Leading pay-television services around the world increased their subscriber numbers by just 1% in the third quarter of 2014, as reported in the January issue of the informitv Multiscreen Index. The 100 services in the index recorded total subscriber gains of 3.52 million in the three months to the end of September but increased by 19.18 million or 5.6% year on year.
The informitv Multiscreen Index is based on digital television subscriber numbers reported by 100 services based in over 30 countries.
While 58 of the 100 television services worldwide declared a net increase in subscribers, many of the major cable and satellite operators in the United States lost video customers. Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, Charter, Cablevision and Mediacom lost over 389,000 video subscribers between them. However, these were largely offset by gains of 328,000 by the telco television services of AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS.
Television services in India and Korea were among those adding the most subscribers. Dish TV in India reported an additional 400,000 subscribers in the quarter. The ten services with the largest gains added 2.37 million subscribers between them. The region with the largest overall increase was Europe, Middle East and Africa, adding 2.13 million subscribers.
| Service | Change quarter |
Subscribers m |
|---|---|---|
| 935,520 | 121.64 | |
| DIRECTV | -147,000 | 32.55 |
| Sky | 121,000 | 19.34 |
| Liberty Global | 128,600 | 14.33 |
| Vivendi | -121,000 | 11.42 |
| Televisa | 156,020 | 9.88 |
| Naspers | – | 8.39 |
| KDDI | 85,000 | 8.33 |
| Orange | 139,000 | 6.73 |
| Deutsche Telekom | 107,300 | 5.86 |
| Telefónica | 466,600 | 4.81 |
“Our analysis reveals a modest gain in television subscriber numbers despite some notable losses, particularly among cable and satellite operators in the United States,” says Dr William Cooper, the editor of the informitv Multiscreen Index. “The wider picture is more complex, with many operators elsewhere continuing to show growth.”
Service providers are addressing the threat and opportunity of online delivery by offering multiscreen services. 66% of services in the Multiscreen Index have some form of multiscreen offering.
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.