Around 60% of Dutch homes have connected TVs

Around 60% of Dutch households had connected TVs in October, up from 49% a year earlier, according to the latest results from the Telecompaper Consumer Panel.

Around 34% of households watch internet content over their smart TV, while the remainder connect the TV via an external device, such as a media player or games console, in order to watch online content.

Around 14% of consumers connect their PC or laptop to the TV in order to watch internet content. Consumers in their 30s or younger were more likely to watch internet content over the TV, at 70% compared to 45% of over-65s.

Dutch NPO looking at DVB-T2

Dutch public broadcaster NPO is looking to broadcast its free-to-air channels NPO1, 2 and 3 in HD using the DVB-T2 standard from 2017 onwards.

NPO chairman Henk Hagoort told the audience at the Mediapark Jaarcongres in Hilversum. NPO is currently broadcasting its three main national channels in DVB-T via the Dutch digital terretrial network.

Hagoort said he wants to offer more choice to the viewer and offering the NPO channels in HD quality via the DTT network will help the viewer choose between the various platforms.

At the moment, KPN is offering a limited bouquet of channels via its Digitenne subsidiary. This pay TV option is using the DVB-T standard. The current terrestrial licences, both for Digitenne and for the NPO, run out early 2017, bit the government is planning a three-year extension.

Should the Dutch public broadcasters indeed choose DVB-T2, it will make all current Digitenne and free-to-air receivers obsolete.

86% of Dutch homes are digital

86% of all Dutch television homes now have digital reception, up from 82% in December 2013. One in three homes have a PVR, while 49% have at least one tablet.

These figures were published by SKO, the Dutch institute for audience research, as part of its half-yearly Media Standaard Survey (MSS), compiled by TNS NIPO research.

In terms of mode of transmission digital terrestrial (via KPN Digitenne) now accounts for 8%, down from 9%, while satellite DTH is slightly up at 6% (from 5%).

IPTV and FttH connections remain stable at respectively 11% and 7%.

In terms of equipment, 22% of all TV sets are now connected sets (up from 19%), while 36% have a hard disk recorder, 21% have a PVR built-in with their set-top box.

DVD ownership is slightly down, 53%, down from 57% six months ago. 49% of all Dutch homes now have a tablet, either Android or iOS, up from 45%.

32% of Dutch household have a game computer (Xbox, Playstation, Wii, PSP, etc), in 26% of all homes the console is connected to the TV set.

Dutch digital TV subscribers grow to 6.72 million in Q1 2014

HOUTEN, The Netherlands — The number of digital TV connections in the Netherlands grew by 0.9 percent during the first quarter of 2014 to 6.72 million on 31 March 2014. According to Telecompaper’s latest quarterly Dutch Television Market report, digital TV was used by 86.8 percent of TV subscribers in the Netherlands, including 3.71 million cable subscribers who also have analogue TV connections. The total TV market grew to 7.74 million connections at the end of March 2014.

Cable still accounted for over half (55.2%) of digital TV subscribers in Q1, despite losing market share due to the growing adoption of IPTV services over DSL and fibre networks. DSL was the second most common way to receive TV, followed by satellite. Fibre passed terrestrial during the first quarter to become the fourth largest digital TV technology in the Netherlands.

Ziggo was the largest TV provider at the end of the first quarter of 2014, both in the total TV market and the digital TV market. KPN, UPC and CanalDigitaal followed in the rankings.

“The digital TV market is expected to grow by around 5 percent during 2014 to almost 7 million connections at year-end,” said Telecompaper analyst and report author Kamiel Albrecht. “While growth is slowing somewhat at the cable operators, the DSL and fibre providers continue to increase their TV customer numbers.”

Telecompaper estimates that the retail revenues* for the consumer TV market totaled EUR 402 million in the first quarter of 2014, slightly higher than in Q4 2013. The revenues are expected to continue to grow at 0.2 percent CAGR until 2018.

* The reported retail revenues include revenues from basic TV subscriptions (digital/analogue), pay-TV services and video-on-demand service. These exclude revenues from installation fees and set-top box sales.

Due to continuous improvements in our calculations, the numbers in this press release cannot directly be compared with numbers from earlier press releases sent out by Telecompaper on previous studies of the Dutch television market.

The “Dutch TV Market Q1 2014″ report is a research product from Telecompaper. Price for 10 users is EUR 595.00. Single-user price for the report is EUR 395.00.

Dutch digital TV subscribers grow to 6.66 million

The number of digital TV connections in the Netherlands grew by 1.0% during the fourth quarter of 2013 to 6.66 million on 31 December 2013, according to Telecompaper’s quarterly report about the Dutch TV market.

The total TV market (including analogue TV subscribers) increased to 7.74 million at the end of 2013 with digital TV being used by 86.1% of TV subscribers in the Netherlands. The digital TV subscribers include 3.69 million cable subscribers who also have analogue TV connections.

Cable accounted for over half (55.4%) of digital TV subscribers in Q4, despite losing market share due to the growing adoption of IPTV services over DSL and FTTH networks. DSL was the second most common way to receive TV, followed by satellite and terrestrial, which are both losing market share. FTTH, while growing its market share, remained in fifth place.

