Streaming dominates in Digital TV Europe Industr

Streaming dominates in Digital TV Europe Industry Survey 2020
Jonathan Easton

Written by Jonathan Easton 4 hours ago

Digital TV Europe has unveiled the findings of its fifth annual industry survey.

Several hundred executives from 67 countries answered our request to share their opinions on the seven topic areas covered in this year’s survey.

The key focus this year is a deep dive into all aspects of the streaming revolution. Topics investigated include: the digital TV landscape; IP video migration; thematic streaming services; TV operating systems and CPE strategies; WiFi – the next frontier; and Video Quality of Experience.

The first section – the digital TV landscape – finds that the industry believes that streaming services will continue to surge and that pay TV will either decline or grow slowly at best.

Three in four respondents believe that streaming services will grow faster than pay TV over the next two years, with the bulk of the remainder taking the view that the two will converge completely, rendering any distinction between them meaningless. The biggest single group – representing 43% of the total – believe that streaming services will not only grow faster than pay TV but that traditional pay TV services will actually decline.

Stuart Thomson, editor of Digital TV Europe, said: “Streaming’s seemingly unstoppable progress – marked by its overtaking of traditional pay TV in terms of subscriber numbers, though not yet in terms of revenues – has been the biggest media story for a while now. But last year marked a step change, with launches and announcements of future plans by the big studios, moves by broadcasters to build streaming offerings and an acceleration in the shift of consumption patterns that is driving all of this.

“The results once again provide a unique snapshot of executive views of the challenges and opportunities facing the video industry.”