OTT Slowing the Growth of Overall Video Services

CAMPBELL, CA — Increasing competition from OTT (over-the-top) players and the service providers themselves using broadband video as a lower-priced offering will constrain the revenue growth of overall video services, according to data from market research firm Infonetics Research in its latest "Pay TV Services and Subscribers" report, which forecasts and analyzes the cable TV, satellite TV, and telco Internet protocol television (IPTV) services markets.

“As a result of increasing competition from OTT (over-the-top) players and the service providers themselves using broadband video as a lower-priced offering, we believe overall video services ARPU and revenue growth will be constrained and, accordingly, have reduced our 2017 pay-TV revenue forecast by 35 percent globally, from $401 billion to just under $260 billion,” advises Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research.

Pay-TV Market Highlights

• The global pay-TV market (cable and satellite TV, telco IPTV) totaled $221 billion in 2013, a 5 percent gain from a year ago


• Growth resulted from pay-TV providers in mature markets increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) among slow-growing/declining subscriber bases, and from operators in emerging markets continuing to see significant subscriber growth


• Pay-TV subscribers grew 5 percent in the second half of 2013 (2H13), to 756 million subscribers, with the strongest growth coming from the telco IPTV segment


• DirecTV is the global market leader for pay-TV service revenue; The satellite TV provider has one of the highest ARPUs in the industry, which is helping it offset a slowdown in net new subscribers