Western Europe’s pay TV subs set to decline 8% by 2029

Western Europe’s pay TV subscribers are set to tumble over the next six years, although the rate of decline remains below that of the US.

Subscriber numbers in Western Europe will fall by almost nine million between 2023 and 2029 to reach 93 million, down by 8%, according to new data from Digital TV Research.

Pay TV penetration will still be 53% by 2029 – down from 58% in 2023. In the US, Digital TV Research expects subscribers to fall from 60 million in 2023 to less than 51 million in 2029, a decline of 15%.

The data suggests pay TV subscriber counts in Western Europe will fall for 14 of the 18 countries between 2023 and 2029. Germany will lose 2.7 million subs, with the UK down by 2.0 million, Italy 1.5 million and France by 1.1 million.

IPTV will gain 1 million subscribers between 2023 and 2029, with pay satellite TV down by 6.4 million, pay DTT down by 0.8 million and cable down by 2.4 million.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Pay satellite TV will be the biggest loser because most DTH platforms do not offer broadband access.

“This is not true of Sky, which wants to convert its satellite TV subscribers to its streaming platforms. Sky will lose 1.8 million satellite TV subs in both Germany and the UK as well as a further 1.3 million in Italy – or nearly 5 million in its five territories between 2023 and 2029.”