The number of people across the globe who are choosing to watch TV content via broadband connections has risen significantly this year, new research has revealed.

Market intelligence body Point Topic has estimated that over 26.3 million people worldwide were subscribing to web-based TV services – such as Sky Player – by the end of the second quarter of 2009.

The figure was an annual increase of 53 per cent and the organisation suggested that particularly strong growth was being seen in Europe and South America.

John Bosnell, Senior Analyst at Point Topic, said that more was actually expected from the concept.

He explained: "In themselves these numbers are pretty impressive, but market growth has not been as rapid as some IPTV evangelists might have hoped for."

Last month, research published by Point Topic predicted that current plans to introduce fibre-optic broadband across the UK will not meet demand that exists for the services.