Europe - Broadcasting - Cable, Satellite and Pay TV

Synopsis

This report brings together research on pay TV and the cable and satellite TV platforms at the European level. Detailed country-specific market information is available in the separate country reports. Europe has more cable networks than satellite TV services, and while many of the latter have been digital since launch, some cable TV networks are yet to be upgraded to digital. The UK has been a trailblazer in digital TV services, largely through the existence of three technological options following the relaunch of Freeview DTTV and the digitisation of satellite services. All countries in the EU are required by the European Commission (EC) to set time frames and strategies for the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial TV – with 2008 as the target date.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Cable TV in Europe
  • 2.1 Market overview
  • 2.2 Digital cable TV
    • 2.2.1 Satellite High Definition TV (HDTV)
  • 2.3 Regulatory environment
  • 2.4 Trends and developments
    • 2.4.1 Overview
    • 2.4.2 Network digital upgrade
    • 2.4.3 Cable telephony
    • 2.4.4 Market consolidation
  • 2.5 Major cable operators
    • 2.5.1 Callahan Associates
    • 2.5.2 Liberty Media Corporation
    • 2.5.3 ntl
    • 2.5.4 UPC
• 3. Satellite TV in Europe
  • 3.1 Market overview
  • 3.2 Digital satellite TV
  • 3.3 Regulatory environment
    • 3.3.1 Satellite standards
  • 3.4 Trends and developments
    • 3.4.1 Set-top Box (STB) return path
    • 3.4.2 Business TV
  • 3.5 Major satellite operators
    • 3.5.1 Eutelsat
    • 3.5.2 SES ASTRA
    • 3.5.3 British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)
• 4. Pay TV in Europe
  • 4.1 Market overview
  • 4.2 EU competition investigation into film rights
  • 4.3 Zenith Media research forecasts
• 5. Related reports

• Table 1 – Cable TV households in selected European nations – 2003 - 2006
• Table 3 – Cable TV subscribers – 1998 - 2002
• Table 4 – Cable TV penetration in Europe – 2001; 2003; 2005
• Table 2 – Digital cable TV households – 2003
• Table 3 – Satellite TV households – July 2003
• Table 4 – Satellite penetration in EU countries – 2004
• Table 5 – Satellite digital TV households – 2002
• Table 6 –TV revenues in EU countries – 2004
• Table 7 –Pay TV revenues (US$ billions) – 1998; 2002

• Exhibit 1 - UK case study on cable telephony
• Exhibit 2 – Main satellite TV systems in the EU