Digital television will reach 80 million European households by the end of 2007, equivalent to more than half of the overall TV market, according to a new study from Datamonitor.
The report, entitled
Digital and Interactive TV Markets: Service development and uptake to 2007, examined the progress made by cable, satellite and digital terrestrial platforms in fourteen different markets. Whilst acknowledging that the last year has been a problematic period for digital TV, the research suggests that hurdles have now been overcome and the industry can expect significant growth in the next five years.
Countries such as the UK, France, Italy and Spain have been at the forefront of DTV development but small markets such as Portugal and the Nordic countries are set to experience the most rapid growth. Satellite will remain the most prominent digital platform in 2007, accounting for 41% of the European digital TV market in 2007.
Until now, pay-TV services have been the main driver of the digital TV market but Datamonitor predicts that free-to-air services will take on an increasingly important role. Over 500,000 Freeview boxes have been sold since the DTT operation was launched in the UK last October (see Freeview Customers Surpass ITV Digital’s Total) and the service is seen as an acid test of the public’s enthusiasm for digital services ahead of the proposed analogue switch-off.
The UK e-commerce minister Stephen Timms has said that the government will help television manufacturers in the PR task of convincing consumers to invest in set-top boxes for DTT or connect to cable and satellite services.
