The television industry is back on a growth path, with a global market of €289.2 billion, which marks a 7.1% increase compared to 2009, according to IDATE’s World TV Markets report.

IDATE estimates that the worldwide television market in 2010 was worth €289.2 billion, rising 7.1% compared to 2009. The industry is therefore back on a growth path after a year of relative stagnation – reporting growth of a mere 0.6% in 2009.
The United States remains the largest television market in the world with a turnover of €103 billion in 2010, rising 4.5% in a year after posting a slight dip (-0.7%) in 2009. The North American region’s share of the global market declined to 37% in 2010 compared to 38% in 2009.

As the second largest regional market, Europe had a turnover of €84.4 billion in 2010, a rise of 6.6% compared to 2009. The United Kingdom, Germany and France are the heavyweights in the region and together represent more than half (56%) of the region's revenue. While the United Kingdom and France saw an increase of 6.2% and 5.3%, respectively, Germany is making slower progress (1.2%). Europe’s share of the global market has stagnated at 29%.

Asia/Pacific recorded a large growth in its TV market of 9.1% in 2010. Its share of the global market rose by 0.4 points to 22.3%. The heavyweights in the region – Japan, India and China – experienced varied results. Despite being a mature market, Japan was back on an upwards trajectory in 2010, with TV revenue increasing by 3.9%, while China was reporting a 12.2% increase, which is more than two and a half times the 2009 growth rate, and India continued to enjoy a solid momentum, reporting 13.3% growth in 2010 compared to 15.4% the year before.

Latin America showed a good level of growth in its TV market, with an increase of 12.8%. Its market share in the worldwide market is still small (7.8%), but it is growing every year (6.4% in 2007). Brazil is the largest market in Latin American TV and alone makes up 44% of the market.

The smallest regional market, Africa/Middle East, experienced the fastest growth in its TV market, with an increase of 16.9% compared to 2009. Its share of the global market is increasing to 3.6% in 2010, compared to 3.3% in 2009.

The global TV market’s growth in 2009 is due chiefly to a rise in pay-TV revenue (+8.4%), with ad revenue rising at a lesser rate (+5.8%). Public financing did rise by 6.9% in 2010 but still accounts for less than 10% of the global television market’s income.

Up until 2008, advertising was by far the primary means of funding for the industry, generating about 47% of the sector's revenue, compared to nearly 44% for subscription television and 9.4% for public funding. The situation began to reverse in 2009 and, in 2010, subscription television accounted for 48% compared to 43% for advertising.

In the years to come, IDATE predicts this trend will become more pronounced and estimates that subscription television should generate more than 49% of revenue of the worldwide television market by 2014.

Story filed 17.01.11