Indian pay TV “magnet” for growth

By Justine Lau, Hong Kong
© Financial Times

Revenue from Asia’s pay television and broadband industries is set to more than double within a decade on the back of the region’s booming economic growth and rising investment, according to a report to be released on Monday.

India is expected to be the magnet for foreign investment in the region’s pay TV sector, thanks to its more welcoming attitude towards international investors and the higher profitability of the industry in the country.

“From an investment perspective, obviously the centre of growth, especially if you are in television, is India. Every multinational company is now targeting India as a source of revenue,” said Vivek Couto, executive director at consultancy Media Partners Asia.

The report, Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2008, said that revenue from the region’s pay-TV and broadband sectors grew 22 per cent a year on average over the past five years to $53bn in 2007 and is expected to reach $120bn by 2017.

The annual report tracks the growth of broadcasting and broadband services in 16 markets in Asia. Pay-TV alone contributed more than $24bn of revenue in 2007, a figure that is forecast to grow to $65bn by 2017, driven by high subscriber growth.

India and China accounted for 90 per cent of the increase in new users of 22.4m last year, but India is seen as more lucrative for foreign investors due to its more liberal investment regime and less onerous restrictions on content.

China, meanwhile, has a set of strict foreign ownership rules and monitors content for broadcasting and film.

MPA said India was the second-largest pay-TV market in Asia after China, generating sales of about $5.2bn last year and forecast this would grow to $18.5 billion by 2017.