
Altice has seen a meteoric rise in the past 18 months, transitioning from a private equity firm with a diverse range of smaller stakes to a multinational TV and communications company. It now joins the largest global pay-TV players who control close to 50 per cent of the world's subscription TV revenue, according to a new report by Ampere Analysis.
Until 18 months ago industry veterans John Malone and Rupert Murdoch where the two major pay-TV figureheads, with US giant Comcast also registering a significant portion of global pay TV revenue at 9.3 per cent. But now there are two new players: AT&T with a staggering 18 per cent (following its acquisition of DirecTV), and Altice with just over three per cent pending the completion of its now-financed Cablevision bid.
Half of consumer spending on pay-TV globally now goes into the accounts of just five groups of companies, Ampere Analysis has found. Entities owned directly or indirectly by Malone will have almost ten cent of global pay-TV revenue if the merger of Charter, Time Warner Cable and Bright House is finalised, while Murdoch's stakes in Sky Europe and Foxtel take his global share to seven per cent. Five entities controlling one half of the pay-TV market means challenging negotiations for the supply chain, however, they also face the risk of viewers bypassing intermediaries and accessing content directly, in new ways.
Beyond consolidation, the opportunity for growth in pay-TV revenues is geographical expansion and moving into emerging markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. To date, the top entities have been slow to move outside the west, but Ampere Analysis believes that is changing.
The merger between AT&T and DirecTV created the largest pay-TV group in the US, and also leads the way in global pay-TV revenue (Q2 2015). As well as further US consolidation, and access to new markets in central and South America, the merger of the two companies presents an important opportunity to offer a significant quad-play bundle to US consumers.
Consolidation tactics are also at play in Europe. The most significant activity recently was the creation of Sky Europe, now the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the region, with 27.8 per cent of western European pay-TV revenue. By comparison, rival Liberty Global has 12.5 per cent, despite similar subscriber numbers in western Europe.
It has taken $50 billion and an aggressive 18-month global expansion plan for private equity firm Altice to achieve its significant 3.1 per cent slice of global pay-TV revenues (Q2 2015). That includes the creation of Numericable-SFR in France, the purchase of Portugal's largest telecoms provider Portugal Telecom, and acquisitions of US cable providers Suddenlink and soon Cablevision.
However, Guy Bisson, research director at Ampere Analysis believes that unlike the four largest players, Altice's strategy lacks focus. One option for Altice in the US would be to merge the services of fixed line cable with internet services and wireless communications, as it did in Europe with Numericable-SFR. But to do this Altice would need to purchase a mobile operator to provide quad-play services an offering not as developed in the US as it is Europe. This would not be cheap. Vodafone sold its stake in US-based Verizon Wireless for $130 billion in 2014. Altice's $50 billion shopping bill looks similar to the early days of Liberty Global, which having bought numerous operations only later began to divest non-core assets and create a geographically co-joined footprint, he commented.
After almost three decades of strong growth for pay-TV operators, a cord-cutting' trend is beginning to emerge among consumers. Defection from the traditional pay-TV companies means that net additions of new subscribers have been in decline since 2011, and will reach just over 25.7 million worldwide this year, the lowest figure for over ten years. Slow subscriber growth in these regions will hamper future prospects beyond more consolidation, so it's vital that operators look to new markets.
Analyst Daniel Gadher explained: Beyond AT&T/DirecTV which has a significant presence in a number of countries in central and South America, and Liberty Global exploring the South American market (even more so should its mooted acquisition of Cable and Wireless Communications complete), there is very limited investment among these groups in emerging Asian, African and Middle Eastern markets. These geographies have considerable potential for expansion in the coming years and if the groups we identified are to maintain their dominance, expansion into these high growth markets will be crucial.
Although currently a minor part of its business, Altice has begun to recognise the opportunity in emerging markets. The group now has a small number of assets in central America and the Caribbean, and a stake in African communications group Wananchi (alongside Liberty Global).
www.ampereanalysis.com
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Thomson and the Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI) convened a two-day workshop in Sarajevo bringing together more than 35 journalists, editors, p...
11/12/2025
ESPN's Aims for Spectacular With Heisman Trophy ShowEvent firsts include 1080p HDR production airing on both national broadcast and cableBy Dan Daley, Audio...
11/12/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Frankie Patton, University of ColoradoThe 2025 grad is hitting the ground running as a PA on national broadcastsBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 3By SVG Staff
Thursday, December 11, 2025 - 7:24 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The 2...
11/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: What Makes Gen Z, X, and Y Fans Tick? Dave Gavant of WSC Sports Go...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: 5G, MXL, Spectrum Loss, and Outerspace on Tap for Tues...
11/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: David Levy, Turner Titan and Master of Al...
11/12/2025
SVG Launches Follow the Money' Podcast: Go Inside the Sports Media Biz with...
