Pay-TV revenue across sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reach a whopping $3.6 billion in 2014, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.
The Digital TV Middle East & Africa Databook report is for the Africa and the Middle East (MEA) region and projects pay-TV revenue for this region to reach a massive $8 million this year - up from $4.84 billion in 2010.
Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have 13.1 million pay-TV subscribers by the end of 2014 - more than double the total in 2010.
Strikingly, 113 million homes (or 46% of all households in this region) will not have a TV set yet by the end of 2014.
Digital television penetration in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reach 57,1%.
Interestingly, free-to-air satellite TV - the type of service offered for instance by Platco Digital's OpenView HD (OVHD) which is part of the Sabido Investment Limited stable in South Africa - is set to become the most popular TV platform in Africa.
In the MEA region there is projected to be 89.3 million digital TV households by the end of 2014 - up from the 32.4 million since 2010.
Satellite pay-TV will be the top contributor to pay-TV revenue in the Africa and Middle East region, with its share of total revenue rising from 77.5% in 2010 to 78.8% in 2014.
According to the report, the use of IPTV in Africa and the Middle East is rising rapidly.
