ESSEX, England – Some 43% of TV households, or nearly 504 million homes, worldwide will receive digital signals by end of 2012, according to the seventh edition of Global Digital TV report produced by Informa Telecoms and Media.
The report notes that 264 million digital homes will be added between the end of 2007 and the end of 2012, with some 60 million extra households being added in China. Other significant increases will occur in the United States, where 39 million more homes are predicted, in Japan (20 million) and in India (23 million).
The number of digital cable TV subscribers is expected to increase by 28 million in 2007 and to reach 249 million in 2012, according to the report. It also notes that 36% of the global digital total, or 87 million homes by the end of 2007, will be delivered via satellite. But due to an increase in cable, IPTV and DTT, the number of digital direct-to-home househouseholds to 33 million between this year and 2012, the satellite share of the market will decline to 23% of the global total.
About 37 million global households will subscribe to IP-based TV signals by 2012, up from 10 million at year-end 2007, the report states. IPTV will remain a niche delivery platform – with only 3% of the global total by 2012, it notes.
The report includes an overview of the digital landscape in 45 countries, 20 in-depth country profiles, digital subscriber figures, global rankings and forecasts as well as HDTV and mobile TV developments.
