The number of paid subscriptions to Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) services in the Asia Pacific region exceeded those of satellite TV in 2015, according to Digital TV Research.
In 2015, 69.4 million people subscribed to IPTV services in the 22 Asia Pacific countries surveyed, compared to the 68.4 million taking satellite TV services. The IPTV subscriber base in the region is forecast to hit 123.5 million by 2021, with China contributing nearly two-thirds of this total (78.4 million).
Last year 96.1 million homes in the Asia Pacific received digital terrestrial television (with 1.3 million of these paying for their DTT service), though 107 million more are to be added to this figure by 2021, according to the new report.
The number of Asia’s analogue terrestrial TV homes – which reached 164.2 million in 2015 – will fall by 158 million by 2021. Digital cable subscribers, which currently number 301 million, will rise to 413.9 million in the same time frame – with 72 million switching from analogue cable. Subscription-based satellite TV platforms in the region will add another 30 million customers, while their free-to-air rivals will add ten million viewers.
In all, the Asia Pacific region will add 314 million digital TV homes between 2015 and 2021, with digital pay-TV penetration climbing from 21.2% in 2010 to 44.9% in 2015, and then on to 68.3% in 2012.
“Digital pay-TV subscribers will nearly quadruple from 164 million in 2010 to 639 million by 2021,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst, Digital TV Research.
“China will provide 329 million pay TV households by 2021, with India supplying a further 178 million. However, legitimate pay TV penetration will be lowest in Thailand (30.2%), Australia (31.7%) and Indonesia (32.6%).”
In total, pay-TV penetration in the Asia Pacific will rise from 61.1% in 2015 to 69.2% in 2021, adding 127 million subscribers to take the total to 647 million, the report predicts.
Pay-TV revenues in the Asia Pacific region are forecast to reach US$40 billion in 2021, up from $24.34 billion in 2010 and $31.94 billion in 2015, in spite of the slowdown of economic growth and devaluation of many currencies against the US dollar.
Over the next five years to 2012, pay-TV revenues will more than double in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Pakistan. Concurrently, they are expected to fall in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.