The growth of alternative ways of watching premium television looks to only be accelerating according to new research. But there are people fighting back against illegal activity.
As the costs of watching all the films and shows that we want to fix our eyes on grows with the price of streaming subscriptions increasing, more and more people are looking to illicit means to get their fix.
And while there are clever ways to save, the growth of internet protocol television (IPTV) seems to only be going in one direction.
Using IPTV is perfectly legal as long as what you're watching isn't from a premium service such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Sky Sports, TNT Sports, or Apple TV+.
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Watch something that only comes with a paid-for subscription? You're breaking the law.
And now, new research from Digital TV Research Limited has shown the landscape is bleak for digital TV subscription services.
There will be a boom in people using IPTV, according to the business which provides 30 reports a year on global, regional and country level television attitudes.
According to the research, Western Europe will lose nearly nine million pay TV subscribers between 2023 and 2029 to reach 93 million; down by 8%.
"This is nowhere near as bad as the US as pay TV penetration will still be 53% by 2029 – down from 58% in 2023," it says.
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"Pay TV subscriber counts will fall for 14 of the 18 countries between 2023 and 2029. Germany will lose 2.7 million subs, with the UK down by 2.0 million, Italy 1.5 million and France by 1.1 million. IPTV will gain one million subscribers between 2023 and 2029, with pay satellite TV down by 6.4 million, pay DTT down by 0.8 million and cable down by 2.4 million."
In the UK, subscription TV users are predicted to drop from 13.3m to 11.2m in the next five years.
Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Pay satellite TV will be the biggest loser because most DTH platforms do not offer broadband access. This is not true of Sky, which wants to convert its satellite TV subscribers to its streaming platforms.
"Sky will lose 1.8 million satellite TV subs in both Germany and the UK as well as a further 1.3 million in Italy – or nearly 5 million in its five territories between 2023 and 2029.”
It comes as the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, the Premier League, and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) have teamed up in a new crackdown on illegal streaming, with 11 people brought in for questioning.
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One was arrested and 10 were interviewed under caution following raids in Portsmouth, Wales, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Manchester and Bury.
Those questioned had been selling illegal access to premium content via IPTV running on Amazon Fire Sticks and similar devices. They all told police they would stop from thereon in.
Detective Chief Inspector Emma Warbey, from PIPCU, has also warned that using illegal streaming methods 'exposes end users to the risks of data theft, fraud and malware'.
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