Top 10 pay TV operators to lose $20bn in revenues by 2023

The world’s top 10 pay TV operators by revenue will experience losses of US$20 billion between 2017 and 2023, according to Digital TV Research.

The new report claims that each of the top 10 global operators will be affected and that collectively they will see their revenues diminish from US$106.8 billion in 2017 to US$86.9 billion in 2023.

Over the forecast period, the pay TV revenue share for the top 10 operators is expected to fall from 53% to 48%.

Looking at the wider global pay TV industry, Digital TV Research said that 168 of 517 operators covered by its Global Pay TV Operator Forecasts report will lose subscription and pay-per-view revenues between 2017 and 2023.

Across all 517 operators, revenues are expected to fall by US$18 billion over this time period to US$183 billion. The number of operators earning more than US$1 billion in revenues is also tipped to fall from 29 to 25.

This is despite the number of pay TV subscribers increasing, with pay TV operators around the world expected to add 84 million customers between 2017 and 2023.

“The good news is that 15 operators will add more than US$100 million between 2017 and 2023, with China Telecom up by US$1.4 billion,” said Simon Murray, Digital TV Research principal analyst.

“However, five operators, including four from the US, will lose more than US$1 billion in revenues. Seven of the top 10 losers will be in the US.”