USA, Canada The World’s Top Pay-TV Markets

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The U.S., and Canada, have something else to boast about.


According to research conduced by NAGRA, a specialist provider of content protection and multiscreen television solutions, and international research and strategy consultancy MTM, North America accounts for nearly half of the $200 billion in global pay-TV revenue.

The report, The Pay-TV Innovation Landscape in North America, also notes that the U.S. and Canada are global leaders in innovation and opportunities for pay-TV companies.

“The region is also one of the most advanced, with all major service providers offering IP-connected set-top-boxes and 70% enabling access to third-party OTT services,” the report finds.

Specifically, service providers in the U.S. are leading the way with such next-generation features as 4K (offered by 25% of providers), content recommendations (35%), and voice control (now at 10%).

Diversification into adjacent business areas is another big plus for companies in the U.S. and Canada, it finds, with half of North American service providers offering home security and automation bundles to customers, leveraging their own broadband infrastructure.

“This advanced market maturity comes with new challenges that require a redoubled emphasis on innovation to adapt to intensifying competition for content and evolving consumer preferences and behaviors,” the researchers note.

For instance, service providers are adjusting to a new on-demand and multi-screen environment where the divisions between the core pay-TV options and paid OTT offerings is blurring.

Thus, app-based OTT pay-TV services and Smart Home solutions were stated by researchers as the top opportunities to drive growth over the next five years.

Providers also taking steps to expand their content offerings. This includes the addition of standalone OTT services and new forms of content. The further monetization of services through advanced advertising and data services is also poised to grow.

“It’s great to see that in a time of unprecedented changes in consumer behavior the North American pay-TV market is consolidating its strength, while also targeting new key areas for further growth,” said Simon Trudelle, Senior Product Marketing Director for NAGRA. “However, service providers mustn’t rest on their laurels. As TV-product competition from new entrants intensifies, pay-TV service providers will have to accelerate innovation and time-to-market to create more value for their customers, with partnerships with vendors and multi-company collaborations set to become increasingly important.”