[opendtv] MediaGuardian.co.uk: Freeview set to triumph in switchover
- From: dermot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:02:26 GMT
Dermot Nolan spotted this on the MediaGuardian.co.uk site and thought you
should see it.
To see this story with its related links on the MediaGuardian.co.uk site, go to
http://www.mediaguardian.co.uk
Freeview set to triumph in switchover
Mark Sweney
Friday January 12 2007
The Guardian
Pay-TV companies, such as Sky and NTL:Telewest, will struggle to win customers
with Freeview set to be the big digital switchover winner in the next five
years, according to a new European report.
The report, by JupiterResearch, estimates that there are currently 5.3m
households in the UK that still only have traditional analogue TV.
In the next five years, in the run up to digital switch over in 2012, 4.6m
households will opt to get Freeview's digital terrestrial TV service.
Sky's pay and free-satellite service is estimated to attract 1.2m new
households over the period; NTL:Telewest will attract 700,000; and IPTV
services such as HomeChoice and BT Vision will number 1m.
The reason the total number of new multichannel households will outnumber those
who are still only on analogue TV is because a percentage will have services
from more than one company.
"Even though the digital switch-over offers tremendous opportunity for TV
operators, effectively introducing government mandated subscriber churn, most
are failing to take advantage," said Nate Elliott, senior analyst at Jupiter
Research. "Nearly two-thirds of new digital TV households in Europe last year
chose digital terrestrial TV (Freeview in the UK) rather than pay digital
platforms like cable, satellite or IPTV."
Mr Elliott says that the bundled offering of services by TV operators - such as
TV with broadband and telephony - are of secondary importance to consumers when
they are deciding which provider to use. As a result Freeview's free-to-air
offer has proved a winner.
"Consumers value TV more than other digital services, they spend more time with
TV than other products offered as bundles as triple or quad-play offerings,"
said Mr Elliott. "This means they can fulfil their biggest need by signing up
to Freeview."
He sees it as "inevitable" that more offers from the likes of NTL:Telewest and
Sky will become free as a result - such as Sky offering a basic 2MB broadband
package free to customers.
BT Vision, which offers a combination of Freeview and paid-for on-demand
content, has the "right idea but the reality is that there are significant
costs involved for set top boxes and installation that outstrip those involved
with getting Freeview".
In addition, Mr Elliott argued that the TV market was crowded and there weren't
"compelling" reasons to shift to the likes of BT Vision and HomeChoice.
As the number of households that are left to switch to a multichannel provider
from analogue TV dwindles, a key battleground will be the secondary market for
TV's in other rooms such as bedrooms.
"As the battle to win numbers of primary TV households draws to an end, there
will be a TV-by-TV battle for the bedroom, the kitchen and Freeview as a
free-to-air service is an easy option for the 'other room' for consumers."
Over this period, JupiterResearch says that Freeview will become the primary
television provider in more households than any other platform.
At the end of 2006, JupiterResearch estimates that Freeview was in 10.1m
households; Sky in 8.6m and NTL:Telewest in 3.3m.
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