IPTV Gaining on Canadian Cable, DBS

According to IHS iSuppli, telco IPTV in Canada is gaining momentum at the expense of incumbent cable and satellite services, with IPTV's share of pay TV subscriptions in the country rising to nearly to 9.6% in the third quarter of 2012, up from 6.6% during the third quarter of 2011 and 1.6% in the third quarter of 2007. The research house expects IPTV's portion of Canada's subscriber base to rise to 18.1% by the end of 2017, in the process causing the combined share of cable and satellite to fall to 81.9%.Just as in the United States, IPTV's growth in Canada has come at the expense of cable and, to a lesser extent, satellite. Both cable and satellite continued to lose subscribers in the third quarter of 2012, each experiencing a 2% year-over-year decline in subscriber growth compared to the third quarter of 2011.