Leading pay-television services added over 20 million subscribers worldwide in a year, which is around the same number as DIRECTV has in the United States. The number of digital video subscribers to the 100 leading pay-television services in the informitv Multiscreen Index rose by 5.24 million in the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 1.6%. The increase was higher than in the first quarter, when the Multiscreen Index added 4.71 million subscribers, up by 1.4%.
The 100 services in the Multiscreen Index added 20.29 million subscribers in the twelve months to the middle of 2014, a 6.0% rise. The 10 services with the most subscribers gained 1.14 million between them in the three months to the end of June, compared to 1.21 million the previous quarter.
Satellite services added 2.13 million subscribers worldwide, just ahead of telco television operators which added 2.07 million, while losses in the United States reduced the gains for cable to 0.75 million.
The 10 services with the greatest gains added over 3 million subscribers between them in the second quarter, while the 10 with the largest losses shed just over 800,000.
| Service | Change quarter |
Subscribers m |
|---|---|---|
| 3,042,462 | 63.16 | |
| Telefónica España | 479,200 | 1.21 |
| PanAmericana | 406,000 | 6.86 |
| Airtel Digital TV | 376,000 | 9.39 |
| Dish TV | 300,000 | 11.70 |
| DEN Networks | 300,000 | 6.40 |
| Mediaset Premium | 299,000 | 3.85 |
| Canal+ Africa | 261,000 | 1.37 |
| Tricolor | 210,000 | 10.65 |
| KT IPTV | 208,000 | 5.37 |
| Sky Mexico | 203,262 | 6.36 |
Telefónica España reported 479,000 net subscriber additions, reflecting a refreshed Movistar Fusión TV multiscreen offer.
The largest loss was for Sky PerfecTV! in Japan, losing 260,000 subscribers following the closure of its standard definition service.
The Asia Pacific region saw the largest increase, with 2.18 million additional subscribers.
There was strong growth in India, with Dish TV, Airtel, Hathway, DEN Networks and Reliance adding 1.15 million video subscribers between them in three months.
“The Multiscreen Index shows continued worldwide growth in subscription television services, despite losses among operators in the United States” says its editor, Dr William Cooper of informitv. “America remains the most valuable market, and revenues continue to rise, but the opportunities for subscriber growth lie elsewhere.”
Comcast and Time Warner Cable lost 296,000 video customers and Dish Network and DIRECTV lost 78,000, while AT&T and Verizon added 289,000.
With further losses from Charter, Cablevision, Mediacom and Suddenlink, the top 10 services in the United States lost 165,500 video customers. However, losses in the seasonally weak second quarter were down on previous years and represent just 0.2% of their combined subscriber base. Year on year, subscriber gains by telco and satellite services exceeded the losses from the main cable companies.
The quarterly Multiscreen Index report tracks trends in television services and provides a global overview with top 10 tables and charts showing annual and quarterly changes in subscriber numbers by region and mode of delivery, as well as the top 10 with the largest subscriber gains or losses.