OTT TV viewers swamp IPTV subscribers

Are IPTV's days numbered?

Over the top TV viewers will outnumber those watching managed IPTV services from traditional providers by 2015, according to numbers released by Informa Telecoms & Media this week.

The analyst predicts that by 2015, 380 million people globally will view online video via connected devices such as TVs, games consoles or set-top boxes from the likes of Apple and Google, driven by the popularity of services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix. But in contrast, only 163 million users will be watching managed IPTV services from the likes of Verizon, BT and Orange in 2015.

In some markets, this contrast will be even more stark, the analyst said. In the UK, for example, there are already more OTT TV viewers than IPTV viewers, and by 2015, while only 3.6 million people in the UK will be watching managed IPTV, 27 million will be watching online video via the TV.

“It’s abundantly clear that viewing online video via connected devices will be both a long-term and mass-market activity. All of the key ingredients for uptake of these services are in place. It’s just a case of consumers getting used to the idea of using them, something that will be driven by the availability of big brands like the iPlayer, and marketing pushes from the device manufacturers,” said Giles Cottle, senior analyst at Informa.

“These figures are not necessarily bad news for IPTV providers, but they do leave operators with some tough questions to ask. Many OTT TV viewers will be using connected devices to watch short-form and catch-up TV services, which are complimentary, rather than competitive, to Pay TV. But it highlights the fact that operators should be adding these features into their own services, or even considering delivering their own Pay TV services via these connected devices, to stay competitive,” said Cottle.