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Operators Take On HDTV PDF Print E-mail
Written by IMS Research   
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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