OECD countries’ pay-TV average prices inch downwards
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 29 June 2017

Strategy Analytics has calculated that the average cheapest overall pay-TV offer across the 31 leading OECD countries in May 2017 was $21.73, a 1.3% fall since November 2016.

Aiming to find a benchmark in world pricing, generating The Pay TV Prices in OECD Countries report was a somewhat complicated task, the analyst conceded. It examined 1851 offers across the 31 countries, and shows that there are great differences in costs facing consumers across the study countries. In addition, whilst recognising that most providers will offer a wide range of services, with an extensive choice of channel options and technical capabilities, the report focusses on the most basic offers without requirements for any premium channels or any advanced technical capabilities.

The ten countries with best prices were found to be Poland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Hungary, Denmark, Austria, Australia, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. In these territories, prices range from $ 4.94 per month to $14.21 per month. The simple average across all 31 countries in May 2017 was US$ 21.73. Since November 2016, the average cost, based on the cheapest overall offer per country, has decreased by 1.3%.

Strategy Analytics believes that the decline has been driven by a significant price reduction by OTE in Greece as well as a significant price promotion run by Sky in the UK. However, it noted the cheapest price in Spain increased significantly at 62.2%, as single service satellite pay-TV subscription is no longer available to new Movistar+ customers who now have to subscribe to an IPTV offer bundled with fixed broadband.

The Pay TV Prices in OECD Countries report *also showed that the average of the cheapest offers found in from all providers in each country has increased by 4.6% between November 2016 and May 2017.