DTH satellite pay-TV customers in Asia are expected to grow from 56.3 million in 2013 to more than 110 million by 2018, a strong CAGR of 14 per cent, according to new projections from leading industry analysts Media Partners Asia (MPA). Longer-term, DTH’s share of the total pay-TV market will almost double to 24 per cent as the DTH customer base reaches 150.4 million by 2023, says MPA in a report published today titled Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2014.
HD DTH subscribers will grow from 10.4 million in 2013 to 37.3 million by 2023, driven by higher volumes in India and China in particular and steady growth in Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. DTH subscription revenue will climb at a five-year CAGR of 9 per cent to US$12.3 billion by 2018 and thereafter grow to US$15.2 billion by 2023. Commenting on MPA’s findings, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said: “We see operating leverage growing for market leaders in India, Indonesia and Malaysia in particular as well as long-term upside from strategic recalibration in Australia and New Zealand. Better monetization in the Philippines should help the market leader properly scale its DTH business and take it to the next level. We also predict incremental growth and value in Vietnam.”
New projections from Media Partners Asia (MPA) indicate that the market for digital pay-TV in Asia Pacific will grow at a robust 10 per cent CAGR between 2013 and 2018 as digital pay-TV subs climb from 312 million in 2013 to 503 million by 2018 and digital penetration of pay-TV homes expands from 62 per cent to 83 per cent.
In the future, MPA predicts that the market for DTH pay-TV will further consolidate as growth converges across fewer operators in markets such as India and Indonesia. In markets such as Thailand, DTH pay-TV is struggling as free DTH services have started to proliferate, penetrating 60 per cent of TV homes. In India, Free Dish, another free satellite service, will prove increasingly important to digitalization prospects in rural areas and smaller towns.
Amongst maturing markets, Malaysia is a clear leader with Astro amongst the most innovative operators in the world, adept at increasing both subscriber growth and ARPUs while also investing in product innovation. DTH operators in Australia and Japan continue to face headwinds. Hybrid DTH-IPTV distribution has helped sustain KT SkyLife’s proposition in Korea.
IP-based distribution and broadband delivery is clearly a challenge for one-way DTH networks. DTH operators are adapting to these realities to diminish long-term challenges. In Korea, the KT SkyLife combination retails triple play services. In Indonesia, MNC group, owner of DTH operator MNC Sky Vision (MNCSV), plans to rollout a bundle of IPTV and fiber-based broadband services and eventually merge these with MNCSV. Astro has also embraced IPTV partnerships in Malaysia but progress has been slow. In the Philippines, Cignal has also embraced hybrid IP delivery. In India, broadband is a long-term consideration though each of the top four DTH operators are eyeing mobile partnerships and wireless broadband strategies.
