Total Pay-TV industry revenue, comprised of subscription fees and local & regional advertising sales, grew 6% in Asia Pacific in 2019 reaching US$ 57 billion in 2019, according to Asia Pacific Pay-TV Distribution 2020, a new report published by leading industry analysts Media Partners Asia (MPA). Projections from MPA indicate that total pay-TV industry revenues will grow at a CAGR of 3% between 2019-24 to top US$66 billion by 2024.
Over the 2019-24 period, the utility China market will grow at a CAGR of 3% to reach US$27 billion by 2024. In comparison, the more commercial India market will grow at a CAGR of 6% to reach US$15 billion by 2024, ensuring India remains the highest growth and most scalable pay-TV market in the region. There remains significant near term uncertainty in India however due to the impending enforcement of recent regulations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Korea will grow at a CAGR of 3% to reach US$8.3 billion in revenue by 2024 while Japan will climb 1% to US$7 billion by 2024.
Excluding China & India, total Asia Pacific pay-TV revenue grew only 1.3% in 2019 to reach US$23 billion and is projected to climb 1.1% CAGR to reach US$25 billion by 2024. Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand will register CAGR revenue declines in the range of 1-5% over 2019-24 while growth will moderate in the Philippines and Vietnam.
Asia Pacific, including China & India, added 12.8 million net new subs in 2019 with India contributing 47% and China, 37%. The total Asia Pacific pay-TV subs base grew 2% in 2019 to reach 630 million, representing 62% penetration of total TV homes, adjusted for multiple subscriptions in a home. MPA projections indicate that total Asia Pacific pay-TV subs will grow at a CAGR of 1% between 2019-24 to reach 663 million by 2024, representing 63% penetration, adjusted for multiple subscriptions.
India will contribute almost half of net subscriber additions in Asia Pacific over the next five years. Net additions across Asia Pacific ex-China and India came in at 2 mil. in 2019 with Korea contributing 42% (driven by telco IPTV) while Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand all registered declines. MPA projections indicate that pay-TV subs in Asia Pacific ex-China & India will grow at a CAGR of 1.3% between 2019-24. Subscriber declines will continue though moderate in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand as cord cutting stabilizes after 2021. 2019 was a peak year of cord cutting with a net decline of almost 1 million subs across the six markets.
As the pace of subscriber erosion moderates in key territories after 2021, there are potential downside risks to the MPA forecast in markets such as Australia and Singapore. In addition, incremental growth markets such as Indonesia are fragile due to funding requirements and the management of currencies and content costs.