11/12/2025
A Deep Dive Inside Game Creek Video's Bird and Magic Mobile Units, Home to A...
11/12/2025
How Sound Effects for Monsters Funday Football' Emulated the Sonic Soul of ...
11/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CSP Mobile Productions' Len Chase on Upgrading Tr...
11/12/2025
Having the right song soundtrack your moves can make all the difference when gam...
11/12/2025
It's been a big year for Taylor Swift. Her highly anticipated album The Life...
11/12/2025
New satellites for the SDA Tranche 1 Tracking program in production at L3Harris&...
11/12/2025
The Meadowlands system, a compact and mobile version of the CCS, uses ground-based radio frequency units to disrupt satellite communications....
11/12/2025
The L3Harris demonstration united tactical communications devices, counter-UAS c...
11/12/2025
Throughout 2025, L3Harris delivered innovative solutions to U.S. and allied warfighters across every domain.
With an unrelenting commitment to excellence, our...
11/12/2025
A Majority of the World's Population (51%) Identify As Soccer Fans
The 2025 MLB postseason notched 58.2 billion viewing minutes, up +24% from the prior y...
11/12/2025
WALTHAM, Mass. Video-over-IP software provider Zixi said Roi Sasson has joined the company as vice president, engineering....
11/12/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. In a move that highlights the growing competition between broadcasters and CTV platforms for local advertising, LG Ad Solutions has announ...
11/12/2025
Boston Conservatory Earns Several Best of Accolades in 2025 Highlights include a faculty Grammy win, a seventh consecutive year on Playbill's list of co...
11/12/2025
RASTATT, Germany Lawo and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) have partnered to launch the SMPTE ST 2110 Practical Lab, an immersive ...
11/12/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcasts Xfinity operating brand has announced the launch of new national video plans with all-in pricing that the operator said will provide custo...
11/12/2025
After eight years of declines, MoffettNathansons new Cord Cutting Monitor for Q3 2025 shows that pay TV subscribers to linear TV packages rose by 303,000, the f...
11/12/2025
Happy Holidays from Berklee Enjoy this years holiday student-performance video.
December 10, 2025
By
Office of the President
Dear Berklee community,
As w...
11/12/2025
11 Dec 2025
VEON's Banglalink Receives Regulatory Approval to Launch Digita...
11/12/2025
Thursday 11 December 2025
Sky Arts paints a picture of Britain's beauty as ...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
Meet the Most Relatable Hero This Holiday: Main Trailer and Po...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
High Tides: Netflix Shares Release Date Final Season
Credit: Netflix / Thomas Nolf
Entertainment
11 December 2025
GlobalNetherlandsBelgium...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in Texas: How Netflix House Dallas Is Leaving a Lasting Footprint
From left to right: America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerl...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
The Second Part of One Hundred Years of Solitude Will Arrive i...
11/12/2025
It's not every day we're asked to create a website for a classical musician!
So, we were delighted to help pianist Georgina Duncan as she embarks on he...
11/12/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today announced additional programm...
11/12/2025
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Irish golfing hero Shane Lowry...
11/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier ti...
11/12/2025
Hunters, saddle up - adventure awaits in the cloud.
Journey into the world of M...
11/12/2025
Sash is ready to samba as Fair City star Stephanie Kelly is revealed as the late...
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
10/12/2025
Sound-Alike Commercials Are Part of Sports' Soundtrack Johnny Cash for Coca-Cola is the latest in a long litany of sonic approximationsBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
10/12/2025
Immersive Sound Is Logical Next Step for Sports VenuesSound-systems suppliers are sanguine, but the market has its challengesBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednes...
10/12/2025
The Romans Built Arenas for Immersive Sound 2,000 Years AgoThe historic Arena of Nimes in France is still in use todayBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, De...
10/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Audio Workshop Hits on Immersive, Virtualized, and Next...
10/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview: Audio SpotlightBy SVG Staff
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 - 8:21 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlig...
10/12/2025
SVG Europe Audio: Listening to the sounds of powder and ice at Milano Cortina wi...
10/12/2025
Advancements in audio technology: Capturing the atmosphere of live sports By David Davies
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 09:27
Print This Story
Although wor...
10/12/2025
Everything smelled of popcorn: The art of bringing the complex sound of esports ...
10/12/2025
Top L-R: Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, Hanging by a Wire, Broken English, Buddy
C...
10/12/2025
For the first time, Spotify is giving users the power to steer the algorithm. Gustav S derstr m, Spotify's Co-President, CPO, and CTO, shares the vision beh...
10/12/2025
L3Harris' new contract for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System Insensitive ...
10/12/2025
L3Harris Meadowlands system has been designed with an open architecture software system that allows for more flexible and efficient software updates. This capab...