The global pay-TV subscribers will reach 858.1 million at the end of 2012, up 5% from last year, despite a decline in the North America pay-TV market in 2012, according to market analyst ABI Research.

The key growth will be driven by the Asia-Pacific market, which is expected to add more than 27 million subscribers in 2012. In particular, the APAC region will see the strongest growth in digital TV subscriptions in 2012, mainly driven by the on-going digitization process in countries such as India, which has been enabling steady increase of digital TV penetration. One major factor is the Indian government’s recent announcement that it will not extend the deadline set for cable digitization of 12 million homes in the four major metro areas beyond October 31, 2012.

While ABI Research is skeptical that target will be reached as only 68% has been achieved so far in India, research analyst Khin Sandi Lynn noted that overall Asia-Pacific digital cable TV subscriber base is expected to reach 213 million by the end of 2012, up by 27 from last year.

Meanwhile, cable TV operators in the United States have been facing a continuous decline in pay-TV subscribers. In the first two quarters of 2012, cable TV operators lost nearly 0.8 million subscribers, although their broadband subscriber base has continued to grow. IPTV services, on the other hand, gained around 0.6 million subscribers during the same period.