Eutelsat launched 240 HDTV channels in 2016, which equals the total launched in 2014 and 2015 added together.
This month, Eutelsat reached the landmark of 1,000 HDTV channels with the launch of the news and current affairs channels of the China Global Television Network on the Hotbird satellites.
For the Hotbird satellites, the HDTV channels have increased by 25% to 250, which now accounts for almost one in four channels on the satellites. Eutelsat believes this increase is as a result of:
-
Increased adoption of HDTV by public broadcasters, such as RAI, which has moved nine channels to HDTV, and CCTV that launched three channels.
-
Sky Italia, Polsat, nc+ and Nova having introduced new pay-TV content.
-
Plus new free-to-air channels, including Euronews HD and Al Jazeera English.
The Eutelsat and Nilesat satellites cover the Middle East and North Africa and features only HDTV channels. The increase is almost 150 HDTV channels in one year, representing a 40% growth. Of this total. 100 HDTV channels are on the 7/8° West satellite. Now free-to-air HDTV channels outnumber pay-TV channels with the launch of five channels by Kuwait TV and Echourouk News HD, the 24/7 Algerian news channel.
The Eutelsat 36° East satellite covers Russia and Africa and saw an increase of 14 HDTV channels over the last year, rising to 114 HDTV channels. Part of rise was due to Russia’s lNTV+ and Tricolor platforms that each broadcast around 40 channels. There are also 32 HDTV channels broadcast to homes in Siberia from the 56° East satellite. For Africa TV market, MultiChoice Africa has 16 HDTV channels and Zap 17 channels with the trend showing a move towards higher resolution for the region.
