Pay TV subscriptions still rising, but revenues on the way down

Global pay TV revenues down, subscriptions up

Global pay TV revenues peaked in 2016 at $202 billion. Revenues will fall to $152 billion in 2025. This is lower than 2010’s $175 billion – despite the number of pay TV subscribers rising by 345 million between 2010 and 2025. Revenues fell by $9 billion in both 2018 and 2019.

Source: Digital TV Research Ltd

The top five countries will account for 54% of global pay TV revenues by 2025; down from 62% in 2019. The US will lose $23 billion between 2019 and 2025. US pay TV revenues peaked in 2015, at $105 billion, but will drop to $56 billion in 2025. The UK and Canada will each lose nearly $1 billion – but India will add $0.8 billion.

Despite poor results in some countries, there is still plenty of life left in pay TV. Digital TV Research forecasts 34 million additional pay TV subscribers between 2019 and 2025. This takes the global total to 1.06 billion. The number of pay TV subscribers passed 1 billion in 2018.

China will continue to supply a third of the world’s pay TV subscribers, with 328 million expected by end-2025. India will bring in another 183 million. Therefore, China and India will together provide half the world’s pay TV subscribers by 2025.