The Asia Pacific region will see 78 million more pay television subscribers in the next five years, with revenues rising by $2.75 billion. Over half of the television subscribers in the region will be in China and a quarter of them will be in India.
The forecast, from Digital TV Research, suggests that the Asia Pacific region will have approaching 690 million television subscribers in 2023.
The greatest gain will be in China, adding nearly 33 million subscribers between 2017 and 2023, to a total of 375 million. That is up from 194 million in 2010.
India will see an increase of 28 million, rising to almost 180 million subscribers in 2023, from 151 million in 2017, which is an increase of over 18%.
Pakistan will add 4 million subscribers, to reach a total of over 15 million in 2023, an increase of over 25% on 2017.
Indonesia will see an increase of over 60%, gaining 4 million subscribers to reach a total of 11 million in 2023.
However, 6 of the 22 countries covered in the Asia Pacific Pay TV Forecasts report will lose subscribers between 2017 and 2023. Taiwan will be the biggest loser, with subscribers down by over 10%.
The number of digital cable subscribers in the Asia Pacific region will rise by 37 million. Analogue cable subscriptions will meanwhile fall by 52 million, leaving cable down overall. Telco television services will increase by 67 million subscribers, with pay satellite television up by 26 million.
Annual revenues from pay television in the region will rise by $2.75 billion to a total of $37.89 billion, of which China, India and Japan accounting for two-thirds. However, revenues will fall in six of the countries covered, including Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.
The informitv Multiscreen Index, which tracks reported numbers for 100 leading pay television service providers worldwide, shows that of these the Asia Pacific region gained 2.36 million subscribers in the last quarter of 2017. The top 10 services added 1.72 million to reach almost 100 million between them. These figures exclude China, for which reliable figures are unavailable.
The Asia Pacific Pay TV Forecasts report is published by Digital TV Research. The Multiscreen Index is published by informitv.