UK Leads European Digital TV Take-Up

The UK is leading Europe in the transition to digital TV and by the end of last year 37% of British households had signed up to multi-channel services, compared with 20% in Scandinavia and only 8% in Germany, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.

The figures show that the penetration of digital TV in the UK is well above the European average of 16.3%. According to the research, the success of the UK market has been driven by “intense competition” between the four delivery platforms, satellite, cable, terrestrial and DSL.

In contrast the German market has been restricted by a political battle between new cable investors, free-to-air broadcasters and regulators. The report predicts that this could delay the rollout of digital services throughout Europe.

Nick Griffiths, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said: “We expect the majority of European homes to have digital television by 2006. But the analogue switch-off remains a distant prospect for most countries until well into the next decade.”

The research will be welcomed by the UK digital TV industry which suffered a setback last week when the latest industry estimates claimed that of the two million sold TV sets sold over the Christmas period, a mere 40,000 were equipped to receive digital services (see Fulfilling The Digital Vision). Plans for the analogue switch-off in the UK also stalled recently when the Government admitted that there appeared to be a lack of consumer interest in digital TV (see Delay For The Digital Deadline).

Strategy Analytics: 01582 405678 www.strategyanalytics.com

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