 countries between 2021 and 2027. The UK is set to drop from 14.4 million in 2021 to 13 million by 2027, while France will fall by just under a million customers to a total of 22 million. The Netherlands is forecast to lose just 200,000 customers in the forecast period, ending with 6.2 million. At the same time, the Spanish market is likely to remain steady at 6.4 million subs over the course of the next five years.
As a result of the subscriber falls, the analyst calculates that pay-TV revenues will decline by $5 billion – 18% - between 2021 and 2027 to $22 billion. “Pay-TV revenues will decline by $5 billion – 18% – between 2021 and 2027 to $22 billion. The pay-TV subscriber count will drop by 7%, so revenues will fall faster – revealing lower TV ARPUs and less emphasis on TV from the operators. IPTV will overtake satellite TV in 2026 to become the most lucrative platform,” Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said.