American Cable TV Operators Can’t Stop the Customer Exodus
Cable operators in the U.S. lost another 460,000 video subscribers in Q3 2012, that’s compared to a reduction of 512,000 seen in the third quarter a year ago, according to IHS iSuppli.
But OTT services and the general economy are still taking their toll on the industry as a whole.
“U.S. cable operators in the third quarter trimmed their video subscriber losses by using heavy promotional bundles.”
via WorldScreen
The Global Pay-TV Market Reaches $137B in Revenue
According to the latest market study by Infonetics Research, traditional pay-TV subscribers are now far less loyal than they used to be. That new independence has freed many from the expense of high-cost video entertainment services.
That being said, the cable TV industry is more characterized by churn than cord cutting, as subscribers take advantage of introductory pricing on satellite and IPTV subscriptions — typically, that’s 30-50 percent lower than their cable TV service fees.
The Global Video Infrastructure Market Outlook
Infonetics Research released excerpts from two of their latest video entertainment related market studies. Video-on-Demand VOD and Encoder Equipment and Video Subscribers — which tracks equipment sold to telco IPTV, cable video, and satellite video providers. Set-Top Boxes and Subscribers — which tracks IP, cable, satellite, and hybrid set top boxes STBs and over-the-top OTT media servers.
“Thanks to a 7 percent increase in encoder spending by North American cable and satellite operators, the global video infrastructure market saw a return to growth in the second quarter,” said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research.
The Ongoing Evolution of Pay-TV Service in Europe
European pay-TV added 10 million new subscriber homes last year and will reach 152 million by 2017, according to the latest market study by Rethink Research.
Telecom service providers took IPTV from 20 million to 25 million in the past year and will reach 43.3 million customers across Europe — doubling in just 6 years.
How Cable Companies still Dominate Movie Rentals
According to The NPD Group, although viewing movies through new low-cost Internet video on demand (iVOD) subscription services is making significant inroads with a savvy group of informed Americans, legacy cable TV companies are still the first choice for on-demand per-use movie rentals.
Led by Comcast in the first half of 2012, 48 percent of all paid video-on-demand VOD movie rentals were generated from traditional cable TV service providers.
With a 24 percent rental-order growth rate year-over-year, telco VOD is the fastest growing segment of the VOD market, outpacing even the iVOD growth rate of 15 percent.
IPTV Service Providers to Offer Multi-Screen Pay-TV
Infonetics Research just released excerpts from its “2012 IPTV Service Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey” report.
These incumbent video entertainment companies were interviewed by Infonetics to assess their needs and to analyze trends in the IPTV marketplace.
“Because it’s so challenging to differentiate on content, pay-TV providers are looking to stand out from their competitors by offering additional services and features — such as multi-screen viewing, social networking — and content discovery and recommendation services.”
Global Pay-TV Subscribers will Reach 1 Billion by 2016
Pay-TV subscribers increased by an average of 10 percent per year between 2005 and 2011 to reach almost 800 million. More than half of subscribers are now in the Asia-Pacific region, with the balance spread evenly between Western Europe, North America, and the rest of the world.
TeleGeography forecasts that the number of global pay-TV subscribers will increase by over 200 million between 2011 and 2016 — to reach a total of 1 billion.
However, that being said, growth is expected to decline to around 4 percent by 2016.
via Telegeography
Viewing the First-Ever 3D Coverage of Olympic Games
NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group and Panasonic Corporation of North America announced that the first-ever 3D coverage of the Olympic Games, beginning in London later this month, will be available to subscribers of MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) representing nearly 80% of U.S. TV households.
The daily 3D programming, which will be shown on next-day delay, will be carried by many cable, satellite and telco pay-TV providers.
These carriers will distribute roughly 242 hours of the 3D broadcasts via the Media Center.
via PRNewswire
The End of Legacy TV and the Death of the Cable Bundle
Two small pieces of news could make for a big headache for legacy TV. First, Viacom yanked its 19 channels — including Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central — from DirecTV after the two companies failed to agree on subscriber fees.
Second a federal judge cleared the way for Aereo, an exciting new startup that could bring local TV (NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS) to any device you wish, from a smartphone to an actual TV.
The Internet is ruthlessly efficient at stripping cross-subsidies and allowing content to shine on its own. The question isn’t really if the Internet’s unbundling revolution will visit the television industry but when.
via The Atlantic
Asian and Eastern European Pay-TV Market Growth
A jump in cable and satellite set-top box shipments in Asia-Pacific markets is being driven by cable digitization in India and China — as well as China’s roll-out of digital satellite boxes to its rural households.
“Digital transitions are bringing consumers access to hundreds of international channels and a few HD services for the first time. Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe’s growth in set-top box units will outstrip those of the rest of the world in the next 5 years,” according to Sam Rosen, practice director of TV & video at ABI Research.
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