Pay TV in 2026: 64% more subscribers, but fewer users on leading platforms

The latest report from Digital TV Research points to a 64% growth in users of pay TV platforms, although this figure will be much more distributed than today.

In figures: the top 503 pay TV operators will reach 853 million subscribers out of a global total of 1.02 billion by 2026. However, the top 50 operators, which accounted for 64% of pay TV subscribers worldwide at the end of 2020, will see this percentage fall to 62% in 2026. Thus, the top 50 will lose 20 million subscribers over the next five years.

IL Global Pay TV Operator Forecasts report covers 503 operators with 726 platforms (132 digital cable, 116 analog cable, 279 satellite, 142 IPTV and 57 DTT) from 135 countries.

China and India, in the lead

According to the digital TV Research document, in 2026 China E India will continue to dominate the ranking of the leading pay TV operators, partly because their subscribers are increasing, but also because U.S. operators will lose subscribers. In fact, of the 28 pay TV operators that earned more than $1 billion in revenue in 2020, only 24 will manage to maintain these levels.

Breaking down the numbers further, the report also claims that 307 of the 503 operators (61%) will gain subscribers, while 13 will show no change and 183 will lose subscribers (36%).

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, summarizes the main trends noted in the study: “Most industries consolidate as they mature. The pay TV sector is doing the opposite – fragmenting. Most of the subscriber growth will take place in developing countries where operators are not controlled by larger corporations.”