Western Europe will lose nearly 9 million pay-TV subscribers between 2023 and 2029 to reach 93 million – down by 8 per cent, according to analysts.
According to Digital TV Research, pay-TV subscriber counts will fall for 14 of the 18 countries in Western Europe 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, said the analysts.
The European figure is less than the United States, which the analysts predict will see its pay-TV penetration drop to 53 per cent from 58 per cent.
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.”
