Advanced Television

Dahlia TV quits Spanish pay DTT market

January 13, 2010

Swedish pay-DTT project Dahlia TV, controlled by Air Plus TV, has decided to withdraw from the Spanish pay DTT because it doesn't believe it can generate sufficient business citing the delay in licensing and fierce competition from Mediapro through Gol TV, as the main reasons.

The company, with operations in Finland and Italy, had announced an investment of E150 million to develop its pay DTT platform in Spain with a package selling for between E8 and E12 per month. “We wanted to offer attractive pay content at a low price and we signed an agreement with the AXN channel. But, the delay in the approval of pay DTT and the direct commercialization of pay TV football rights by Mediapro through Gol TV have made our project in Spain very difficult”, said the company.

Meanwhile, three months before the analogue switch-off, Spain's DTT penetration has reached 77.4 per cent of TV households, according to Impulsa TDT.

In some Spanish Regions, like Aragon or the Canary Islands, DTT penetration surpasses 85 per cent of homes. In November, a total of 785,000 DTT receivers were sold of which 488,000 were iDTVs. Total receiver sales since the re-launch of DTT services in November 2005 is 24.2 million. According to Impulsa TDT, Spain has the highest DTT penetration in Europe ahead of the UK, with 71 per cent, Italy, with 53.5 per cent and France with 43.1 per cent.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO