Digital TV Research released data on Monday estimating worldwide pay TV operators added 254 million subscribers between 2010 and 2016 to take the global total to 969 million. The research firm’s “Global Pay TV Subscriber Databook” reports digital cable TV created the most additions with 256 million between 2010 and 2016, but analog cable TV lost 218 million subscribers. There were 76 million more subs for IPTV, satellite TV added 77 million, and pay DTT tacked on 5 million, according to the report.
In terms of specific regions, Asia Pacific dominates the estimated growth by contributing 60 percent. The report says China supplies about a third of the world’s pay TV subscribers, with 313 million at the end of 2016. Notably, pay TV subscribership dropped in nine countries, with the United States down by 4.4 million and Italy by 2.3 million.