The Asia Pacific pay-TV sector is the most vibrant in the world, with subscriber numbers increasing by 26 million over the next five years. Pay-TV penetration will stay at two-thirds of TV households. “IPTV subscribers overtook cable TV ones across the region in 2021. Digital cable subscriptions will fall by 29 million between 2021 and 2027. China will lose 38 million digital cable subscribers,” Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said.
China and India together will account for 81% of the region’s 649 million pay-TV subscribers by 2027. India will add 11 million pay-TV subscribers between 2021 and 2027, but China will add “only” 5 million. OTT penetration will remain much higher in China than in India.
IPTV is the biggest pay-TV winner across the region, adding 65 million subscribers between 2021 and 2027 to take its total to 337 million. Much of this growth will happen in China [up by 44 million] as cable subs convert to OTT or IPTV and India [up by 16 million].