Lat Am pay TV subs to grow by 11m

Pay TV subscriptions in Latin America will grow from 72.02 million at the end of this year to 83.56 million by 2021, according to a new forecast.

Twenty-five operators will account for 88% of subs at the end of 2016, Digital TV Research’s Latin America Pay TV Operator Forecasts report claimed.

Pan regionals DirecTV Latin America/Sky and Claro dominate the field as of this year, with 20.21 million and 15.2 million paying customers, respectively. They currently hold 62% of the market.

By 2021, their lead will roughly the same over third-place Telefonica/Movistar, which currently has 4.81 million subs, as it is this year. They will take 23.29 million and 17.71 million, respectively.

Digital TV Research noted Telefonica, Mexico-based Televisa Cable, which has 4.29 millions subs, and Argentina’s Cablevision, currently at 3.42 million subs, all “harbour ambitions to increase their market shares”.

Overall, Latin American pay TV revenues will grow from US$18.31 billion to US$19.82 billion.