Big media firms are quietly building empires overseas

FOR a long time pay-television has essentially been an American business, much more popular (and lucrative) there than anywhere else in the world. But the balance is about to tip. In 2010 more will be spent on subscriptions to multichannel television outside the United States—about $96 billion—than in it, according to SNL Kagan, a research outfit. The effect on big American media firms is profound.

The rest of the world has lagged America in pay-TV both because relatively few people subscribe to it and because, in some countries, it has been difficult to sell advertising. In Japan, for example, just 24% of television-owning households pay for more channels, and ad revenue is puny. Yet other countries are catching up, with poorer countries often speeding past richer ones (see chart). Brazil’s Net Servicos grew from 1.8m subscribers in 2006 to 3.6m in 2009. American media companies hope that they will be lifted by a rising tide of pay-TV subscribers in emerging markets. …