Asia’s top operators to gain pay TV market share

Pay TV subscriptions for the top 65 operators across 17 countries covered in the Asia Pacific Pay TV Operator Forecasts report will increase by nearly 100 million from a collective 438 million in 2015 to 536 million by 2021.

Top five Asia Pacific pay TV operators by subscribers (000)

Operator                 2015  Operator              Country     2021
--------------------  -------  --------------------  -------  -------
China Radio & TV      239,000  China Radio & TV        China  250,719
China Telecom          22,948  China Telecom           China   39,217
BesTV (China)          13,769  BesTV (China)           China   23,530
Den Networks (India)   13,000  Hathway (India)         India   19,296
Dish TV (India)        12,605  Den Networks (India)    India   17,394

Source: Digital TV Research. Note: paying subscribers only

Covering 87 platforms, these operators will climb from 81% of Asia Pacific pay TV subscribers in 2015 to 83% by 2021. The top 10 operators will continue to account for two-thirds of subscribers over the next five years. Seven operators had more than 10 million subscribers by end-2015 – and this number will climb to 12 operators by 2021. China and India dominate the operator rankings by subscribers.

At the other end of the scale, 10 operators will experience subscriber decreases between 2015 and 2021.

Subscription and PPV revenues for the 65 operators will climb by nearly $6 billion between 2015 and 2021 to $31 billion. These operators will maintain their three-quarters share of Asia Pacific pay TV revenues for the next five years. However, the proportion for the top 10 operators will fall from 54% in 2015 to 49% in 2021.

The dominance of China and India is diminished when the operators are ranked in revenue terms [subscriptions and PPV only]. Two operators (both from China) will add more than $500 million in revenues. However, 16 operators will lose revenues, with Foxtel (down by $147 million) declining by the most.

For more information on the Asia Pacific Pay TV Operator Forecasts report, please contact: Simon Murray, simon@digitaltvresearch.com, Tel: +44 20 8248 5051