IPTV and cable TV subscribers on opposite trajectories

Infonetics pay-TV database confirms IPTV and cable TV subscribers on opposite trajectories

CAMPBELL, California — Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its 2nd edition Pay TV Subscriber Database, which tracks the cable video, satellite video and telco IPTV subscribers of over 140 service providers around the world.

ANALYST NOTE

“Cable TV and IPTV subscriptions in North America and EMEA continue to move in opposite directions,” reports Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. “While telcos saw healthy quarter-over-quarter gains in IPTV subscribers in both regions in the first quarter of 2013, cable video subscribers fell off yet again.”

PAY TV SUBSCRIBER DATABASE HIGHLIGHTS

• From 4Q12 to 1Q13, IPTV subscribers grew over 6% worldwide, while cable video subs declined around 1%
• The top 5 IPTV providers by subscribers are, in rank order, China Telecom, Orange, Iliad Group, Verizon and AT&T—together accounting for 43 million subscribers in 1Q13
• Meanwhile, in 1Q13 the top 5 cable TV providers—Comcast, Guangdong Cable TV, Jiangsu Cable TV, Shandong Cable TV and Zhejiang Cable TV, in alphabetical order—netted 93 million subscribers combined
• China Telecom remains the world leader in telco IPTV subscribers, with around 22 million subscribers as of 1Q13
• IPTV is taking off in the Middle East: Combined, IPTV subscribers for Etisalat, du and Saudi Telecom grew 42% year-over-year in 1Q13
• IPTV is also hot in Asia Pacific, where Telekom Malaysia’s subscribers soared 68% in 1 year

REPORT SYNOPSIS

Infonetics’ quarterly pay TV subscriber database tracks the digital and analog cable pay TV, satellite pay TV and telco IPTV subscribers of more than 140 providers around the world, showing which operators are growing their subscriber bases and which aren’t.

The database, which includes searchable and sortable pivot tables, data and charts, provides operator demographics; subscribers per operator per quarter from 2004 to now; and sub-region and country-level data where available. It also includes an STB Tracker that shows set-top boxes being used to deliver pay TV services by operator, vendor and model number.