Broadband outshines pay-TV in Western Europe
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 08 April 2021
Revealing the growing and seemingly unstoppable importance of high-speed broadband for homes in the region, a Digital TV Research study has found that while traditional pay-TV subscribers in Western Europe are set for a continued fall, OTT and IPTV uptake is rising.
Sky 2021 content 25 Jan 2021
In its Western Europe Pay-TV Forecasts report, the analyst notes how European operators shifted their emphasis from premium TV to high-speed broadband delivery. This it says is particularly true in Denmark and Italy – which are at opposite ends of the pay-TV penetration spectrum – where most operators promote OTT platforms ahead of traditional pay-TV ones.

The study predicts that the number of Western European pay-TV subscribers will fall by 4 million between 2020 and 2026 to 103 million. By contrast, IPTV is the top pay-TV platform by subscribers and is set to gain 4 million subscribers between 2020 and 2026 to reach 47 million, with pay satellite TV down by 5 million to 18 million and cable down by 2 million to 37 million.

The Western Europe Pay-TV Forecasts report also forecasts that pay-TV revenues will decline by $4 billion – 15% - between 2020 and 2026 to reach $23 billion. As the pay-TV subscriber count will drop by 4%, so revenues will fall faster revealing lower TV ARPUs and less emphasis on TV from the operators.