Global pay-TV subscriptions are set to increase by a further 134 million over the next five years to take the total to 1.09 billion by 2022, according to a report from Digital TV Research. Based on forecasts for 138 countries, the number of pay-TV subscribers will pass the 1 billion mark in early 2018. Although the US is losing pay-TV subs, Asia Pacific will add 92 million subs between 2016 and 2022, while Sub-Saharan Africa will double its total, predicted the study.

China will continue to account for about a third of the world’s pay-TV subscribers, with India bringing in another 16 percent of the total by 2022. Globally, pay-TV subscriber counts will double in 26 countries between 2016 and 2022 but will fall in a further 18 countries, with North America set to lose 5 million subscribers between 2016 and 2022.
In terms of platforms, the report predicts that digital pay-TV growth will be the most impressive, surging from 852 million subscribers at end-2016 to 1.088 billion by 2022