Global pay TV numbers are still growing despite the fastest growth in live-to-consumer offerings, according to the latest data from the Point Topic Research Center.

According to Point Topic, the number of pay-TV subscribers increased by 4.6% in the year to December 2020, up by just over 1 percent on a quarterly basis.

The device found that the number of subscriptions to major D2C streaming shows such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney + increased by more than 50% during the year.

The number of IPTV subscribers on fiber increased by 10%, while the number of subscribers of IPTV based on DSL increased by 5%. Cable TV was flat, growing less than 1%, while satellite TV was down 7%.

Total pay-TV numbers, based on a survey of 162 operators in 66 countries, totaled 864 million, with 38 million net additions in the fourth quarter. Fixed broadband subscriber growth for the year through the fourth quarter was 1.6%, meaning pay TV is growing rapidly.

FTTH-based IPTV tops China in numbers, with 315 million pay-TV subscribers receiving services in this way.

The top 10 countries entering pay TV homes in addition to OTT numbers are Portugal, South Korea and the UK – the number still includes Freeview – Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Belarus, France and China, according to Point Subject, three With over 100% penetration in the markets.

For the UK, Point Topic has found that Netflix’s domestic reach is now close to Freeview, which has a penetration rate of 60%, while Amazon Prime Video is growing rapidly, reaching 40% of households now.