According to a recent report by Infonetics Research, despite the growing threat of over-the-top video offerings, worldwide revenue for video services among cable, IPTV and satellite providers is projected to top $250 billion by 2014.
“Increased competition among video service operators will help keep monthly subscription fees in check, which will offset some of the growth expected from incremental revenue via video-on-demand, digital video recording and ‘start-over’ services,” said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband and IPTV at Infonetics Research. “However, the biggest threat to revenue growth is the continued rise of online viewing, where users can simply eliminate their monthly TV subscription in favor of streamed programming delivered over the Internet via sites like Hulu and YouTube and aggregating by services such as Boxee.”
The report also found that average revenue per user (ARPU) for telco IPTV video services in most regions remained lower than the ARPU for cable and satellite services. The report also said that telco IPTV service revenue was projected to grow over the next five years, which would partially offset the loss of revenue from decreasing fixed access lines.
Other highlights from the report included:
- Operators such as AT&T, Verizon, Belgacom, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Iliad and China Telecom are adding video subscribers at a rapid clip, selling them on a combination of exclusive content, higher picture quality and introductory rates that are below similar offerings from cable and satellite service providers.
- In North America, the top two providers of video services in terms of annual revenue are Comcast and DirecTV.
- In EMEA, Sky is the revenue share leader by far with its presence in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy and Austria.
