The ABI report study produced market data on average revenue per user (ARPU) and revenues worldwide, showing that the pay-TV sector is growing on all major platforms worldwide. While ABI Research Vice President and Practice Director of Core Forecasting Jake Saunders expects this growth to continue over the next five years to reach $281 billion by 2017, he noted that pay terrestrial TV services are headed for a slight drop in revenue, due in part to the success of satellite.

   “Growth in satellite and IPTV services in North America comes at the expense of cable,” Saunders wrote in the report. “This competitive shift, coupled with a small drop in pay-TV penetration, lead cable-TV revenues to fall about 1 percent in 2012 despite a small increase in ARPU. Global cable-TV service revenue market share is expected to drop to 47 percent in 2012 from 48 percent in 2011.”

   Saunders also noted that cable TV is expected to still account for the largest share of the market through 2017, though it is also losing market share to both satellite and IPTV.

   The top ranking global satellite TV provider in terms of market share is DirecTV, according to ABI Research Analyst Khin Sandi Lynn, who attributed DirecTV’s ranking to the size of its subscriber base and service revenue.

   “DirecTV experienced ARPU growth in the United States as a result of higher penetration in premium packages,” Lynn said in a statement. “The operator saw significant subscriber and revenue growth in Latin America, although ARPU fell slightly as more customers chose less expensive packages.”

   Interestingly, a recent ABI Research report published last month predicted that the global pay-TV industry’s subscriber base would reach 858.1 million customers at the end of 2012, a 5 percent year-on-year increase from 2011 despite this year’s decline in the North America pay-TV region.

   The analysts firm predicted that North American television subscribers would drop 0.2 percent from its 2011 mark by the end of 2012, as cable TV operators in United States face a continuous decline in service take-up and renewal. Cable TV operators lost nearly 0.8 million subscribers in the first two quarters of 2012, but grew their broadband subscriber base.

   ABI Research Practice Director of TV and Radio Sam Rosen highlighted that IPTV services have less penetration than cable or satellite in the U.S. market, but have gained around 0.6 million subscribers in the first half of 2012.

   “As broadband adoption grows, it is likely that pay-TV subscribers are switching to Internet TV services,” Rosen said in the report. “Internet TV services are cheaper than traditional pay-TV services or even free of charge. Services such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc. are cheaper alternatives for pay-TV subscribers especially in these uncertain economic times.”

   The analysis firm predicted that the pay-TV industry’s key growth will be driven by the Asian-Pacific market, which is expected to add more than 27 million subscribers in 2012. The Asian-Pacific region is expected to see the strongest growth in digital TV subscriptions in 2012, as the on-going digitization process in countries such as India have been steadily increasing digital TV penetration.

    Lynn, however, said Asia’s pay-TV progress could be better. “The Indian government recently announced that it would not extend the deadline set for cable digitization of 12 million homes in the four major metro areas beyond October 31, 2012. We are skeptical that target will be reached as only 68 percent has been achieved so farm,” said Lynn. “Overall Asia-Pacific digital cable TV subscriber base is expected to reach 213 million by the end of 2012 – a 27 percent increase from 2011.”