Global TV Rises, Asia-Pacific To See Biggest Boost

Global digital TV homes will continue to soar in numbers in the next few years. While North America will show only modest growth, U.S.-based TV companies could see financial benefits.

A forecast from Digital TV Research says over 1 billion new TV homes will be added in 2020 -- and as a result, digital TV will reach 97.6% of all TV homes worldwide. This is up from 67.2% at the end of 2014. Some 93 countries will be completely digital in six years, compared with 17 at the end of 2014.

The North America market will only inch up 4% during that period, as a result of big additions to a digital TV transition that were made previously -- to a projected 133.6 million in 2020, up from 127.3 at the end of 2014. The U.S. will have 119.2 million digital TV homes in 2020.

The biggest increase will be in Asia-Pacific countries -- an increase by 400 million homes, with 93 million alone added in 2015. China will have 454 million digital homes -- the most of any country. India will be next at 189.5 million. After the U.S. with 119.2 million, which is in third place overall, Brazil will have 63.5 million and Russia 53.2 million.

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U.S.-based media companies have varying degrees of financial interest in international TV assets.

MoffettNathanson Research says Discovery Communications gets 51% share of its revenue from international TV; 21st Century Fox, is at 33%; Time Warner, 30%; Viacom, 26%; Walt Disney, 25%; Netflix, 24%; AMC Networks, 20%; CBS, 13%; and Scripps Networks Interactive, 3%.

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