Netflix now reaches more than 300 million global pay TV homes through its many set-top box integration partnerships with pay TV providers.
According to Ampere Analysis, to date, Netflix has struck more than 100 major partnership deals that give Netflix theoretical access to nearly half of all global pay TV subscribers outside of China. By the end of 2018, three quarters of pay TV subscribers in Western Europe had contracts with Netflix partner operators. Netflix also has substantial reach through pay TV households in North America, with as many as 86% of pay TV subscribers able to find Netflix on their operator’s set-top boxes at the end of last year.
“The increase in the number of pay TV partnerships with Netflix marks a distinct shift in the industry, as more and more of the streaming giant’s traditional ‘enemies’ cozy up through onboarding deals,” said Elinor Clark, analyst at Ampere Analysis, in a statement.
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Netflix has made big inroads in some countries, while it has yet to break through with operators in others. Netflix has deals with all the major pay TV operators in France, but the company has yet to attract many of the large pay TV operators in Central and South America, Asia Pacific, and Central and Eastern Europe, according to the firm. Ampere said that Netflix currently has around 40 million subscribers in these territories, making these key target areas for the streamer to pursue.
Clark also said that these partnerships can be lucrative for pay TV operators, providing them with an additional revenue stream when there may be downward pressure on their average revenue per user (ARPU) and, in some markets, cord-cutting.