Global pay TV revenues reach $184 billion in 2012

The number of pay TV households (analog and digital) reached 772 million in 2012, up from 585 million in 2008, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.

Asia Pacific increased by 126 million – two thirds of the global additions – bringing its total to 433 million. North America (112 million) was the second largest region, though it only added 4 million, while the UK finished the year with 14.4 million pay TV households.

Pay TV revenues were up 28.5% compared with 2008 figures, with cable generating the highest revenues by platform ($87 billion in 2012). However, according to the report, cable revenues are flattening and direct-to-home (DTH) will soon take over.

Last year, internet protocol television (IPTV) revenues reached $12 billion, up significantly from $2.8 billion in 2008.

In terms of penetration, pay TV accounts for 100% of all homes in the Netherlands, followed by Denmark, Belgium and Hong Kong – 97%, 96% and 96%, respectively.

Although 404 million digital homes were added around the world between 2008 and 2012, taking overall digital penetration to 55%,  there still remained 652 million analog TV households at the end of 2012 – down from 956 million at the end of 2008.