Pay TV set for modest growth in Japan despite cord cutting

The pay TV sector in Japan is set for modest growth in the coming years.

According to the Japan Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report from analytics firm GlobalData, pay TV in the country will register a CAGR of 1.9% between 2019-2024, increasing from US$8.9 billion to US$9.8 billion by the end of the five year projection.

The report notes that the overall growth in pay TV services revenue will be supported by an increase of ARPU which will offset ongoing trends of cord-cutting. This will increase from US$36.01 in 2019 to US$40.37 in 2024, with growing ARPUs from cable, DTH and IPTV services.

Deepa Dhingra, telecom analyst at GlobalData, said: “Cable will be the leading technology to deliver pay-TV services in Japan over 2019-2024; however its share of the total pay-TV service subscriptions will continue to decline with the growing adoption of IPTV services. Improving coverage of high-speed fiber broadband networks will support the delivery of IPTV services in Japan.

“KDDI will lead the pay-TV service segment over 2019-2024, supported by its strong foothold in the cable segment and focus on providing cost-effective multi-play packages to compete in the market. For instance, it is offering a cable-plus phone bundled plan at a price of ¥1,330 (US$12.2) along with additional benefits such as lower call rates and an additional discount of ¥100/month for ‘au mobile phone’ subscribers.”

This supports a similar report from the firm, published earlier this month, which stated that overall telecom and pay TV revenues in Japan will reach US$153.1 billion in 2024, up from US$124.1 billion in 2019.