With a continuing increase in HDTV penetration in Europe, the number of HDTV channels grew by 14% for SES to more than 750 channels, although 67% of Europe is still using SD. Last year for the SES fleet, the number of HD channels grew by 7% to 2,495 channels. In total, 33% of all the 7,538 channels on the SES fleet are in HD, with SES claiming to carry 27% of all HD channels globally. In addition, over 60% of all channels on SES’s fleet are now broadcast in MPEG4.
SES has also signed commercial agreements for 21 UHD channels, compared with eight channels a year ago. Today, SES claims that it is broadcasting nearly 50% of all the UHD channels carried over satellite globally.
In 2016, the acquisition of RR Media and the subsequent creation of MX1 through a merger with SES Platform Services resulted in new HDTV and UHD channels across Europe and North America, as well as the further expansion of SES’s Video business across emerging markets.
The launch of SES-9 and the continued development of SES’s HD and Ultra HD businesses were significant factors in the growth of the Asian markets. The launch of SES-10 and SES-15 later this year should deliver further growth potential for the Americas.
Analyst Comment
For those of us very involved in TV and display technology it can be hard to remember that two thirds of the channels are still in standard definition! A friend in Germany who went to work for a leading TV maker, bought a big new set through a staff purchase as it looked so good on the demos he saw. However, when he got it home and saw how bad it was on the very bit-rate limited German SDTV, he regretted it immediately! (BR)
