Skip to main content

Eastern Europe Creates New IPTV Upside

According to the latest market study by Informa, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe continue to offer a range of attractive opportunities for international TV players and investors.

This already positive environment will only improve, with a period of extensive merger and acquisition activity expected over the next few years. The number of digital households in the region is expected to expand quickly over the next five years.

Eastern Europe ended 2007 with 21.6 million digital homes. That number is expected to rise by 31 percent in 2008, to 28.6 million, but be more than three times bigger by end-2013. The region is expected to reach 70.1 million digital households by 2013.

Digital satellite leads the way, with cable having initially made slower progress towards digital conversion. But with IPTV making some inroads in the region, there is evidence of cable now looking to upgrade with greater urgency.

UPC is upgrading on a region-wide basis and has recently turned its attention to converting its biggest markets of Poland and Hungary.

With numerous launches already under way and others due shortly, IPTV is starting to emerge as a realistic alternative platform in some countries. Russia leads the region in terms of IPTV subscribers, although services such as O2 TV (Czech Republic), Elion (Estonia) and TPSA (Poland) are also making progress.

While IPTV is showing encouraging signs, DTH is already thriving and has the potential to make a serious dent in cable's TV dominance.

Satellite benefits from its perception as a premium TV service -- giving it an advantage over the often fragmented cable sector, which finds it difficult to shake off its historic connotation as a low-cost utility service.

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Venture Capital in APAC AI Market

Technology is a compelling catalyst for economic growth across the globe.  Artificial intelligence (AI) rides a seismic wave of transformation in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region — a market bolstered by bold government initiatives, swelling pools of capital, and vibrant tech ambition. The latest IDC analysis sheds light on this dynamic market. Despite a contraction in deal volumes through 2024, total AI venture funding surged to an impressive $15.4 billion — a signal of the region’s resilience and the maturation of its digital-native businesses (DNBs). Asia-Pacific AI Market Development The APAC AI sector’s funding story is not just about headline numbers but also about how and where investments are shifting. Even as the number of deals slowed, the aggregate value of investments climbed, reflecting a preference among investors for fewer but larger, high-potential bets on mature or highly scalable AI enterprises. The information technology sector led the AI investment charge. Top area...