While a lot is being said about how video streaming services are destroying traditional pay-TV services, pay-TV growth in Africa is actually set to outstrip all other international regions until 2022, according to the latest research.
Despite breathless reporting about how subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming services are cannibalising and destroying direct-to-home (DTH) satellite pay-TV services in South Africa and Africa, a new report finds that massive growth is still in store for satellite pay-TV companies in Africa and the Middle East (AME) with household penetration that will rapidly increase over the next 5 years from 16% in 2017 to 23.2% in 2022.
While there's ongoing navel-gazing about how video streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Showmax and others are taking over from satellite TV, according to new research from GlobalData, a data and analytics company, Africa and the Middle East's pay-TV market - although still underdeveloped - is growing rapidly.
This growth is set to continue according to GlobalData's latest industry report "Pay-TV market trends and opportunities in Africa & the Middle East".
In fact, according to GlobalData, the pay-TV market in Africa and the Middle East is expected to grow faster than all other regions in the years ahead.
In Africa companies like MultiChoice, China's StarTimes and a few regionaled other ones are in an ongoing race to get into as many homes as possible.
"We are witnessing strong overall growth in the AME due to the expanding content portfolios, tailored to local audiences. An effective blend of exclusive sport broadcasting, regional and international content in various genres with multiple languages such as Arabic, English and French, help pay-TV providers gain subscribers and remain competitive in AME," says Jonathan Bachrach, technology analyst at GlobalData.
According to GlobalData, piracy of TV content remains one of the biggest challenges facing pay-TV operators in AME, as the proliferation of illegal set-top boxes (STBs) and decoders continue to negatively impact pay-TV operators' revenues.
According to GlobalData anti-piracy initiatives are vital to protect operator investments in premium broadcasting content and revenue streams.
According to research firm, Dataxis, MultiChoice that will be spun off by Naspers during the first half of 2019 has been and remains a key player in the English-speaking African pay-TV market.
