IPTV penetration and revenues will double in five years

Global IPTV penetration will remain low through the next five years although subscriber numbers and revenues will double, according to new research. Informa Telecoms & Media, publisher of DTVE, forecasts that by end-2016, revenues from IPTV services will reach US$11.9 billion (€9.3 billion) compared with the US$6.2 billion recorded in 2011. The 2011 global IPTV subscriber count of 34.3 million will increase to 76.6 million by end-2016, a proportion that equates to 5% of the world’s TV homes.

By region, Asia will drive the growth in the IPTV sector, accounting for 25.4 million of the 2016 total subscriber number. The US will be the largest single IPTV territory by that point with 14 million customers.

In Europe, France will remain the IPTV leader although uptake will slow as the high-growth urban areas have already been tapped by operators, Informa says. France will have 5.1 million paying IPTV homes by end-2016, according to Informa. The Western Europe total will increase from 11.8 million at end-2011 to 20.2 million at end-2016. The Eastern European total will increase from 3.1 million to 10.1 million across the same period.