Study finds contrasting DTH trends among major emerging markets

Monday, May 12th, 2014
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A Great Divergence in Satellite DTH

  • New NSR Study Finds Contrasting DTH Trends among Major Emerging Markets

WILMINGTON, DE & LONDON, UK — Northern Sky Research (NSR)’s newest report, Global Direct-to-Home (DTH) Markets, 7th Edition, concludes when it comes to Direct-to-Home (DTH) Television services, not all emerging markets are created equal. NSR’s regional-centric analysis of DTH platforms points to a significant divergence in market trends not just between “developing” and “developed” markets, but also within the markets of the “developing world”.

“Considerably more so than in year’s past, this year we noted a huge difference in the way that emerging markets are developing,” notes Blaine Curcio, NSR Analyst and report lead author. “Looking at South Asia, we consistently heard the need for consolidation. This compares to the Sub-Saharan Africa region – relatively similar in terms of level of economic development – in which we often heard the market is opening up, with regional and national players challenging the market leaders and increasing competition. Further, markets like Russia are seeing a big decline in ARPUs made up for by huge subscriber gains—almost an “India-esque” strategy.”

Different regions are also seeing revenue growth coming from very different sources. “In markets like India, revenue growth will be driven by a rise in ARPUs. Granted, subscriber growth will be healthy, but the big money maker will be quadrupling ARPUs from a low base in the next decade,” explains Alan Crisp, NSR Analyst and report co-author. Conversely, markets like Sub-Saharan Africa will see falling ARPUs as millions of low-income subscribers sign onto regional platforms offering more affordable content than the pan-continental behemoths. Net result? Rising revenues from more subscribers, not from higher ARPUs. Simply put, these are completely opposite development trends.

While major growth will come from developing regions, mature markets like North America & Western Europe will still see growth in the form of rising ARPUs, coming from emerging technologies such as UltraHD and an increase in HD channel counts.