Digital Satellite platforms gain subscribers

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Digital satellite pay TV platforms continue to grow in many areas of the world, and are expected to enjoy higher profitability over the next several years, according to In-Stat/MDR However, growth in some mature regional markets is slowing or stagnating, the high-tech research firm says.

"We expect 40 million worldwide DTH pay-TV subscribers to be added through 2008 as compared to the 61 million digital DTH pay-TV subscribers that were active at the end of 2003," said In-Stat/MDR analyst Michelle Abraham. "In addition to an increasing subscriber base, the industry's profits are on the rise due to reductions in equipment costs, increases in package pricing, and new revenues from new services and features."

A recent In-Stat/MDR report also found: Worldwide subscription revenues are projected to grow to $70 billion in 2008. In Europe, Italy has been a growing market in 2004, but subscriber growth in most other countries has been slow. One of the fastest growing countries will be Japan due to the conversion of a large number of analog satellite subscribers to the digital broadcast satellite service. India is also expected to experience fast growth as the country's first satellite pay-TV service was launched in 2003 and a second one is expected in 2005. (http://www.instat.com)