DATAXIS, a market research company based in France with presence in Africa and America, announcing its analysis on digital pay TV market in Switzerland for the year 2009, reported that there were nearly 841,000 subscribers to digital pay-TV services in the region at the end of 2009.

According to DATAXIS, there are three platforms available in Switzerland, namely cable, IPTV (News - Alert) and satellite. Cablecom, which registered just 4.7 percent increase during Q3 2009, topped Digital Pay TV market with 379,200 subscribers by the end of 2009.

Swisscom (News - Alert) took the second place with 230,000 subscribers and registered a 23.7 percent growth compared to Q3 2009 (186,000 subscribers) - due to its successful IPTV offer, Swisscom TV (formerly Bluewin TV).

Canalsat Switzerland, a satellite operator launched in October 2008, was in third position with nearly 12,000 customers by the end of 2009, instead of 17,000 as expected.

According to the market research firm, the new entrant, VTX, which is currently providing IPTV services in Basel and Pully, is backing on competitive price compared to Swisscom and a new recording technology that enables viewers to record the entire program if they miss the beginning of the program.

In the past, cable dominated the Pay TV in Switzerland. However, this technology is now being threatened by IPTV, because IPTV is more reliable and permits a wide range of additional services.

Consequently, if this trend continues, then its not far that Swisscom would pass Cablecom and become the leader of Digital Pay TV market in Switzerland, says Dataxis’ report.

According to figures compiled by another research company FutureSource Consulting, the total worldwide market for media products and services stood at $598 billion by end of 2009, with the US accounting for half of that expenditure. The pay-TV services around the world reached $165 billion or 28 percent of the total market in 2009.