The April issue of the informitv Multiscreen Index report shows that the industry index of 100 leading pay-television services around the world added 5.11 million subscribers in the last quarter of 2014, a rise of 1.42%. The ten services with the most subscribers added 5.53 million during 2014, with a combined total of nearly 130 million television customers. As our top 10 table shows, they gained 1.65 million subscribers in the last three months of 2014.
Two-thirds of services in the index reported net subscriber gains in the last three months of 2014. Satellite service providers gained the most subscribers, with net additions of 2.71 million, followed by telco television services gaining 1.99 million.
Satellite television services in India were among those gaining the most subscribers, with Dish TV, Videocon d2h and Airtel Digital TV adding over a million new customers between them.
Across the top 10 services in the United States included in the index there was a small drop of 20,600 subscribers, partly as a result of AT&T selling an operation in Connecticut. Over the year, the top 10 services in the United States made a modest gain of 82,200 subscribers.
Comcast, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, Charter, Cablevision and Mediacom lost a total of 885,000 television customers between them over the year, while AT&T and Verizon added 865,000.
Although AT&T and Verizon currently rank fifth and sixth among television operators in the United States in terms of subscribers, their total company revenues far exceed those of their competitors. Between them they reported total revenues of $67.6 billion for the last quarter of 2014. In comparison, Comcast, the largest provider of television services in the country, reported consolidated revenues of $17.7 billion, including its NBCUniversal division.
| Service | Change quarter |
Subscribers m |
|---|---|---|
| 1,646,000 | 129.98 | |
| Comcast | 7,000 | 22.38 |
| DIRECTV | 149,000 | 20.35 |
| DISH Network | -63,000 | 13.98 |
| Dish TV | 400,000 | 12.50 |
| Sky (UK and Ireland) | 202,000 | 10.93 |
| Tricolor | 259,000 | 10.92 |
| Time Warner Cable | -38,000 | 10.79 |
| Videocon d2h | 360,000 | 9.82 |
| Airtel Digital TV | 270,000 | 9.81 |
| Hathway | 100,000 | 8.50 |
While television services remain a big business, they are part of a broader communications industry in which fixed and mobile broadband services are increasingly important. 2015 is likely to be marked by continuing consolidation as corporations combine their operations to achieve scale in a competitive market.
“The index of 100 services worldwide provides an industry barometer of the pressure on pay-TV services,” says Dr William Cooper, the editor of the informitv Multiscreen Index. “In saturated markets there is intense pressure on incumbents from new entrants, while in developing markets there is room for growth.”
The Multiscreen Index tracks trends in television services and provides an accessible compilation of top 10 tables and charts showing annual and quarterly changes in subscriber numbers. The index of 100 leading pay-television services worldwide provides an industry benchmark against which television customer gains or losses can be measured, by region and mode of delivery, as well as ranking those with the largest subscriber gains or losses.