Digital Lifescapes

The growing popularity of watching online entertainment has meant that viewing video via the public internet has become a much more widespread activity in many people's lives, particularly the younger demographic that demonstrates little interest in the traditional pay-TV experience. Worldwide subscribers to all over-the-top (OTT) video entertainment services -- such as Netflix and Amazon Prime -- will increase from 92.1 million in 2014 to 332.2 million by 2019, according the the latest market study by Juniper Research . Continued growth within the North American market will see it remain as the leading region, in terms of total subscribers, but closely followed by the Far East, as this region emerges with new services and rapidly growing consumer interest. In its latest global market assessment, Juniper found that consumers will still favor Connected TVs as their primary screen -- especially for watching long-form video delivered via OTT subscription services. Their resear...

Traditional forms of video entertainment are already saturated in most of the developed nations around the globe. Meanwhile, some of the more promising emerging markets are growing at a more gradual rate than was anticipated, due to current economic pressures. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the worldwide pay-TV market grew by just 4 percent in 2014 to reach 923.5 million subscribers. "Despite the growth in subscriber base, weak currency exchange rates resulted in a slower increase of pay-TV market service revenue. Worldwide, the pay-TV market generated $257 billion in 2014 and is expected to surpass 1.1 billion subscribers in 2020 with a CAGR 2.7 percent," said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . Cable and terrestrial TV markets had weaker growth rates in 2014 compared to satellite and IPTV platforms. However, high definition (HD) penetration is increasing across all pay-TV platforms because of the increasing number of HD cha...

Looking back, last year was a period of great change and disruption for some of the legacy video entertainment market leaders across the globe. As an example, the overall worldwide pay-TV market is expected to have grown by just 5 percent in 2014 -- surpassing 924.4 million subscribers. Many saturated markets continue to shrink, but there's still pockets of regional expansion. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, global cable TV market growth is now being driven by the Asian-Pacific and Latin American markets. "IPTV is expected to grow a market leading 14 percent in 2014, followed by satellite TV platform at 7 percent. The growth rates of cable and terrestrial TV platforms are expected to slow to around 3 percent," said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . A combination of the two growth regions is likely to add over 13 million new subscribers in 2014, while the cable TV market in North America is expected to decline by approxim...

The video entertainment sector is still going through a period of transition, as consumer viewing habits shift and evolve. Besides, in the mature markets -- such as North America -- more subscribers are expected to totally abandon pay-TV due to the rising cost of traditional services. Meanwhile, the worldwide pay-TV market is expected to surpass 920 million subscribers by the end of 2014, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. Overall, pay-TV average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to drop slightly due to increasing price competition, but at a lower rate compared to the ARPU drop in 2013. "The growing number of high-definition (HD) subscribers as well as major sporting events such as the World Cup 2014 have contributed to improving ARPU," said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of core forecasting at ABI Research . As a result, the total pay-TV service provider market is expected to generate over $269 billion by the end of 2014. Notably, Dire...

The traditional video entertainment industry in developed nations had a difficult period of transition last year, as retail sales of content on DVD and Blu-ray discs was either flat or declining, and pay-TV revenues were somewhat spotty. The days of huge gains appear to be over in many of the key saturated markets. Regardless, some industry analysts remain hopeful for a market recovery. The global pay-TV subscriber base increased by a little more than 5 percent in 2013, raising the total to 901.1 million. However the average revenue per user (ARPU) dropped to $23.80 in 2013 -- from $24.10 in 2012. "In general, the pay-TV market grew both in terms of subscribers and service revenue across all pay-TV platforms. Overall pay-TV service revenue reached almost $250 billion in 2013," said Jake Saunders, vice president at ABI Research . Pay-TV ARPU in North America increased around 4 percent to $76.00 in 2013. According to legacy pay-TV operators, the growth in ARPU is due to...

Incumbent U.S. pay-TV service providers would rather forget 2013 -- since it will be remembered as one more year where the major MSO cable operators collectively reported hundreds of thousands more video subscriber disconnects and service downgrades each and every quarter. In urban markets throughout America, price-sensitive consumers abandoned traditional pay-TV service and turned to a combination of free over-the-air broadcast digital television and subscription streaming OTT video entertainment offerings -- such as Netflix and Hulu. In some markets Telco challengers gained new pay-TV subscribers with limited-term lower-price service bundle promotions. However, once the promotions expire, some of these subscribers fail to convert to full-price customers. The story is very similar in other saturated markets all around the world. Global Pay-TV Subscription Market in Transition Infonetics Research released findings from its latest "Pay TV Services and Subscribers" mark...

