Pay TV service in Ibero America and the US has 179 million subscriptions in the first quarter of 2016 according to OTI

The pay TV service in Ibero America and the US has 179 million subscriptions in the first quarter of 2016: 60.1% correspond to those provided by wired technologies. The remaining portion (39.9%) are provided through DTH technology, as per informed OTI.

In the IbAm-EUA region, 72.7% of the countries have a greater balance of cable subscriptions. These include Portugal, Spain and Argentina, with 83%; 80.8%, and 74.4%, respectively.

In contrast, 27.3% of the countries reflect a high proportion of satellite subscriptions. Among these, countries like Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela stand out, with 57.5%; 51.2%, 56.7% and 69.0%, respectively.

In most of the countries where there is a majority of wired connections, a high concentration of the population is located in urban contexts, such as the case of Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Uruguay.

Countries with a high percentage of satellite TV subscribers, topped by Brazil and Mexico, share conditions that promote the use of this technology, such as: great coverage in terms of territorial extension and an important number of places that are difficult to access, with low population density.

Regardless of the linear programming distribution provided through these technologies, the demand of VOD and ubiquitous TV services has raised considerably in the region. This has translated into the incorporation of OTT platforms in the offer of pay TV operators such as Claro and Globo, as well as TV everywhere services, as added values.