National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova

The statistical data on the evolution of the pay TV market (TV networks, cable and IP TV) in 2016, aggregated by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), show that in 2016 the main indicators of this market continued to decline, a trend that has developed in the last three years. The total number of pay TV subscribers decreased, compared to 2015, by 5,3 thousand (-1,9%) and showed 269,9 thousand, while the revenues from these services declined by 5 million lei (-3.2%) and reached 151,7 million lei.

The total number of pay TV subscribers dropped due to the reduction of the subscriber base of cable network operators. Their number decreased by 14,6 thousand (-7,1%) and at the end of 2016 was 191,8 thousand. At the same time, the subscriber base of IP TV network operators increased by 9,3 thousand (13,6%) and exceeded 78 thousand.

According to the data presented to ANRCETI by 108 active pay TV service providers, in 2016 71% of subscribers used cable TV networks, 28,9% – IP TV networks. The data also show that 55,4% subscribers used analog TV and 44,6% – digital.

The total revenue from pay TV services dropped because of lower revenues obtained by cable network providers. Their turnover has decreased since 2015 by 10,6 million (-10,8%) down to 88 million lei. Meanwhile, the revenues of operating IP-TV providers increased by 5,6 million (+9,7%) and equaled over 63,7 million lei. Following this development, the average revenue per user (ARPU) for pay TV services was 46,7 lei, down by 1,19 lei (-2.5%).

Compared to 2015, the market shares of the largest pay TV operators of services by turnover did not significantly change. At the end of 2016, the market share of Moldtelecom was 30.6%, Sun Communications – 26,7%, TV-BOX – 11,1%, joint share of other 105 operators – 31,6%.

March 23, 2017