European Interactive TV Penetration To Hit 44% By 2007
European interactive television (iTV) penetration is to reach 44% of households by 2007, up from just 11% currently, according to a new report from Forrester Research.
Growth fairly slow, UK to lead The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will be relatively low, at only 26% between now and 2006. By 2007, the UK will still have the highest number of iTV households, but the 61% penetration will start saturating there, the report predicts.
France and Italy will trail slightly with 57% household penetration, whilst Germany will not grow beyond 16% in 2007.
Satellite to dominate Forrester says that satellite will be the main delivery mechanism. “Today, satellite delivery grabs the lion’s share of iTV broadcast at 69%,” said Forrester analyst Hellen K. Omwando. “By 2007 satellite will continue to retain most subscribers, cable will ramp up but not enough to catch up and digital terrestrial will still struggle to find a foothold.”
Better quality and more channels – up to 300 at BSkyB – will outweigh the platform’s problems of subscribers having to use a phone connection for ‘interacting’ and its relatively high cost.
Satellite’s share will drop to 55% by 2007 as the other delivery methods gain ground. Cable will account for 34% of delivery, up from 23% today. The collapse of terrestrial players like Spain’s Quiero and ITV Digital in the UK has set back the ‘already fledgling market’ and digital terrestrial will only reach 11% of European homes by 2007.
