SES reach passes 16 million homes in Germany

[Analoguesat]

SES ASTRA INCREASES PENETRATION TO REACH OVER 16 MILLION SATELLITE HOUSEHOLDS IN GERMANY
ASTRA adds almost 1 million households in 2005, and leads the digital TV market with some 6.3 million households (+41%)
SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) added almost 1 million households in 2005 to reach 16.2 million TV households receiving ASTRA satellite programming in Germany.

The growth of ASTRA digital households was particularly evident: nearly 6.3 million homes received digital programming last year, an increase of more than 1.8 million households (almost 41%) over the previous year. ASTRA continues to lead the market in digital TV reception via satellite.

The TNS Infratest survey reports 37.3 million analogue and digital TV households in Germany at the end of 2005. The total number of satellite households rose by 5.9% to 16.4 million, with satellite supplying some 44% of all TV households. Another 18.9 million TV households received programmes via cable , while 2.1 million homes used terrestrial antennas. Taking into account all the reception modes, the number of total analogue homes was 27 million, of which 10 million received satellite programming – a decrease of 920,000.

By contrast, the number of digital households rose to 10.4 million. This increase was mainly driven by satellite: 61% (6.3 million) of all digital households received their programming via satellite, 2.2 million TV households (+9%) relied on digital cable, and a further 1.9 million homes received terrestrial transmissions. In Germany, ASTRA is received via satellite and cable by 35 million households in total.

The number of households in Europe and North Africa receiving TV programmes via satellite or the Internet rose to 60.7 million, compared to 71.7 million cable households and 102.8 million terrestrial homes. Over 39 million (65%) of the satellite-equipped households were digital by the end of 2005. ASTRA is received in a total of 107 million households in 35 countries in Europe and North Africa, of which 45 million via satellite and 62 million via cable.

“As a result of the marked increase in last year’s penetration, SES ASTRA has once again demonstrated its advantages for consumers and its pioneering role in the rollout of digital broadcasting,” says Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA. “ASTRA’s satellites remain for many TV broadcasters and viewers the preferred method of distribution. This extraordinary success is due to our continuing growth and to the longstanding and sustained investments that we have been making in the German TV market and those of many other European countries.”


[1] Cable supplies 19.5 million TV households, including 600,000 households that have both satellite and cable access.

[2] In 35 countries within the footprint of ASTRA satellites: Algeria, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Slovakian Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia and Ukraine

[BGonaSTICK]

Blimey. Now I understand a little better the desire to package the whole lot up and 'do a Sky' with it.