Pay TV growth in Latin America moderates in Q3 2014

Moderate growth in pay TV for the 3rd Quarter of the year

BB-Business Bureau has presented findings from its BB-Market Estimates report for the 3rd quarter of the year. Verónica Bianchini and Santiago Zapata, Media Analysts for the company, have noted that, after a period of expansion due to the emergence of new technologies, new players and the World Cup in Brazil, pay TV growth in the third quarter moderated in most parts of the Latin America region.

The trend is clearly seen in the more established markets such as Argentina and Uruguay, countries with adoption rates of 85% and 62% respectively. However, in other countries like Ecuador and Peru where pay TV penetration is lower (42% and 34% respectively), growth rates at or above that seen in the first two quarters have been maintained.

The BB-Market Estimates report has found growth levelling-off in Argentina after the boom prior to the World Cup. It remains, however, one of the countries with the highest penetration and has a total of 11.1 million subscribers.

For its part, Brazil ended the quarter with 26.5 million subscribers, which translates to a penetration of 43%. The report shows a strong advance for DTH, a method of reception favoured by almost 70% of households in the country.

The same trend is observed in Chile and Venezuela: the preference for satellite services is reflected in stagnation for cable TV. In the case of Chile, with a total of 3.3 million subscribers, 52% have a DTH service, while in Venezuela, with more than 5.5 million subscribers, the satellite operators have 46% of the market.

On the other hand, growth in pay TV in Colombia is stable, with a total of 8.1 million subscribers and 61% penetration, and Mexico closed the quarter with good growth, finishing with 17.7 million pay TV subscribers representing 58% of households.

Finally, pay TV in Ecuador had 1.7 million subscribers and continues its steady progress driven mainly by DTH services, whilst Peru closed a strong quarter, with 2.7 million subscriber households.