Triple-Play Revenues to Reach US$ $205 billion in 2018

London, UK, December 2, 2013--Telcos and cable operators are investing heavily in their networks to upgrade their subscribers to bundles (triple-play or double-play). These operators will reap the rewards of this investment as total subscription revenues (pay TV (including on-demand), broadband and fixed-line telephony) will increase by 65% from $124 billion in 2012 to $205 billion in 2018, according to the Triple-Play Forecasts report from Digital TV Research.

Covering 97 countries, triple-play subscription revenues will reach $144 billion in 2018, up by $80 billion on the 2012 total. Triple-play revenues will command 70% of total subscription revenues by 2018, up from 52% in 2012 and 36% in 2008.

Triple-play subscriptions will reach 333 million by 2018; up by more than 300 million since 2008 and up by 239 million on the 2012 total. China will have 115 million triple-play subscribers by 2018 (with only 9 million recorded at end-2012) – or 34% of the global total. 

The number of triple-play households will overtake the stand alone TV total in 2016. The standalone TV total will begin to decline from 2016 as more and more homes convert to bundles. 

About 21% of the world’s TV households (covering 97 countries) will subscribe to triple-play services by 2018. This is up from just 7% penetration at end-2012 and only 2% at end-2008.