The Latin American multichannel television market is back on an upward track, reports Kagan Research. "The past few years have been tough for Latin America's multichannel TV operators as macro-economic volatility led to higher subscriber churn and forced programming contracts to be renegotiated," says Ben Reneker, Kagan senior analyst and head of the company's international research team.

"The worst appears behind us, however, and the region's markets are rebounding. Subscriber growth has returned to most multichannel platforms and digital technologies are being deployed, making conditions ripe for competitive flux and investor opportunity," continued Reneker.

A new study from Kagan Research shows that at the end of 2005 there were 21.1 million households subscribing to multichannel television in the 19 countries surveyed. Over the next ten years, Kagan forecasts the number of multichannel households in the region will grow at a 5.6% CAGR, breaching the 30 million subscriber mark by 2012 and reaching 36.3 million in 2015.

Kagan Research forecasts relatively stable macro economic growth over the coming ten years. But the fundamental challenges of piracy and poverty appear unshakable for the foreseeable future and Kagan projects modest increases in multichannel penetration in many markets, particularly the region's smaller ones.

Among the findings included in this latest Kagan market forecast and analysis:
Among the 19 countries surveyed, Kagan forecasts IPTV economies will develop in Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Bolivia. The model indicates IPTV households will come online in 2007 and the total subscriber base will reach 677K by 2015, accounting for 1.9% of the total multichannel base. Kagan estimates there were 4.5 million households connecting to digital signals in 2005, just 3.9% of the Latin television households universe. Penetration of digital services into television households is expected to grow at a 17.4% CAGR over the coming ten years to reach 19.3% by 2015, translating to 29.7 million digital television households. DTH satellite television holds significant market traction with 3.7 million subscribers accounting for 17.3% of the total multichannel market at the end of 2005. Kagan forecasts the DTH subscriber base will grow at a 6.8% CAGR over the next ten years, reaching 7 million households by 2015, resulting in a 19.4% market share.

About the market research study
The 322-page Kagan Research report, "LATIN AMERICAN MULTICHANNEL MARKETS", tracks the evolution of multichannel TV in 19 Latin American countries over a 10-year financial model, breaking down each market by cable, satellite, fixed wireless, IPTV, DTT and pay-DTT platforms. Central to the study are Kagan's exclusive surveys of the region's multichannel operators, bolstered by data from the countries' regulatory authorities and triangulated with information from equipment suppliers, programming providers, and trade associations. In addition to offering platform-centric views of Latin American multichannel economies, the databook identifies and profiles major multichannel operators in each country.