During the fourth quarter of 2009, the total number of subscribers to the subscription TV service continued to grow, surpassing 2.5 million, around 85 thousand more than in the previous quarter and 243 thousand more than in the same period of 2008. The main drivers of the service's growth have been, in the first place, the ''other technologies'' of access (IPTV and similar) and, in second place, DTH.
At the end of 2009, it was reported that the cable TV distribution service comprised around 57% of all subscription TV subscribers - down 2 percentage points on the previous quarter, while the weight of ''other technologies'' grew by 1.3 percentage points to represent around 16% of the total. The weight of DTH remained at around 26% of the total with offers based on optical fibre representing 1.2% of subscribers to the subscription television service.
Grupo ZON/TV Cabo continued to have the largest share of subscription TV subscribers (64.4%, 2.2 percentage points less than in the previous quarter). PTC remains the second largest subscription TV operator with a 23% share of subscribers, increasing its share by 2.3 points over the previous quarter. The third largest operator continues to be Cabovisão, with a share of 10.2%.
As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, the total number of cabled households for all operators stood at around 4.3 million, 0.6% more than in the previous quarter and 2.1% more than recorded for the same period in 2008.
In the same period, there was practically no change seen in the total number of subscribers (1.45 million) compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the same period of 2008, a reduction was seen in subscriber numbers amounting to 1.5%. The main alternative cable TV operator remained responsible for the slight year-on-year decline seen during the quarter being reported. (In contrast, both ZON/TV CABO and the majority of the remaining smaller providers saw increased subscriber numbers.
The number of subscribers benefiting from digital formats continued to rise. There were around 795 thousand digital subscribers, corresponding to over 55% of all CDS subscribers.
In the end of period being reported, the number of subscribers to the television service using Direct To Home (DTH) technology was reported at 645 thousand, 21 thousand or 3.4% more subscribers than in the previous quarter and 58 thousand or 9.9% more than in the same period of 2008.
It is estimated that in December there were around 1.2 million households cabled with optical fibre. The number of subscribers to the subscription television service with services supported over optical fibre (FTTH/B) reached 31 thousand, more than double the figure reported for the previous quarter.
As of the period being reported, there were 3 optical fibre offers: one from Sonaecom, one from PTC and one from ZON/TV CABO (ex-TVTel). However, there are none present in all parts of the country. Over 90% of these subscribers were found in Lisbon and the North.
Meanwhile, there are now 4 providers on the market providing the television subscription service over the public telephone network (xDSL/IP) and through FWA: AR Telecom (fixed wireless access - FWA), Sonaecom, PTC and Vodafone (the latter three over the public telephone network - xDSL/IP).
There were 401 thousand subscribers to the subscription television service provided over these technology platforms as of the end of 2009, 45 thousand more than in the previous quarter, corresponding to an increase of 12.5% over the quarter, while year-on-year the service added around 178 thousand subscribers.
Up to the fourth quarter of 2009, individualised revenues from the subscription television service totalled around 652 million euros, of which around 65% refer to cable customers, 27% to satellite customers and 8% to customers using other technologies.
As far as revenues which cannot be individualised are concerned, derived from packages of services which include subscription TV, these totalled 126 million euros, referring essentially to triple play packages associated with IPTV and similar technologies.
Consult:
- Television Subscription Services - 4th quarter 2009 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1015865
