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Pay TV reports massive growth in SA

Cape Town – Pay TV subscription households grew by 600 000 in the last year - the most ever in a single year in South Africa.

The country's overall TV market grew by 18.8% in 2010 – the largest increase during the past five years, thanks in large part to viewers acquiring pay television.

The South African pay TV industry, fuelled by viewers drawn to TopTV's entry level packages and MultiChoice's DStv Compact bouquets, is set to rake in in excess of R17bn per year by 2015.

These and other startling facts and projections about South Africa's white hot pay TV industry are contained in the new PriceWaterhouseCoopers' South African Entertainment and Media Outlook 2011-2015 Report.

The report predicts that pay TV penetration will reach a staggering 66% of South African TV households by 2015 (from 43.2% in 2010), which means that two thirds of all households with a TV set, will be paying to watch better and more television within three years.

More focused spending

"New competition is also holding down average monthly spending, a factor contributing to the growth in pay TV subscribers in South Africa," says the report that expects "more focused spending on more affordable packages such as DStv Compact".

The report also notes that high definition (HD) viewing continues to attract high-end consumers to MultiChoice's DStv Premium bouquet and "it is expected HD will continue to be an attraction for high-end consumers and that more channels will be added in the near future".

According to the report, subscription television in South Africa is growing "at an extremely rapid pace".

Sport is still king for broadcasters and pay TV operators, says the report, noting that the launch of mobile TV in South Africa in 2010 has created a new advertising revenue stream "that we expect will reach R22m by 2015".

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