The digital video entertainment industry has seen mixed results this year, as pay-TV service providers find little growth in saturated markets. Regardless, the worldwide pay-TV subscriber base surpassed 886.5 million at the end of 3Q 2013 -- that's a 6 percent YoY increase, generating $62.6 billion service revenue in the third quarter. "Emerging markets are key drivers of global growth in pay-TV subscribers as developed markets are experiencing flat growth rates,' said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . The pay-TV subscriber base in Western Europe grew less than 2 percent in 3Q 2013 from 3Q 2012. Notably, the number of subscribers in Spain and Italy has been declining for a number of consecutive quarters. Respectively, pay-TV service providers in Spain and Italy lost over 7 percent and 2 percent of their total subscriber base compared to a year ago. Pay-TV operators blame the weak economic environment for declining subscriber counts, but it ...

Infonetics Research released the key findings from its latest market study, which include a forecast and analysis of the cable pay-TV, satellite pay TV, and telco internet protocol television (IPTV) services markets. "Thanks to strong momentum mostly in the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China - pay-TV revenue and subscribers continue to grow in the face of mounting cable subscriber losses in North America and Western Europe, where pay-TV providers are in danger of being relegated to the role of content aggregator," said Jeff Heynen, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. To stem the subscriber losses, incumbent MSOs including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and UPC are introducing new services, like home automation and multi-screen video to reduce subscriber churn and generate top-line revenue growth, in addition to deploying new technologies to lower the capex required to deliver broadcast video. Highlights from the latest market study include: Pay-TV pro...

The traditional pay-TV services market continues to evolve, as over-the-top video streaming providers expand their offerings across the globe. The competition is also prompting the legacy pay-TV companies to invest in infrastructure for new capabilities. Infonetics Research released excerpts from its Broadcast and Streaming Video Equipment and Pay TV Subscribers market study, which tracks pay-TV subscribers and video equipment sold to telco IPTV, cable, and satellite service providers. "With competition and content heating up, pay-TV providers are transitioning their traditional, broadcast-focused video processing environments to ones that can ingest, process, deliver, and decode video content from multiple sources," said Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research . At the same time, content owners and studios are also adjusting their workflow and video output to support multiscreen and streaming services. The net result of t...

By 2017, two billion mobile phone and media tablet users will watch TV and video on their devices, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. This phenomenon is attributed to the growing popularity of short and easily shared video clips, and the increased global uptake of connected mobile devices with faster processors and better displays. Juniper examined how mobile is increasingly being used as the primary screen for consuming TV and video content among younger demographics, and the seamless integration of streaming services with social networks. They observed that sharing content via smartphones or tablets has become an intuitive experience for many. Furthermore, the success that many streaming providers such as Netflix, have achieved online has led them to offer truly multi-screen experiences via smartphones and tablets. This move has begun to affect the pay-TV business, with the threat of consumers reducing or ending their pay-TV services in favor of interne...

The legacy telecommunications sector was challenged continuously by upstarts during last year, as these savvy over-the-top companies targeted the incumbent's customers with attractive offers. That being said, 2013 will be equally challenging. Global telecom service provider revenues exceeded $2 trillion in 2012, with 60 percent of that amount going to mobile network operators, according to the latest market study by Ovum . No doubt, more competitors will seek to tap that huge market in 2013. While overall revenue growth is expected to be minimal, Ovum believes some segments will still have above-average growth, and significant incremental revenues over the next five years at each level of the value chain. Ovum's global analysts have revealed that mobile broadband presents the single largest opportunity for legacy service providers to win back revenue. Their forecasts show mobile broadband growing 19.2 percent annually and generating $122.9 billion in incremental revenue...

Infonetics Research released results from their latest market study of the video on demand (VOD) entertainment landscape, which tracks equipment sold to telco IPTV, cable video, and satellite video service providers. Moreover, Infonetics assessed the current pay-TV IP, cable, satellite, and hybrid set-top box (STB) and over-the-top (OTT) media servers market. "Operators are being extremely cautious with their video infrastructure spending right now, looking to sweat their assets as much as they can -- knowing that a spending spree looms on the horizon to support more unicast and multi-screen services, including RS-DVR, start-over, look-back, and streaming delivery to mobile devices," said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst at Infonetics Research . Infonetics said that they expect a noticeable increase in video equipment spending during 2013. Clearly, this year will be a challenging one for most pay-TV service providers in the saturated markets -- such as North America and E...

The legacy pay-TV services market can now be divided into two distinct groups. First, those regions where the market is fully saturated and customer churn is the primary activity. Second, the developing nations where local pay-TV providers can still find new customers willing and able to pay for their offerings. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the global pay-TV market added nearly 47 million new customers in 2012 -- reaching a total of 864 million subscribers. "The growth in satellite, cable, and IPTV markets was strong, although digital terrestrial TV growth was flat in 2012. We expect that the pay-TV market will continue to grow in 2013 to reach 907 million subscribers," said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . The worldwide IPTV subscriber base has been increasing over the past few years. In 2013, the global IPTV subscriber base is expected to add over 9 million subscribers to reach 79.3 million. More than half of the net...

