Taiwan

Cable TV dominates in Taiwan, one of Asia’s largest multichannel markets. Some 79 domestic content providers offer 153 channels, while another 27 foreign providers deliver 67 channels. Beyond these, five terrestrial operators offer 14 high-definition digital channels. Chunghwa Telecom also delivers a digital multimedia-on-demand service via a broadband platform.

Subscription TV’s audience share is high: 78% in all TV homes, 86% in subscription TV homes. In the first half of 2010, the share of viewing was consistently high across all demographic groups, and significantly higher among business professionals, 90% in all TV homes, and 93% in multichannel homes. The data also shows a slight bias towards younger viewers, especially the 20 to 29 year-old segment.

According to the latest report from Nielsen’s Advertising Information Service (AIS), the media ad market recorded 24% growth in the first half of 2010, reaching US$700 million. Television adspend increased by 25% and overall all media experienced double-digit growth. Television ad revenue growth was led by increases in finance and banking, household products and transportation.

AGB NMR (Taiwan), which has been providing TAM data since 1994, manages a panel of 1,800+ TV households (6,500+ individuals) distributed throughout the country. The panel includes 1,600 subscription TV homes and covers 77 channels.

Because of multichannel television’s high penetration, subscription TV profiles are fairly flat, although Synovate does conduct the PAX survey in Taipei, which shows 93% of all respondents having watched a regional cable or satellite channel in the previous month.