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The Indian direct-to-home (DTH) market would be the world’s largest by 2014 in terms of the subscribers, says a new report published by Media Partners Asia (MPA). The report, entitled Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets 2010, undertakes the trends of the pay-TV and broadband markets in Asia-Pacific region (A-Pac).

According to the findings of the report the pay-TV sector added 26.6 million new subscribers in the A-Pac during 2009. Also, A-Pac’s pay-TV & broadband market would show favourable trends in the coming years due to rising penetration of pay-TV and broadband; digitization; the growth of next generation services; increasing consumer spend and the emergence of large markets for pay-TV advertising.

The pace of digital growth was driven by the cable operators in China and Japan; DTH satellite pay-TV in India and Southeast Asia; and IPTV in North Asia. High definition television (HDTV) is growing, reaching 7 million pay-TV homes in 2009 while personal video recorders (PVRs) were installed in 2.4 million pay-TV homes.

Furthermore, according to the projections made by MPA, by 2014, 446 million homes in Asia Pacific will be receiving pay-TV. The number of Indian DTH subscribers will increase to be million by 2014 from 17 million in 2009. The report also says Pay-TV industry sales in India are seen growing to $12.1 billion by 2014 and 18.5 billion by 2010.

Trends highlighted by the report suggest profits will grow significantly over the long-term, driven by consolidation in the largest markets, India and China. The focus is on digital transition, and the growth of next-generation services, including HDTV and PVR in the near term and 3DTV and home gateways in the long term.

MPA executive director Vivek Couto said: “There is scope for cash generation amongst leading pay-TV operators in India, China and Indonesia as consolidation grows and capitalization improves. Consolidation and M&A will also help boost profits in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Profits will remain sizable in Australia and Malaysia but earnings are likely to be volatile in Singapore and Thailand. Amongst broadcasters, media groups with strong brands continue to make money. Exposure to large advertising and subscription markets is vital along with investment in local markets.”