Eastern European Pay Television : report

Eastern European Pay Television will be driven by continued strong growth in both cable and satellite markets, with total pay TV penetration increasing rapidly in the region from 40 per cent at the end of 2007 to 60 per cent by 2012 (63 million homes).

This growth will be driven by a strong pay TV market in Russia which will account for 28 million of the region's pay TV subscribers by 2012 according to a report from Screen Digest.

The report examines the market for pay TV in 12 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, and Russia.

Andrew Katolo, Screen Digest Research Analyst comments "The opportunities for investors, particularly in satellite pay TV platforms, are improving rapidly. However, aggressive pricing poses challenges for the future, and consolidation, in both the cable and satellite markets, is likely.

Since 2004 the CEE country economies and Russia have enjoyed rapid expansion, growing at more than double the rate of markets in Western Europe. 2007 saw the market growing at its fastest rate, with 18 percent growth of total pay TV subscribers.

According to the report, the Eastern European pay TV market is dominated by cable, which accounts for 80 per cent of all pay TV homes with almost one third of the region's homes taking cable services. A few operators control the majority of the market, sharing it with many smaller players. Screen Digest believes that the market will experience consolidation over the next five years as the major operators grow their market share through acquisition. While the mature cable subscriber base is not growing as fast as the newer satellite platforms, average revenue per user continues to rise, increasing by 10% on average in 2007. Screen Digest predicts that cable penetration will increase to 40% of homes in 2012 from 32% at the end of 2007. Over the next five years, the number of digital cable subscribers will have increased from its present two per cent to 18% of TV homes.

By contrast, satellite pay TV is a small market, enjoyed by only eight per cent of homes in the CEE at the end of 2007. Screen Digest expects this to more than double to 16 per cent by 2012, with all satellite homes being digital. The demand for pay TV from consumers has grown with the improving economy and been driven partly by the increased number of channels on offer. In Russia the satellite pay TV market will grow particularly rapidly; Screen Digest forecasts there will be five million pay satellite customers by 2012, up from less than 1.5m at the end of 2007.