Research |
Euro cable digitisation continues
Analysis of figures provided by IHS Markit indicate a continued decline in analogue TV subscribers for cable operators in the EU at the end of 2017, with digital TV subscriber numbers continuing to experience growth as operators upgrade their networks with HFC and DOCSIS deployments.
Although operators experienced growth in
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Internet and telephony subscriber numbers in 2017 compared with the previous year, overall TV subscribers were down at 55.5m compared with 55.6m.
Internet subscribers rose from 35.69m to 37.32m with telephony subscribers up from 27.76m to 28.59m, with total RGUs( Revenue Generating Units) up from 119.0m to 121.4m.
Digital TV subscribers continued to rise. Increased digitalisation of cable networks in Europe saw analogue fall to 14.04m and digital rising to 41.46m.
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“ In Europe, pay-TV is still growing – the cord-cutting trend seen in North America has not spread,” noted Maria Rua Aguete, executive director, media, service providers and platforms at IHS Markit, who added that although cable TV has been in decline, more European households use it as their primary mode of reception than any other distribution technology.“ Cable has also reduced its reliance on TV, with DOCSIS 3.0’ s success putting broadband on the path to becoming the operators’ biggest revenue generator,” she advised. |
European Union: Cable operator subscribers |
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2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
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Analogue TV |
000s |
27,640 |
25,436 |
22,111 |
19,555 |
14,037 |
Digital TV |
000s |
31,464 |
33,096 |
35,945 |
38,435 |
41,462 |
Total TV |
000s |
59,105 |
58,532 |
58,057 |
57,990 |
55,499 |
Internet |
000s |
29,417 |
31,325 |
33,628 |
35,687 |
37,318 |
Telephony |
000s |
23,799 |
25,185 |
26,769 |
27,743 |
28,587 |
Total RGUs |
000s |
112,321 |
115,042 |
118,454 |
121,419 |
121,404 |
Annual total digital subscription TV revenue(€ 000) |
7,923,168 |
8,555,068 |
7.98 |
Annual total on-demand revenue |
389,275 |
461,162 |
18.47 |
Annual total TV revenue |
10,530,934 |
10,749,736 |
2.08 |
Annual Internet revenue |
7,682,170 |
8,064,168 |
4.97 |
Annual telephony revenue |
4,660,307 |
4,612,661 |
-1.02 |