PricewaterhouseCoopers: Indonesia Shows Slowest Growth of Pay TV in Asia
Pay television (a subscription-based television service) in Indonesia shows the slowest growth among Asian countries according to research reported by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Growth of pay television in Indonesia only amounts to two percentage points per year, a number that is significantly lower than in the country's regional peers. Indonesia's pay TV penetration rate is currently about six percent, which translates to three million households.
However, pay TV services providers are optimistic that by 2015 annual growth of subscribers will amount to seven percent, in line with the country's growing economy and the population's higher purchasing power. By 2020, Indonesia's pay TV subscribers are estimated to reach 7.7 million, equal to 19 percent of TV households according to data from Media Partners Asia. Almost all of these subscribers enjoy pay TV through satellite reception, while a minority uses a cable connection. The use of IPTV is still undeveloped in Indonesia.
A big problem that Indonesian pay TV services are facing is the wide-spread existence of illegal TV services providers in the country. According to the Ministry of Communication and Information only 700 operators have a permit, while the Indonesian Cable TV Association claims that in reality there are about 2,500 operators active. This situation is a characteristic of Indonesia: the formal sector is much smaller than the informal one.
Indonesia's largest pay TV operators are MNC Sky Vision and Telkom Vision, both of which claim to be the market leader in the country's pay TV industry. The former is part of the Global Mediacom Group.