The Asia-Pacific region, which owns 57 percent of global pay-TV subscriptions, remains the largest pay-TV market in the world.
“The growing numbers of digital TV households and high-speed broadband households in the Asia-Pacific region enable operators to deliver advanced pay-TV packages such as high definition and IPTV that offer more options to customers,” said ABI Research associate Khin Sandi Lynn.
Worldwide pay-TV subscriptions continue to increase, and the total number of subscriptions is forecast to exceed 745 million in 2011, Broadcast Newsroom reports.
According to the most recent market data from ABI Research, there were more than 704 million pay-TV subscribers globally at the end of 2010, up by more than 56 million subscribers from 2009.
In terms of subscriptions, China and India already stand in the first and second positions respectively in the worldwide pay-TV market. However the low level of pay-TV penetration in these countries creates a great opportunity to expand the subscriber base.
This is not only true of China and India: Thailand’s cable and satellite TV market is likely to boom as well in coming years, due to recent government plans for regulatory changes in the broadcasting industry.
The deployment of digital television is seen as a significant development in some countries. In 2010, more than half of all pay-TV subscribers are digital TV subscribers. Launches of high-definition (HDTV) television services via a variety of pay-TV platforms are being accelerated by operators around the world. In 2011, total HDTV subscriptions are expected to reach 225 million.
Source: http://www.abu.org.my/abu/index.cfm/elementid/67409/-Asia-Pacific-region-the-largest-pay-TV-market-