Digital TV Homes to Hit 274 Million

LONDON, August 21: The number of digital TV households in
Western Europe and the U.S. will reach 274 million by 2012, according to new
research from Datamonitor, up from 158 million last year.

Consumers are demanding enhanced features, more content and
bundled offerings, according to Datamonitor’s research. That, combined with the
U.S. analogue switch-off date of February 2009, and most Western European
countries terminating transmission before the 2012 deadline, will deliver rapid
increases in new digital TV households in the next two years.

“DTV will grow an average of 12 percent year-on-year, with
particularly strong adoption in the near term as broadcasters terminate
analogue terrestrial television,” said Chris Khouri, an analyst for media and
broadcasting at Datamonitor and the report’s author.

DTV penetration will rise from 54 percent in 2007 to 88
percent at the end of 2012, driven by a significant increase in DTT homes,
which will rise from 26 million at end ’07 to 55 million in 2012. DTT and
digital cable will be the fastest-growing platforms in Europe and the U.S.,
with net increases of 30 million and 50 million, respectively. IPTV services
will show the strongest average yearly growth at around 28 percent, reaching
almost 23 million households by 2012. Satellite services will experience
moderate growth of 5.5 percent, reaching around 86 million households in 2012.

—By Mansha Daswani