Piracy clampdown boosts Middle East and North Africa pay TV revenues

MUMBAI: The number of pay TV homes in Middle East and North Africa will double between 2011 and 2018 to 16 million, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.

The third edition of the Digital TV Middle East and North Africa report forecasts that fewer than 15 per cent of TV households (analogue and digital) legitimately paid for TV signals by end-2012. This proportion will climb to 21.6 per cent by 2018.

Report author Simon Murray said: ?Legitimate pay TV revenues for the 16 countries covered in the report] will grow by more than 42 per cent between 2012 and 2018 to $4.76 billion. Turkey accounts for more than half of the total.?
 
DTH will continue to dominate pay TV revenues, taking 71 per cent of the 2018 total (similar to the 2012 proportion). DTH revenues will be $3.39 billion in 2018, up by more than $1 billion on 2012 and more than double the 2008 total. Turkey will account for $1,952 million of the 2018 total (almost quadruple its 2008 total). Regional pay DTH penetration will gradually climb from 6.2 per cent in 2008 to 13.7 per cent in 2018, with subscriber numbers rocketing from 3.9 million to 10.1 million.