According to the latest market study by Infonetics Research, traditional pay-TV subscribers are now far less loyal than they used to be. That new independence has freed many from the expense of high-cost video entertainment services. That being said, the cable TV industry is more characterized by churn than cord cutting, as subscribers take advantage of introductory pricing on satellite and IPTV subscriptions -- typically, that's 30-50 percent lower than their cable TV service fees. Infonetics released excerpts from its "Pay-TV Services and Subscribers report," which forecasts and analyzes the telco Internet protocol television (IPTV), cable video, and satellite video services markets. Apparently, this is a market in transition, as the economy motivates more pay-TV subscribers to seek a better value for their money. "Ongoing challenging economic conditions in the key revenue-generating markets of North America and Western Europe have resulted in slowing subscri...

Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG) released its comprehensive study of the Multi-platform TV Middleware and Applications ecosystem. According to the findings of their latest market study, pay-TV has been on a collision course with the Internet for more than a decade, but not only has online delivery not yet cannibalized pay TV revenues to any great extent, it also has created a variety of new revenue opportunities for facilities-based service providers. "Generally speaking, consumers are growing to expect the same experience on the TV that they receive from the Internet, and vice versa," said Norm Bogen, MRG VP of Global Research. From the content provider’s perspective, this must be done securely, in ways that respect existing content acquisition and distribution agreements. Enter TV software and the technological advances required to enable new platforms. Key findings from this market study included: The 2010-2014 time-frame is a time of radical change, in w...

Infonetics Research released excerpts from two of their latest video entertainment related market studies. Video-on-Demand (VOD) and Encoder Equipment and Video Subscribers -- which tracks equipment sold to telco IPTV, cable video, and satellite video providers. Set-Top Boxes and Subscribers -- which tracks IP, cable, satellite, and hybrid set top boxes (STBs) and over-the-top (OTT) media servers. "Thanks to a 7 percent increase in encoder spending by North American cable and satellite operators, the global video infrastructure market saw a return to growth in the second quarter," said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research . The pay-TV market continues to be driven by cable and satellite operators upgrading their encoding infrastructure to support more high-definition (HD) channels and unicast video-on-demand content. Meanwhile, satellite set-top boxes surged in Q2, with global shipments up 20 percent and revenue up 19 per...

European pay-TV added 10 million new subscriber homes last year and will reach 152 million by 2017, according to the latest market study by Rethink Research . Telecom service providers took IPTV from 20 million to 25 million in the past year and will reach 43.3 million customers across Europe -- doubling in just 6 years. The largest pay-TV players in Europe will still be News Corp with Sky, Liberty Global in cable and Vivendi with DTH and IPTV plays. Right behind them will be Deutsche Telekom,France Telecom and Iliad's Free. These providers will grow both within IPTV and through the addition of DTH services to run alongside them. European telcos are growing there TV subscribers faster than any other segment of European pay-TV and are set to become serious contenders -- holding their own in broadband and the quad play against cable companies. There's many studies that highlight the higher broadband speeds of cable companies, but there's now new evidence that telcos...

I've previously reported on the apparent lack of substantive innovation within IP-based television offerings -- essentially how most have merely attempted to emulate the legacy capabilities of linear broadcast TV. There's been some signs of new progress, but the inherent attributes of IPTV technology have barely been explored, so far. Infonetics Research just released excerpts from its "2012 IPTV Service Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey" report. Their latest worldwide market study is focused on video entertainment service providers that are currently providing IPTV services. These incumbent video entertainment companies were interviewed by Infonetics to assess their needs and to analyze trends in the IPTV marketplace. "Because it's so challenging to differentiate on content, pay-TV providers are looking to stand out from their competitors by offering additional services and features -- such as multi-screen viewing, social networking...

According to the latest market study by Infonetics Research, traditional pay-TV service providers have a window of opportunity to innovate and re-imagine the forward-looking video entertainment experience -- while they still have a leading position in the global marketplace. Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest Pay-TV Services and Subscribers report, which forecasts and analyzes the telco Internet protocol television (IPTV), cable video, and satellite video services markets. "Cable video still makes up over half of the global pay-TV market, but revenue growth is decelerating due to a slowdown in new subscribers, especially in the lucrative North American market, as competition from satellite and IPTV operators intensifies and as OTT offerings from Netflix, Hulu, and others siphon away a small, but growing number of households," notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and video at Infonetics Research . That being said, going...

Infonetics Research released excerpts from their "Pay-TV Services and Subscribers" report, which forecasts and analyzes the telco Internet protocol television (IPTV), cable video, and satellite video services markets. Back in 2008, cable video made up 59 percent of the global pay-TV market, satellite video brought in 38 percent and IPTV was a much smaller piece of the total addressable video entertainment marketplace. Today, cable operators are being challenged not only by attractive pricing and services from IPTV and satellite operators, but by all over-the-top (OTT) video service providers -- such as Netflix and Amazon On-Demand -- which are prompting some consumers to disconnect traditional services. Based on the study findings, there should be no doubt that the global pay-TV market is in a period of transition. Net new cable video subscribers continue to decline in North America and EMEA, and the small increases in Asia and Central and Latin America are not offse...