Pay TV in 2026: 64% more subscribers, but fewer users on leading platforms

The latest report of Digital TV Research points to a 64% growth in users of pay television platforms, although this amount will be much more distributed than today.

In figures: the 503 main operators of pay television will reach 853 million subscribers of the world total, which will be 1,020 million in 2026. However, the 50 main operators, which represented 64% of pay television subscribers in the world at the end of 2020, will see this percentage reduced to 62% in 2026. In this way, the top 50 will lose 20 million subscribers in the next five years.

The report Global Pay TV Operator Forecasts encompasses 503 operators con 726 platforms (132 digital cable, 116 analog cable, 279 satellite, 142 IPTV and 57 DTT) 135 countries.

China and India, in the lead

According to the digital TV Research document, in 2026 China and the India will continue to dominate the ranking of the main pay television operators, partly because their subscribers are increasing, but also because US operators will lose subscribers. In fact, of the 28 pay television operators that obtained more than $1 billion in revenue in 2020, only 24 will manage to maintain these levels.

Continuing in this dance of figures, the report also ensures that 307 of the 503 operators (61%) will gain subscribers, while 13 will not show any change and 183 will lose subscribers (36%).

Simon Murray, principal analyst of Digital TV Research, summarizes the main trends pointed out by the study: "Most industries are consolidating as they mature. The pay television sector is doing the opposite: fragmenting. Most of the subscriber growth will occur in developing countries, where operators are not controlled by large companies."