Revenue from satellite pay TV companies will surpass that generated by cable operators worldwide and reach $99.9 billion by 2020. However, satellite revenue generated in Western Europe will soon begin to decline as operators face new competition from online platforms.
These were some of the predictions put forth in Digital TV Research's newly released Global Satellite TV Forecast, which predicts that global satellite revenue will approach $100 billion by 2020, after totaling $87.8 billion in 2013 and $69.3 billion in 2010.
In 2014, the report forecasts, satellite TV will generate 46 percent of all pay TV revenue, surpassing cable and rising to account for 47.8 percent of the market by 2020.
Among 138 countries analyzed in the report, the U.S. remains the leader in satellite TV revenue generation, with DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) and Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) collectively garnering over $39 billion in 2013, but only poised to see their revenue grow to around $40.5 billion by 2020.
Satellite pay TV services are growing fastest in India, the report says, which currently has the most subscribers at nearly 41.5 million. Its subscriber base is predicted to grow to nearly 70 million by 2020.
The total number of satellite homes will reach 271 million by 2020, Digital TV predicts, up from 192 million at the end of 2013.
Satellite revenue is poised to double in 44 countries by 2020, but decline in 19 others, many of those based in Western Europe.
"Satellite TV revenues will decline for 19 countries between 2013 and 2020," said report author Simon Murray. "Much of this is due to greater competition forcing satellite TV platforms to offer cheaper packages which will lead to lower ARPUs. Furthermore, low-cost satellite TV packages are making a significant impact in several countries."
For more:
- read this Digital TV Research report
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