The 100 leading pay-television services in the informitv Multiscreen Index gained almost four million subscribers in the second quarter of 2015.
The total number of subscribers rose by 3.94 million (up 1% quarter on quarter), with 54 of the 100 services in the index reporting net subscriber gains, although many of these were marginal.
Operators in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region reported the greatest gains, adding 2.35 million digital television subscribers.
Although most of the leading service providers in the United States lost subscribers, there was an overall increase across North, Central and South America of 0.23 million.
Cable companies gained the most subscribers, adding 1.82 million worldwide, with satellite and telco services each adding just over a million.
“While many services in the United States lost television customers, the worldwide trend shown by our regular report is of organic subscriber growth of around 1% a quarter,” said Dr William Cooper, editor of the informitv Multiscreen Index.
“We also expect consolidation to continue as service providers achieve growth through economies of scale.”
The Multiscreen Index currently represents over 380 million digital television subscribers, compared to around 340 million for the previous year.
75 of the 100 services in the index now offer some form of multiscreen access on screens in addition to the traditional television, such as a phone or tablet, computer or other network-connected device.
The top 10 services in the Multiscreen Index each have over 10 million subscribers. Between them they added 1.4 million digital television homes over the second quarter, reaching a total of 141.4 million.
The 10 services with the largest gains added a total of 3.53 million subscribers, while the 10 with the largest losses shed 0.57 million.
Meanwhile, the Multiscreen Tracker of 10 leading multiscreen services gained 0.48 million customers over the quarter and 2.65 million over a year.
“Mergers and acquisitions can mask underlying subscriber movements,” said informitv analyst Dr Sue Farrell.
“The Multiscreen Index provides a broader perspective to reveal the bigger picture.”
