Market Trends

London, UK, January 7, 2013--About  35.3% of TV homes (14.0 million)  in Sub-Saharan Africa  took digital  signals by end-2012, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The  Digital TV Sub-Saharan Africa report forecasts that digital TV penetration will  rocket to 95.5% by 2018 – with household numbers quadrupling to 49.0 million.

London, UK, January 4, 2012--TV has long been the poster-child for the advertising industry, but its ability to deliver mass audiences is increasingly coming under scrutiny. In recognition of this changing environment, Informa Telecoms & Media has taken a converged approach to its advertising research.

Amman, Jordan, January 3, 2013--Up until the booming era of free to air satellite TV, terrestrial TV was the main source of entertainment and information for people in the Arab World. Today, local terrestrial TV stations are still alive in the region, although the boom in the supply of free satellite TV channels in the Arab region seems to have stifled the terrestrial TV landscape.

Singapore, December 18, 2012--Global pay-TV market added nearly 47 million subscribers in 2012 reaching a total of 864 million subscribers. “The growth in satellite, cable, and IPTV markets was strong, although digital terrestrial TV growth was flat in 2012. ABI Research expects that the pay-TV market will continue to grow in 2013 to reach 907 million subscribers,” said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of core forecasting.

London, UK,  December 5, 2012--Informa Telecoms and Media forecasts that the OTT video market will be worth over US$37 billion in 2017. However, advertising will still be a larger revenue-generator than subscriptions in the OTT-video market in 2017, highlighting its continued immaturity. Although US$37 billion is an eye-catching number, OTT remains a small proportion of total TV and video revenues.

London, UK, December 4, 2012--COMSYS released the thrid edition of its Maritime VSAT report. The report projects vigorous growth in the maritime VSAT market, forecasting that the number of vessels in service will double by 2016, bringing the total number of VSATs in service to more than 26,000. Market revenue expanded 9% in 2010 and 2011 and is now close to $1 billion, due to increased demand for bandwidth.

Amman, Jordan, November 29, 2012--A new report, entitled “Privatization Levels in Arab Cellular Markets” was released by the Arab Advisors Group analyzing the ownership structure and revenues of all cellular operators in fifteen Arab countries. The analysis aimed at examining the "actual" level of privatization and state ownership in each country measured by the proportionate share of each operator of total cellular market revenues. The analysis revealed that the Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti cellular markets are the most privatized markets.

London, UK, November 28, 2012 – Over 220 million Smart TV sets will be sold worldwide in 2017, up from the 54 million that will be sold in 2012, according to Informa Telecoms & Media’s latest Smart TV device forecasts. 31% of households worldwide will own at least one Smart TV in five years time, according to Informa, with household penetration much higher in North America (63%) and Western Europe (64%).

London, UK, November 22, 2012 -According to the latest forecasts from Informa Telecoms & Media, the global online-video market will be worth US$37 billion in 2017, driven by the popularity of services like Netflix and YouTube. This figure is made up of the three key video-revenue streams of advertising, subscriptions and transactions. Despite the market maturing, advertising will continue to be a larger revenue generator than subscriptions in 2017, as it is in 2012.