According to Digital TV Research, pay TV subscriptions for the top 65 operators across 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region will increase by nearly 100 million from a collective 438 million in 2015 to 536 million by 2021.
Covering 87 platforms, the operators are expected to climb from 81% of APAC pay TV subscribers in 2015 to 83% by 2021. The top 10 operators are expected to 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 that number is expected to climb to 12 operators by 2021. China and India dominate the operator rankings by numbers of subscribers.
At the other end of the scale, 10 operators are expected to experience subscriber decreases between 2015 and 2021.
Subscription and pay-per-view (PPV) revenues for the 65 operators are expected to climb by nearly $6 billion between 2015 and 2021 to $31 billion. The operators are expected to maintain their three-quarters share of APAC pay TV revenues for the next five years. However, the proportion for the top 10 operators is expected to 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) are expected to add more than $500 million in revenues. However, 16 operators are expected to lose revenues, with Foxtel (down by $147 million) declining by the most.