The global base of cable pay-TV subscribers continued to shrink in 1Q 2013 while that for telco IPTV expanded, according to excerpts from the 2nd edition of Infonetics Research’s “Pay TV Subscriber Database.”
“Cable TV and IPTV subscriptions in North America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) continue to move in opposite directions,” elaborated Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. “While telcos saw healthy quarter-over-quarter gains in IPTV subscribers in both regions in the first quarter of 2013, cable video subscribers fell off yet again.”
Tracking over 140 cable video, telco IPTV and satellite video providers worldwide, Infonetics found:
- From 4Q12 to 1Q13, IPTV subscribers grew more than 6% worldwide, while cable video subs declined around 1%
- The top 5 IPTV providers by subscribers are, in rank order, China Telecom, Orange, Iliad Group, Verizon and AT&T—together accounting for 43 million subscribers in 1Q13
- Meanwhile, in 1Q13 the top 5 cable TV providers—Comcast, Guangdong Cable TV, Jiangsu Cable TV, Shandong Cable TV and Zhejiang Cable TV, in alphabetical order—netted 93 million subscribers combined
- China Telecom remains the world leader in telco IPTV subscribers, with around 22 million subscribers as of 1Q13
- IPTV is taking off in the Middle East: Combined, IPTV subscribers for Etisalat, du and Saudi Telecom grew 42% year-over-year in 1Q13
- IPTV is also hot in Asia Pacific, where Telekom Malaysia’s subscribers soared 68% in 1 year
