According to Strategy Analytics, 25.7% of Europe’s TV households acquired digital television by the end of 2004, up from 21.1% during 2003. Digital Terrestrial television (DTTV) will continue to grow rapidly as more countries establish services, reaching 42.2 mln households by 2010. By that time, IPTV will have become an established fourth digital platform, with 11.3 mln subscribers.
Strategy Analytics says satellite is still the leading digital television platform in Europe, reaching 25.0 mln households at the end of 2004. Satellite’s strength will continue with the addition of new services such as HDTV. Cable showed signs of revival during 2004, adding 1.2 mln digital subscribers, the best performance in three years. Strategy Analytics predicts strong growth for digital cable, as penetration is still low: only 16% of all cable subscribers currently take a digital service, as reported by Tekrati.