Piracy of paid television in the Arab region causes losses of $500 Million a year, according to a media research firm. 8 percent of Arab households that watch television actually pay for the services through cable or satellite. The remaining 92 percent of views in the region pirate the broadcast.
In Lebanon, an estimated 99 percent of television viewers are pirating their cable signal. In Egypt, around 10 million households are receiving pirated cable feeds.
Source: Ben Flanagan, “Piracy hijacks growth of pay-TV,” National, November 3, 2011.
In 2009, 40 million “gray market” satellite dishes were shipped in China. These satellite dishes are banned in cities and are meant solely for use in rural areas. However, many urban customers purchase these dishes on the black market in order to avoid paying cable fees.
In addition, in 2008 more than 10 million satellite dishes that can receive foreign broadcasts that are banned in China was shipped to the country.
Source: Owen Fletcher, “Illegal Satellite TV in China Brings CNN to the Masses,” PC World, April 22, 2010.
75.5 percent of pay per view watchers in Egypt use pirated connections.
Source: AME Info, May 20, 2008.
Cable operators in Asia lost $1.75 billion to piracy in 2008.
Satellite piracy in Canada costs $278 million.
Cable and Satellite Piracy in the United States costs 6.5 Billion.
Source: Asia: CASBAA, “Digital Deployment: Asia-Pacific Pay-TV Industry Study,” October 2008.
Source:Canada: RCMP, “Really good deal? Might not be real,” Intellectual Property Crime, accessed on August 1, 2009.
Source: United States: Benny Evangelista, “Pay-TV piracy: Decryptions is costing the satellite and cable TV industry $6.5 billion,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 2002.
