Global multichannel market up 3.1% in 2018 as IPTV subscriptions overtake DTH

Tuesday, February 12th, 2019
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Global Multichannel Market Up 3.1% in 2018 as IPTV Subscriptions Overtook Direct-To-Home Platform

  • With year-over-year growth of 14.3%, IPTV was the fastest-growing of the three major pay TV platforms in 2018

MONTEREY, CA — In 2018, IPTV overtook direct-to-home (DTH) as the second-largest multichannel platform in the world by subscribers after cable TV, accounting for 23.4% of the total market of 1.07 billion households. Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence, estimates that IPTV is projected to post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% subscriber over the next five years, second only to pay digital terrestrial television (DTT) with a projected 8.5% five-year CAGR.

While cable TV is expected to remain the largest multichannel platform globally in the next five years, its subscribers are modelled to decline at 0.3% CAGR by 2023, largely due to migration to IPTV in Asia Pacific and Western Europe.

According to Kagan, the global multichannel market grew by 3.1% year-over-year in 2018. China, India and the USA remain the largest multichannel markets, collectively claiming 57% of the global subscriber total in 2018. China and India alone are expected to account for 50% of the global market by 2023.

Additional takeaways from Kagan’s global multichannel market overview report:

  • Global multichannel household growth will continue to decelerate with most markets across Europe, North America and advanced multichannel markets in Asia reaching saturation.
  • Number of multichannel subscribers worldwide is modelled to grow at a 2.4% CAGR over the next five years to reach 1.21 billion.
  • Global multichannel economy generated $230.06 billion in video service revenues in 2018, which are projected to increase to $245.41 by 2023.
  • Multichannel penetration breached 60% by 2018 year-end and is expected to increase to 61.2% over the next five years.
  • The effects of cord cutting are only observed in North America where multichannel subscribers, revenue and penetration are projected to decline in the foreseeable future.
  • Cord cutting also impacted a handful of oversaturated markets, including Singapore and Hong Kong, which led to subscriber losses and household penetration declines.
  • In Europe, the biggest threat to traditional multichannel posed by DTT platforms lies in the integration of OTT and catch-up TV services, as well as the ability to stream channel packages via hybrid boxes.

Global Multichannel is a service of Kagan, a group within S&P Global Market Intelligence’s TMT offering.