Cable operator Ziggo is the largest TV provider, both on the total market and digital market, followed by DSL/fibre network operator KPN, cable operator UPC and satellite TV provider CanalDigitaal.

Telecompaper expects the digital TV market to grow by around 5% during this year, although growth is slowing down. The consumer TV revenues (including pay-TV channels, VoD) amounted to EUR 395 million in the fourth quarter of 2013, slightly higher than in the preceding quarter. The revenues are expected to continue to grow at 0.5% CAGR until 2018.

(Chart courtesy of Telecompaper.com)

Digital TV in 82% of Dutch households

(Persbericht TV in Nederland 2013)

Monday, February 3rd, 2014 

According to the 2013 Media Standard Survey (MSS) produced by TNS-NIPO for Stichting KijkOnderzoek (SKO), the primary provider of official television audience ratings in the Netherlands, digital television is now in 82% of Dutch households, up from 76% in 2012. The increase was due to growth in digital TV via cable, IPTV and fibre. The number of households receiving digital terrestrial television fell from 11% to 9%.

The percentage of Dutch households with a hard disk-based set-top box grew to 20%. In 2013 pentration of DVD recorders with built-in hard drive declined from 20% to 16%, while ownership of standalone disk recorders remained static.

The percentage of households with a TV with access to the Internet increased significantly from 11% to 17%.

Dutch household penetration 2013

One or more TVs                97.6%
Analog cable                   33.9%
Digital cable receiver         53.8%
Satellite                       5.5%
Digitenne (DTT)                 9.4%
Internet TV receiver           10.4%
Fibre                          10.7%
Total digital reception        82.0%

Equipment connected to TV:
 Video recorder                20.0%
 DVD player/Blu-Ray Player     57.8%
 DVD recorder without HDD      12.7%
 DVD recorder with HDD         15.9%
 Standalone DVR (without DVD)   4.7%
 STB with DVR                  20.3%
 TV with built-in recorder      3.3%
 Total Video Recorder          36.9%
 Total DVD-R/HDD-recorder      40.8%

Dutch delay HbbTV must-carry enforcement

The Dutch government is still studying the effects of enforcing must-carry legislation for HbbTV services on cable networks.

In a letter to Parliament, Sander Dekker, the secretary for media, has written that he is awaiting the results of a study on the economic and technical effects of enforced HbbTV carriage. Until now, the country’s two largest cable operators, Ziggo and UPC, are blocking the HbbTV signals.

Dekker said that research institute TNO will be completing its study in March. He also said he is seeking judicial advice on European regulation regarding must-carry requirements before making a final decision.

Dutch Parliament has requested to implement must-carry for HbbTV services. At the moment, Dutch public broadcaster NPO is offering the service with catch-up TV and streaming radio services.

However, only a limited number of TV distribution platforms are carrying the service, including the Digitenne DTT network, the CanalDigitaal DTH service and a few cable networks including Delta.

Apart from the thee Dutch national public channels, SBS is also testing HbbTV, while a number of foreign channels distributed over Dutch cable nets also offer HbbTV, such as ARD, ZDF, TVE and RTL Germany.

Ziggo and UPC are not carrying the HbbTV signals and both even have made moves to make implementation difficult. The remote control of the UPC Horizon set-top box has no red button at all, and Ziggo uses the red button for its cloud-based interactive services without a set-top box.

Although Ziggo and UPC have never given a reason for filtering the signals, it looks like they want to prevent their customers from using over-the-top services such as the on-demand functions on the HbbTV platform.

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Dutch viewers embrace tablet TV

One our of every four Dutch viewers watch tablet TV, according to the Trends in Digitale Media study from GfK. This represents a growth of 50% compared with December 2012.

Tablet TV watching has grown from 16% to 24% during the past twelve months, while usage on laptops and PC remained stable at 30% and on smart phones at 8%

The TV-apps from Uitzending Gemist (NPO), YouTube and RTL XL are most used om tablets. These are also the most popular websites offering video.

One in three viewers said that they are using one or more VOD services, with KPN, UPC and iTunes most mentioned. 10% said they do not yet use VOD, but are interested in doing so.

Dutch digital TV penetration reaches 85%

The number of digital TV connections in the Netherlands grew by 1.0% during the second quarter of this year to 6.543 million on June 30.

Almost 85% of all Dutch TV households now have a digital connection, according to Telecompaper’s quarterly Dutch Television Market report.

This includes 3.68 million cable subscribers that also have an analogue TV connection. Telecompaper estimates the retail revenues for the consumer TV market totaled EUR 393 million in the second quarter, little changed compared to the first three months of the year.

Cable still accounted for over half (56.2%) of digital TV subscribers, despite losing market share due to the growing adoption of IPTV services over DSL and FTTH networks. DSL was the second most common way to receive TV, followed by satellite and terrestrial, which are both losing market share.

Ziggo was the largest TV provider at the end of the second quarter, both in the total TV market and the digital TV market. KPN, UPC and CanalDigitaal followed in the rankings.

For 2013, Telecompaper expects a growth of 7.2% in digital TV connections to around 6.83 million driven by growth of IPTV via DSL and FTTH.

Cable will also see digital TV growth but less than before. The whole TV market (including analogue-only connections) is expected to grow by 0.5% during this year.

Copies of the full report can be bought from the Broadband TV News webshop.