Pay-TV dominated the hottest TV industry news around the world this week. Subscriptions for pay-TV services have been skyrocketing in Croatia, while they continue to hold the crown for their share of the market. The same can’t be said about the US, as 217K subscribers chose to cut the cord in favor of satellite and other options. On the other hand, middle class families in Brazil would love to get in on the pay-TV action, but they need lower priced bundles. The media regulator of Brazil is working to make it happen, so pay-TV becomes more accessible to the people.
Learn more about the news by reading below, and share your thoughts by leaving a comment here, or follow us on our social media channels.
Croatian Pay-TV Market Grows (Broadband TV News)
With nearly 380K subscribers to pay-TV services in the second quarter, Croatia continues to reign supreme in the IPTV markets in Central and Eastern Europe. The numbers have been steadily increasing in the past two years. Surprisingly, the growth of DTH services has been even stronger, by as much as 21% in three months. The cable TV subscriber total is a little shy of 150K. How can cable operators win some subscribers back?
Cord Cutting Reality: Pay-TV Industry Loses 217,000 Subscribers (Los Angeles Times)
The pay-TV industry lost 217K subscribers in the US in the past year. This was due to satellite and telecommunications competitors that also offer video service. Cable companies in the US experienced the greatest decline – a drop of over 600K subscribers. On the bright side, this loss wasn’t nearly as drastic as the losses from 2012.
Brazil Wants Low-Cost Pay-TV (Advanced Television)
The people have spoken. Brazil’s media regulator, Anatel, told pay-TV operators to create lower-cost packages. The lowest priced bundles available now go for $16.80. Anatel is proposing a more basic bundle to be priced near $8.40. There is clearly a high demand for pay-TV services amongst working class families who are unable to afford current rates. Do you think cable operators in Brazil could work around the challenges of low fee packages? Do you expect the number of subscribers to increase exponentially if they significantly reduce the costs?
Will you be at IBC 2013? To learn more about these topics, or to see a demo of innovative technologies for the pay-TV industry, come meet us at the VO booth in hall 1, A51.
