• by Wayne Friedman , March 21, 2018

While overall global OTT -- over-the-top digital subscription services -- continues to grow, the rate of growth will slow in the coming years.

Worldwide OTT will hit 473 million subscriptions this year -- up 18% (72 million) from 401 million in 2017, according to IHS Markit, a marketing information/analytics company.

The research company expects percentage gains to slow in proceeding years -- 13% (63 million), totaling 536 million in 2019; 10% (60 million), totaling 595 million in 2020; and 9% (54 million), with a total of 650 million.

The company says total traditional pay TV subscriptions -- cable, satellite and telcos will hit 1.06 billion by the end of this year -- growing 7% to 1.135 billion by 2021.

IHS Markit says that traditional pay TV subscriptions in North America will continue to decline, down 3 million homes in 2017, while OTT subscriptions grow by nearly 30 million.

Fateha Begum, associate director of television media of IHS Markit, stated: “Pay TV services in North America continue to be affected by cord cutting, primarily due to higher average prices for pay TV subscriptions, compared to other global regions.”