INSIGHTanalysis: Media Healthcheck – September 2006
The big theme of September was television in a variety of forms, with a report from Strategy Analytics saying that nearly 19 million European homes will buy digital television for the first time this year, an increase of 20%.
Globally, Informa Telecoms & Media said that nearly 40 million digital households will be added in 2006, bringing the total to 183 million (see Digital Penetration Of TV Households To Reach 16%), with digital penetration of TV households reaching 16% by the end of this year.
In a separate report, Informa Telecoms & Media said that bundles and convergence are the main drivers behind digital TV takeup in Western Europe. The Informa report added that whilst the UK will remain the digital leader, its dominance will wane over the next five years, dropping to 22% of the penetration total by 2011 (see Bundles And Convergence Driving Digital TV Takeup).
Towards the end of the month, MediaTel held a seminar on the Future of TV where Clare Salmon, director of marketing and commercial strategy at ITV, said that rumours pointing to the demise of the television industry are very much exaggerated (see Rumours Of The Demise Of TV Industry Are Exaggerated).
In contrast though, an alternative view raised at the seminar was the possibility that the rise in broadband could threaten TV channels in the UK (see Rise In Broadband Could Threaten TV Channels In UK).
Speaking at the seminar, Rahul Chakkara, controller BBCi, said that the market will become more fluid, with more players entering in the coming years. “You’ll have new entrants like BT Vision, HomeChoice maybe with Tiscali’s help expanding itself, maybe a couple of other entrants coming in.
“So suddenly from two or three… the market will go into six, seven different players and it will get very competitive and the competition will impact the prices.”
Elsewhere, the global market for video-on-demand services delivered via cable, IPTV networks and broadband was predicted to grow massively, according to new research from US researcher iSuppli, who said that by 2010 there will be nearly 150 million active VOD users/subscribers worldwide (see VOD Market To See Massive Growth).
Of course, one of the main delivery methods for VOD will be via broadband, and advertisers are understandably keen to capitalise on all emerging digital markets, with a report from eMarketer forecasting that US online adspend growth rates will reach 26.8% and 15.1% in 2006 and 2007 respectively (see US Online Adspend To Reach Over $21 Billion).
One emerging market that advertisers will be keen to crack is China, where the possibilities are huge. By 2010, China’s broadband market is forecast to reach 139 million subscribers, having overtaken the US broadband market to become the world’s largest (see China’s Broadband Market Will Reach 139 Million Subscribers By 2010).