Half of families in Western Europe receiving digital television
Digital television in Western Europe has this month overtaken analogue TV for the first time, according to new research.
The e-Media Institute said that there are now about 83 million households in the region’s 20 countries receiving digital TV signals, out of a total of 166 million TV households.
At the end of June 2007, families equipped to watch digital TV made up 48% of the total in Western Europe.
Italy is the only country where the take-up of digital TV is slowing: the country has slipped behind its neighbours France and Spain in terms of digital penetration and, in the first half of 2007, was 19th out of 20 in the region in terms of growth in the number of digital TV households (5.2%).
The report also found that satellite is still the major platform for pay-TV services, with more than 23 million subscribers. As of the end of June 2007, the number of satellite pay-TV subscribers in Western Europe increased 6.5% from a year earlier.
A recent global forecast from ZenithOptimedia predicted that TV advertising spend will fall 4.8% this year.
Elsewhere, GroupM said that television has managed to increase its global ad investment share.