Written by IMS Research
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13 Mar 2005 |
Only 26% of the top 89 TV operators worldwide, as defined by a recent
IMS Research study Making Digital TV Pay, are currently offering
high-definition TV (HDTV) services to their subscribers. This would
seem to imply that HDTV is still not a reality for most subscribers.
However, looking on a regional basis, IMS Research finds that within
the Americas 16 out of 23 top operators, or 70%, are already providing
HDTV to some portion of their subscribers.
While HDTV has been around in some form since 1970, it has only been
since 2002 that it has truly begun to take off in the Americas. In the
Asia Pacific region, HDTV has been primarily contained to Japan and
Australia until recently. In Europe, early attempts to launch HDTV did
not bare fruit; however, a new service was launched in Europe in 2004
called HD1. HD1, formerly known as Euro 1080, is available by satellite
and has been picked up by cable operators such as: Noos, Numericable,
ish, and others.
Many elements are coming together to facilitate the growth of HDTV
adoption. For example, new compression standards, such as MPEG-4
(H.264) and Windows Media 9, have more than twice the compression
efficiency of MPEG-2. This means that operators may be able to retain
many of their existing channels while providing the bandwidth for HD
channels. “Many of the barriers to HDTV adoption are now being
eliminated,” states Jack Mayo, market analyst at IMS Research. “As HD
content increases in availability, equipment costs drop, and
compression standards improve, we are likely to see more operators
implement HDTV.”
In the study, Making Digital TV Pay, IMS Research provides a detailed
look at the top TV operators, and allows those involved in the
television industry to compare operator business models and best
practices. The report provides an insight into many of the key
questions for operators, including subscriber take-up of digital
services, and value-added service trends, such as DVR, iTV, HDTV,
broadband, and telephony.
IMS Research is a specialist supplier of market research and
consultancy services on global electronics markets. Information from
IMS Research is used by major companies worldwide to assess market
trends, solve marketing problems, and improve the efficiency of their
businesses. IMS Research is an international company, selling in more
than 35 countries around the world and is supported by headquarters in
Wellingborough, UK and an office in Austin, Texas. IMS Research
regularly publishes detailed research on digital consumer and broadband
markets, including digital television, set-top boxes, and home networks.
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