HDTV takes the market
11 Jun, 2007
Press release in Latvia.
Before the end of 2007 closer to 3 million Nordic households will have a TV that is
“HD-Ready”. By year-end 2008, this figure is expected to rise to include half of all Nordic households, which will no longer be satisfied by the standard image quality of the transmissions.
“In 2006 sales of “HD-Ready” TVs out-performed all forecasts – dealers in the Nordic countries sold over 1.1 Million units and the flat TV was appointed Christmas present of the year in Sweden. Producers already have fully integrated this new technology,” says Per Norman, Chief Executive Officer of one of Europe’s leading satellite operators, SES SIRIUS, and vice chairman of the Board of Directors of ESOA (European Satellite Operators Association).
Also in Latvia sales of “HD-Ready” goes beyond any forecasts. According to sales data of the first quarter 2007 from the company ELKOR, 69% of the TV sets sold were flat screens. And of all flat screen TV sets (LCD- liquid crystal display or PDP-Plasma display panel) sold, 85% were “HD-Ready”. Compared to 2006 sales data, 62% of all sold TV sets were flat screens and of these, 78% were “HD-Ready”.
All over Europe we can now see how phasing out digital TV opens up new opportunities. The bandwidth that is released can be used in new areas and for new services, while viewers get better selection of content, distribution and image quality.
"TV sets are becoming larger. The Standard used to be 25 to 28 inches, but today the average size is 32 to 36 inches. And we still sit the same distance from the TV! That means you need better image quality to do the TV experience justice,” says Benny Norling, head of business development at SES SIRIUS.
In this new situation satellite TV is an extremely strong alternative, with the best channel packages and superior image quality. Satellite is driving the development of HDTV and according to Euroconsult, it will account for 41% of all HDTV households in 2011, compared with digital terrestrial networks, which will only have 4% of total HDTV households in Europe. Already now the total numbers of HDTV channels in Europe are around 50, most of them on satellite, providing digital TV all across the Baltic countries.
Information about SIRIUS SATELLITE SERVICES Latvija
SIRIUS satellite system is operated by Swedish based company SES SIRIUS AB, which has a subsidiary SIA SIRIUS Satellite Services Latvia and a teleport station in Riga since March 2002.
The teleport station uplinks digital TV and radio signals to the SIRIUS satellite system, which gives Baltic TV companies opportunities to broadcast programs via satellite also beyond the borders of the region and even to be received in the whole Europe.
SES SIRIUS AB owns and operates the satellites in the SIRIUS satellite system (SIRIUS 2 and 3). SIRIUS is a leading satellite system in the Nordic, Baltic, Central and Eastern European countries and offers cost-effective solutions for TV and radio broadcasting and broadband services in these regions. The SIRIUS satellites are located at orbital position 5˚ East and offer reliable communication links across Europe.
SES SIRIUS AB is 25% owned by the Swedish Space Corporation and 75% by SES ASTRA, one of the world's leading satellite operators.
SIRIUS Satellite Services Latvia provides different television and radio broadcasting services and Internet services. Already now satellite digital transmissions cover all the territory of Baltic States – in Latvia alone approximately 100 thousand households have chosen satellite broadcasting.
And also a great part of Latvian and Baltic television channels have chosen satellite broadcasting via SIRIUS: Latvian TV5, TV3, Latvijas Radio, Star FM etc. And also Lithuanian television channels LRT1 (Lithuanian National Television), LRT2 (Lithuanian National Television 2), TV1, TV 3 Lithuania, Tango TV, as well as Estonian television TV 3 Estonia, 3+ Estonia.
Additional information:
Anna-Karin Modigh
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
+46 (0)708-94 25 86
anna-karin.modigh@ses-sirius.com
