In Poland, pay TV services are offered by DTH operators, cable TV operators and IPTV providers.
By our estimates, at the end of 2012, Polish operators provided pay TV services to approximately 11 million subscribers.
According to AC Nielsen’s data (Establishment Survey 2012), excluding households using more than one pay TV service, the pay TV market saturation in Poland was approximately 66% at the end of 2012.
Cable TV was once the main form of access to pay TV services in Poland. Cable TV operators focus on customers in densely populated areas, where extensive infrastructure already exists or can be developed at a relatively low cost per subscriber. On the other hand, DTH operators are able to offer their services to customers in both urban areas, as well as less densely populated areas with non-existent or poorly developed cable TV infrastructure, without the need to increase costs.
The IPTV market in Poland is growing relatively slowly, mainly due to technological constraints resulting from the lack of modern infrastructure of capacity sufficient to provide high-quality and profitable services.
PAY TV MARKET IN POLAND
1Based on own estimates and data published by the operators (annual reports of the TVN Group and the Telekomunikacja Polska Group for 2012).
2Based on own estimates and data published by the Polish Chamber for Electronic Communication (PIKE).
3Based on own estimates and data published by the operators (annual reports of the Telekomunikacja Polska Group and Netia S.A. for 2012).
Digital satellite pay TV operators
In 2012, there were three main DTH platforms in Poland: Cyfrowy Polsat, Cyfra+ and the ’n’ platform.
At the end of 2012, the Canal+ Cyfrowy and TVN Groups announced the execution of strategic partnership agreements and commenced the merger of their Cyfra+ and ’n’ platforms into the nc+ platform. According to the information provided by the TVN Group, the new operator, established after the merger, will render services to some 2.5 million customers.
Since 2006, Cyfrowy Polsat has been the leader of the Polish DTH market in terms of subscriber base and market share, with more than 3.5 million subscribers and an approximately 56% share in the domestic market (as at December 31st 2012).
Cable TV operators
According to the Polish Chamber for Electronic Communication (PIKE), the Polish cable TV market is dominated by three major operators, whose combined market share as at the end of Q3 2012 was approximately 67%. PIKE estimates that the overall number of subscribers to domestic cable service providers is approximately 4.6 million.
In 2012, the three major cable TV operators in Poland were UPC Polska, Multimedia Polska and Vectra.
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)
The leading IPTV provider in Poland is Telekomunikacja Polska, while the second largest IPTV operator is Netia S.A.
