Pay satellite TV to reach 251 million homes by 2018

The number of pay satellite TV homes will reach 251 million homes by 2018 and cover 97 countries, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.

At the end of 2012, the figure stood at 178 million. From the 73 million pay satellite TV subscribers between that time and 2018, India will provide 24.4 million, Brazil 9.2 million, and Russia 5.9 million.

The UK figure currently stands at 9.6 million and at number five in the top five pay satellite TV countries, however is expected to be replaced by Indonesia in 2018.

India will continue to lead the pay satellite TV sector with 61.1 million subscribers, followed by the US at 36.6 million.

The US will remain direct-to-home market leader by revenues generated, although its share of the total will fall from 43.5% in 2012 to 38.7% in 2018.

However, the Global Satellite TV Forecasts report estimates that pay satellite TV subscriber totals will fall in 11 countries between 2012 and 2013 as subs concert to other platforms.

Satellite TV revenues are also expected to decline for 20 countries, which the report suggests is due to greater competition forcing satellite TV platforms to offer cheaper packages.

Including free-to-air households, almost 400 million homes will directly receive TV signals via satellite dishes by 2018, up by almost 100 million on the end-2012 figure.