Western European Cable And Satellite Subscriber Figures
Western European satellite and cable television subscriber figures in the table below show Germany’s towering lead over all other countries in the region, with practically twice as many subscribers to each platform as its closest rival.
In the satellite (direct to home) sector, Germany has 12.8 million subscribers, whilst the UK – the region’s second largest satellite market – has only 6.6 million.
| Western European Cable And Satellite TV Subscribers | ||
| Cable TV | DTH (Satellite) | |
| United Kingdom | 2,150 | 6,560 |
| Sweden | 210 | 600 |
| Finland | 1,140 | 34 |
| Denmark | 81 | 710 |
| Austria | 993 | 1,453 |
| Greece | 1 | 100 |
| Italy | 240 | 2,074 |
| France | 650 | 3,200 |
| Spain | 1,133 | 2,120 |
| Portugal | 60 | 220 |
| Germany | 17,887 | 12,820 |
| Ireland | 30 | 220 |
| Belgium | 189 | 40 |
| Netherlands | 6,254 | 500 |
| Source: Informa Media Group/MBC/The Bridge, 2003 | ||
“Western Europe and key European Union countries have won praise for taking TV into the 21st century, leading the charge in introducing enhanced TV applications and other technologies,” says The Bridge.
“In the UK, the pay-TV story continues to be dominated by British Sky Broadcasting and its 6.5 million digital satellite TV customers. Cable operators NTL and Telewest continue to flounder, struggling under heavy debt and – as Informa Media puts it – defying predictions by failing to merge,” says the report.
Satellite TV also leads in France, with CanalSatellite and TPS gaining a majority of pay-TV viewers. But cable has taken over in the Netherlands, where 98% of TV households are connected.