Development of the UK TV reception market powered by SES

Development of the UK TV reception market powered by SES
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Satellite Monitors, commissioned by SES, continuously measure the development of the reception market for broadcast and broadband services in 35 countries within the footprint of SES’ European satellite fleet. The results of our latest UK Satellite Monitor were presented at a press and client conference in London on Tuesday 18 March 2014 with a special focus on the UK market. Andrew Neil, broadcaster and journalist, again opened the UK seminar.

Andrew Neil on the current and future state of broadcasting in the UK 

The rise of the second screen has yet to impact on traditional broadcasting, says Andrew Neil, who in addition to being a well-known BBC broadcaster and former Chairman of Sky television has great his finger on the pulse of the UK television market. .

The average UK viewer watched almost four hours television a day, but only three minutes of those four hours were watched on mobile devices and 98.5% of average daily viewing is through the traditional TV set. Decline will be very slow especially as all major on-demand entertainment is available on the main TV but at the same time broadcasters must ensure that content is available on all platforms.

The rise of ‘over the top’ (OTT) services such as Netflix now represents a third of US web traffic and is a game changer, he says, but the ability to download on demand has allowed TV to develop storytelling and depth of character that TV previously didn't allow for.

Ultra High Definition is the next big new development and Neil predicts this will be a huge game changer. He praised the 4k format and said that content already exists and that "the pictures jump off the screen, you don't need glasses".

A lot of content is already shot in 4k - Wimbledon for instance, but it is not broadcast. He said that prices of television sets were beginning to fall and in the US and were now under $1000. Neil believes that 4k will enhance the TV in the corner of the room.

SES reach in the UK

SES has boosted its coverage across Europe by 5% in the last year, according to the annual Satellite Monitor market research. In the UK, satellite TV serves nearly half of all homes, 100% of these British satellite homes receive their channels via SES.

Below is a pdf of the latest data for the UK and Ireland markets below summarising Satellite Monitor research and others studiesor download the London Satellite Monitor presentation here

More information?

Interested in the new SES Satellite Monitor European results? To access the results, you should be a customer on our extranet. Please log into the password-protected download area on our website using your personal login details.