• by Wayne Friedman , December 4, 2017

European cable operators grew a modest 4% last year in revenue to €23.5 billion Euros ($27.8 billion).

According to IHS Markit, cable homes are rising with “steady growth" -- now 30.5% of total European TV homes, or 65.1 million subscribers.

Germany is the biggest territory in terms of subscribers, at 18.6 million.

Germany also pulls in the most revenue -- nearly $6 billion. The United Kingdom comes next, at approximately $4.9 billion, followed by the Netherlands at $2.6 billion; Switzerland at $2.4 billion and Spain at $2.1 billion.

European cable operators get 34% of their overall revenue from internet related businesses.

Estimates are that satellite TV will continue to grow. Digital TV Research projects that pay television penetration in Western Europe will increase to 59.4% in 2021, from 56.8% at the end of 2015. The number of subscribers will rise to 104.3 million from 97.4 million.

IHS says: “There is plenty of room for further consolidation in cable, especially in fragmented markets in Central and Eastern Europe.”