Legit Reviews

Pay TV continues to dominate the US home entertainment industry, with 86% of homes paying a regular fee to receive linear TV channel broadcasts, and revenues rising 4.3% in 2011 to reach $94bn according to a new industry report from Futuresource Consulting.

"This figure does include basic subscription TV households that are paying relatively small sums to operators, but premium packages which provide access to blockbuster movies and TV shows feature heavily in the numbers," says Carl Hibbert, Head of Broadcast, Content & Services at Futuresource Consulting. "In addition, of the $32bn spent in the USA on premium home entertainment - which includes VoD, electronic sell-through, pay TV and sell through and rental of packaged media - pay TV accounts for 40%.

"Although the Netflix OTT (over-the-top) TV service has been a major disruptive force, driven by high profile tie-ins with connected CE device manufacturers and streaming deals with studios, its direct impact on the pay TV industry has been minimal. The spectre of cord cutting predicted by many in the industry has not revealed itself in any great way and Futuresource forecasts indicate that it will not do so in the foreseeable future either, with less than 5% of subscribers exiting in the next two to three years.

"It's true that cable operators have seen some decline in subscriber figures, though the majority has come from the low-end, which is associated with low ARPUs and higher tendencies to churn out. Many of those subscribers leaving cable have actually moved across to IPTV and satellite as opposed to leaving pay TV altogether. The most significant impact from online video services has been on the packaged media segment, which fell by $2.3bn in 2011."

Responding to the internet threat, pay TV is now vigorously exploiting multiplatform and second screen opportunities with 'TV everywhere' services, while tentatively exploring OTT distribution into connected CE devices. Consumers will continue to buy into pay TV subscriptions for the range of programming, the availability of premium content and the additional services. Pay TV can compete with OTT and maintain its position, though OTT will also continue to expand despite rights issues and higher prices imposed by studios and premium aggregators. Growth in both paid-for and ad-funded OTT segments will culminate in the US online video market generating more than $12bn by 2016.

For more information or to buy the new Futuresource Pay TV Market Report, contact Carl Hibbert on +44 (0) 1582 500 110 or via email to [email protected].

Notes
Futuresource Consulting is a specialist research and knowledge-based consulting company, providing organisations with insight into professional display technologies, consumer electronics, digital imaging, entertainment media, broadcast, storage media, education technology and IT. With a heritage stretching back to the 1980s, the company delivers in-depth analysis and forecasts on a global scale, advising on strategic positioning, market trends, competitive forces and technological developments.
www.futuresource-consulting.com