Pay-TV market valued at €208bn for 2014 by ABI Research

Pay TV will have 936.4m subscribers around the world and generate a turnover of $280.4bn (€208bn) in 2014, according to figures released by the American company ABI Research on 21/07/2014.

The North American cable pay-TV market lost 7,000 subscribers during the first quarter in 2014, compared to a loss of 200,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter in 2013. While the international cable pay-TV market improved in 2013, the North American market suffered a 4% decrease in its subscriber base for that year.

“Innovative services such as Comcast’s cloud-based X1 system, which allows customers to store and watch TV shows on different devices, has helped to reduce churn. The North American pay-TV subscriber base is expected to reach 113.2m in 2014," said Jake Saunders, vice-president of ABI Research and practice director of core forecasting.

ABI Research expects 45% of pay-TV subscribers (421.38m people) to be watching programming in high definition by the end of 2014. According to the company, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (12/06 to 13/07/2014) should help increase pay-TV revenues for 2014.