Digital pay TV market soars in Eastern Europe

Of the 83.6 million digital TV households that will be added in the region between 2010 and 2020, Russia will contribute 40.7 million, with Ukraine increasing by 13.3 million and Poland 6.7 million.

The number of subscribers to digital pay television increases from 26.1 million (21.5% of households with TV) in 2010 to 45 million (36.6%) in 2013. For 2020, forecasts reach 73.6 million (58.2%).

According to a study by Digital TV Research, between 2010 and 2010 the number of homes with digital television will triple from 41 to 124.7 million.

Of the 52.3 million digital television homes that will be added between 2013 and 2020, DTT will provide 24.9 million, digital cable 15.3 million, 6.6 million will come from IPTV platforms and 5.8 million from satellite.

The penetration rate of pay television in Eastern Europe has already crossed the mark of half of households with television in 2012, compared to one third at the end of 2010. By the end of this year 2014, this proportion will increase to two thirds, reaching 98.5% in 2020.

Thirteen of the twenty-one countries included in this report will be fully digital by 2020, with Estonia as the first fully digitalized country.

Simon Murray, author of the report, clarifies that “for the purposes of this report, it has been assumed that the situation in Ukraine will be resolved quickly.”

The number of analogue terrestrial television homes halves between 2010 and 2013, leaving just 23.2 million. Only 11.9 million homes were added to DTT, so digital pay TV platforms benefited from analogue terrestrial homes converting to digital.

However, 24.9 million DTT homes will be added between 2013 and 2020, with all the remaining 23.2 million analogue terrestrial homes lost so TV operators will earn less from terrestrial TV.

Many of these homes will upgrade to digital cable, but many will opt for IPTV and satellite TV. However, many analog cable subscribers are “reluctant”, that is, population groups that refuse to pay more for television services. In these cases, open DTT or with micropayments is an attractive option for these households.

Of the 83.6 million digital TV households that will be added in the region between 2010 and 2020, Russia will contribute 40.7 million, with Ukraine increasing by 13.3 million and Poland 6.7 million.

Pay television income in Eastern Europe will grow by 48% between now and 2020 (7,305 million dollars compared to the 4,944 million that the sector generated in 2010). Digital cable and IPTV revenue will more than double between 2013 and 2020, but satellite TV revenue (the mainstay) will only grow by 22% over the same period.

Russia will contribute $2.02 billion (28%) to pay-TV revenues in 2020, boosting ARPU that has traditionally remained low.