Worldwide Revenues From OTT Are Soaring, Reaching $129B by 2023

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Charting the explosive growth of worldwide over-the-top (OTT) video revenue, Digital TV Research forecasts that returns will more than double between 2017 and 2023.

In 2017, all OTT sources took in $53 billion. That number should reach $129 billion in 2023.

Subscription services are the biggest part of OTT revenues, and have been since 2016, when they took over from advertising-based services. SVOD will continue its fast growth: In 2017, it accounted for 47 percent of total revenues; in 2023, it will make up 53 percent.

"The U.K. is—and will remain—Europe's largest market," says Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research. "OTT revenues will more than double from $3.0 billion in 2017 to $6.8 billion in 2023. AVOD revenues will double to $2.4 billion. SVOD revenues overtook AVOD in 2017. SVOD revenues will nearly triple from $1.3 billion in 2017 to $3.6 billion in 2023."

While OTT has already taken hold in the U.S. and Western Europe, the research sees OTT growing faster in other parts of the world. The U.S. accounted for 43 percent of OTT revenue in 2017, but that will shrink to 37 percent in 2023—even as U.S. revenues more than double. Huge growth in China is part of the reason. In 2017, China made up 16 percent of OTT revenue, but that will increase to 20 percent in 2023.

"Every country is at a different stage of development. Some have barely started," Murray notes. "Furthermore, penetration in some countries will remain low. There will be plenty of growth in the sector for some time to come. Revenues are expected to grow by nearly $10 billion in 2023. Even the U.S., the world's most mature market, will add more than $3 billion in 2023—or 7.1 percent annual growth."

This data comes from Digital TV Research's Global OTT TV and Video Forecasts report, available for purchase. 

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