Pay TV penetration grows throughout Argentina during 2013

Penetration is extremely high in the country’s central and south regions, exceeding 90% in 7 provinces

BUENOS AIRES — LAMAC, the entity that represents 49 Pay TV channels, developed a second report about Pay TV’s national reach up to date, that enquires about the geographic differences.

This report by LAMAC evidences a significant growth during the past year, not only for the total universe but also for the penetration percentage in households that have access to Pay TV throughout the country, ratifying its strength as a national medium.

The report also allows a deeper geographical analysis of the medium, offering a map with penetration figures in each of the country’s provinces.

The numbers released by LAMAC, signal to Pay TV’s sustained and steady growth in all of Argentina, while maintaining the historical geographic disparities. This highlights the medium’s high penetration central and southern provinces while they lag in the northern provinces.

Finally, the report also casts light into the geographic differences of the Pay TV service through Cable and the service via Satellite or DTH.

Below see the most relevant numbers of the report:

• Pay TV’s penetration is 80%, considering all of the country’s provinces with specific population figures.
• The highest Pay TV penetration numbers belong to the southern provinces, higher than 90% in all of them: La Pampa, Neuquén, Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.
• The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and Gran Buenos Aires are highlighted as well due to their very high Pay TV penetration, close to 90%.
• Provinces densely populated also register a high Pay TV penetration, and are aligned with national averages: Mendoza, Córdoba, Santa Fe and Buenos Aires are placed in that order, from greater to lesser.
• The country’s northeast is the most staggered in terms of Pay TV development. Santiago del Estero, is highlighted as the medium only reaches a penetration of 50%. Some of the other provinces with limitations are Misiones, Formosa, Chaco and Tucumán.
• Homes in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Access Pay TV services mainly through cable services. However, satellite services (or DTH) are very developed in some other provinces: Catamarca, Chubut, La Rioja, Mendoza, Neuquén, Rio Negro, San Juan and San Luis.

Pay TV penetration by province:

Source: LAMAC, January 2014. Homes with Pay TV (Cable + DTH), over Homes with TV by province.

The numbers released by LAMAC were calculated based on a proprietary methodology but considering partial data from member channels as well as other industry organizations. The figures include households reported officially by Pay TV distributors throughout the country as well as households not reported officially but that access Pay TV.

The “universe” references the total number of homes with access to Pay. The “penetration” refers to the percentage of homes with Access to Pay TV calculated over the total of homes with TV.