MALAYSIA’S PAY-TV SERVICES PREDICTED TO GROW AT A STAGNANT RATE

According to Global data and analytics company, GlobalData, the total pay-TV services revenue in Malaysia is predicted to grow at a slow rate from US 1.07 billion last year to USD 1.08 billion in 2024. The figures reflect a compound annual growth rate of 0.2%, which include the increase that resulted from DTH and IPTV services. “Direct-to-Home will remain the leading pay-TV technology in Malaysia over 2019-2024, but its share of the total pay-TV service subscription will decline with growing adoption of Internet Protocol television services," Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, Deepa Dhingra said.

GlobalData’s Malaysia Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report reveals that growth in IPTV subscriptions is mainly driven by an increasing number of multi-play bundle purchases, along with access to integrated IPTV, offered by operators. The report indicates that the average revenue generated per pay-TV service user will decline until next year. The service will experience slight growth during the 2022-2024 season, for which OTT video service competition is predicted to challenge pay-TV service providers in terms of cost-effective pricing.

The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to contirbute to the decline in growth for the Pay-TV segment. However, the impact of the pandemic on the segment is not considered to be severe. Astro Malaysia is expected to lead the pay-TV service market over 2019-2024 with the contribution of its strong foothold in the DTH segment.

The operator is marketing its pay-TV subscription through a wide range of competitive DTH packages that are tailored to specific customer demands. Through its broadband bundled plans, Astro also offers IPTV services for monthly tariff starting MYR98.95.