Advanced Television

German pay-TV market share to jump by 30%+

October 21, 2011

Germany’s pay-television providers will expand their share of the country’s TV market by one-third in the next two years as they offer more attractive programming and technology says Henning Roeper, head of Solon Management Consulting, speaking at the Medientage conference in Munich.

HD and 3D images, exclusive content, live sports and easier-to-use devices will help cable and online TV operators account for 20 per cent of Germany’s TV market in 2013 compared with 15 per cent in 2011,

Companies driving the expansion include Sky Deutschland, Deutsche Telekom  with its Entertain unit; cable companies such as Kabel Deutschland; and broadband outlets such as Amazon’s Lovefilm and Apple’s iTunes, according to Roeper.

Average annual revenue per user in Germany is €15.50, less than the €50.60 average in the US, where pay TV’s market penetration is at 88 per cent, or €35.30 in the UK where penetration is 54 per cent, according to Solon data.

Sky Deutschland Chief Executive Officer Brian Sullivan, who has reversed customer losses since he took over in April 2010, said at the conference that pay-TV growth will be related to content and service offerings that attract households, rather than viewers becoming more willing to pay for TV.

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