Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Subscription Video is Too Big to Ignore

Telco TV (linear video delivered over the fixed network) has taken a bigger beating over the last few years, as the whole sector experiences contraction. Still, entertainment video is among the few mass market consumer services ever to have developed. Voice services and internet access are the only other two services with near-ubiquitous demand, on a fixed network.

And with fixed network voice lines in serious decline, and market share in the internet access market severely training cable TV operator share, entertainment video is the only other revenue driver that can affect overall revenue, even as it declines.

In 2018, linear video represents about $126 billion in annual revenues. Fixed network internet access was about at least a $60 billion business in 2018. If cable operators have 65 percent of that, then telco internet access generates about $21 billion annually.  

Keep in mind that total U.S fixed network telco revenues were only about $75 billion in total, in 2018. Assume 40 percent is generated by business customer services, leaving about $45 billion total that is generated by consumers. That suggest voice generates $24 billion a year in revenue.

The point is that video entertainment is a much-bigger business than voice or internet access, in the fixed network segment of the U.S. business.





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