DVB-T2 to launch in Germany on May 31

The German DVB-T2 roll-out will commence on May 31, 2016 with a multiplex carrying six public and commercial TV channels in urban areas.

The bouquet will contain Das Erste HD, ZDF HD, RTL HD, Sat.1 HD, ProSieben HD and VOX HD. This was agreed by the participating TV broadcasters with the media authorities and transmitter network and platform operator Media Broadcast as part of the transition scenario for the deployment of DVB-T2 in Germany.

The areas served in the first stage (see map) will be Bremen/Unterweser, Hamburg/Lübeck, Kiel, Rostock, Schwerin, Hannover/Braunschweig, Magdeburg, Berlin/Potsdam, Jena, Leipzig/Halle, Düsseldorf/Rhine/Ruhr, Cologne/Bonn/Aachen, Rhine/Main, Saarbrucken, Baden-Baden, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Munich/Southern Bavaria.

The regular service offering around 40 channels – mainly in HD quality – will start in Q1 2017 in the urban areas covered by the initial broadcasts and in further urban areas. The distribution of the commercial channels in the previously used DVB-T standard will be terminated at the same time.

The public channels will continue to broadcast unencrypted following the transition to DVB-T2. To access most commercial channels in HD quality, viewers will have to pay a subscription fee. The commercial channels will be accessible free of charge until spring 2017, but encrypted from day one. The nationwide changeover to DVB-T2 is scheduled to be completed in mid-2019.

For reception, TV sets or set-top-boxes compliant with DVB-T2/HEVC will be required. They are branded with a green DVB-T2 HDlogo (pictured) for consumer guidance. The participating parties want to determine further details regarding the transition in the next weeks.

Satellite TV remains on top in Germany

DTH satellite continues to be the most-used TV reception method in Germany with 17.9 million households ahead of cable TV with 16.5 million households.

The market share of DTH satellite reception rose from 46.8% (2014) to 47.1% while cable operators faced a small decline from 43.6% to 43.4%.

1.9 million households use DTT with its market share dropping from 5.7% (2014) to 5.0%. 1.7 million households have opted for IPTV; its market share climbed from 3.9% (2014) to 4.6%.

These are the key results of the new Astra TV-Monitor 2015 which market research institute TNS Infratest conducts yearly on behalf of Astra satellite operator SES. The interviews of the total of 6,000 households throughout Germany took place at the end of 2015. The figures refer to the main reception device of each household, usually the large TV set in the living room.

The total number of TV households in Germany amounts to 38.1 million. 20% of them are able to receive HD channels, corresponding with a market share of 52%. In 2014, the share amounted to just 45%. Among satellite households, the HD share is 11.0 million (61%), among cable customers 7.8 million (47%).

Ultra HD continues to become more important: 1.1 million Ultra HD TV sets stood in German living rooms at the end of 2015. For 2016, the market researchers from industry association gfu expect a sale of 2.4 million Ultra HD TV sets. In total, 3.5 million Ultra HD TV sets would then be found in German living rooms at the end of 2016.

In addition to showcase service UHD1 by Astra/HD+, three regular Ultra HD channels are currently transmitted from the Astra position 19.2° East: Insight, Fashion4K and pearl.tv.

Unitymedia to start analogue switch-off in Germany in 2016

Germany’s second-largest cable operator Unitymedia will terminate analogue cable television in the first city in the second half of 2016.

“Through the trial, we want to gain important insights with regard to the full digitalisation of the cable network,” Christian Hindennach, senior vice president consumer at Unitymedia, said in Cologne. The town for the first analogue switch-off still has to be determined.

As the first German cable operator, Unitymedia announced to gradually terminate analogue TV distribution in May 2015. The Liberty Global subsidiary commenced reducing the analogue TV lineup in July 2015 to make room for new digital channels, HD services and faster internet access.

Unitymedia which serves German federal states North-Rhine Westphalia, Hessen and Baden-Württemberg wants to continue this practice in 2016 – in collaboration with the media authorities, TV broadcasters, the commercial broadcasters’ industry association VPRT and the housing industry.

Through a large-scale communication campaign, Unitymedia wants to inform its customers and market partners about the extended digital offering, the continued reduction of analogue channels and the further digitalisation steps.

The share of digital TV households among Unitymedia customers currently amounts to 82%, according to the company.

Swiss sister company UPC Cablecom completed analogue switch-off in July 2015. In Austria, UPC Austria – like Unitymedia – currently cuts down the analogue TV offering while expanding its digital TV and HD lineup.

Digital cable on the rise in Germany

The share of digital households among cable customers in Germany has risen by 15% to 72.5% in the past 12 months – a considerably stronger increase than in previous years.

4.5 million households still solely use analogue cable television, the only remaining analogue TV reception method, according to the media authorities’ newdigitalisation report 2015.

The share of digital cable households has now almost reached the same level as digital DTH satellite reception in 2009, three years ahead of analogue switch-off. The termination of analogue cable television at the end of 2018 proposed by cable operator association ANGA therefore seems to be a realistic target.

However, still lots of information and communication seems to be necessary in the meantime as 75% of analogue cable households don’t plan a transition to digital reception.

Regarding TV reception methods, not much has changed since last year: With 46% each, cable and satellite are leading, followed by DTT (9.7%) and IPTV (4.8%).

With 48.1%, almost half of the TV households receive HD channels – an increase by almost 10% in the past 12 months. However, only 18.8% of TV households (7.3 million households) have opted to watch the commercial channels in high resolution. The reluctance is probably based on the monthly fee the commercial broadcasters charge for reception of the HD versions of their advertising-funded free-to-air TV channels.

20% of households own a smart TV set, but only 11.8% have actually connected it to the internet. If Blu-ray players, HDMI sticks and other internet-capable devices are added, 19.1% of TV screens have internet access.

DVB-T2/HEVC trial to kick off in Cologne/Bonn

WDR, the affiliate of German public broadcaster ARD serving federal state North-Rhine Westphalia, and German transmitter network operator Media Broadcast will commence their joint DVB-T2/HEVC trial in North-Rhine Westphalia on August 18, 2015.

WDR will transmit a multiplex on DTT channel 40 offering free-to-air public channels while Media Broadcast will use DTT channel 43 to broadcast a multiplex carrying commercial channels.

Transmissions will take place from the transmitter site Venusberg near Bonn (WDR) and from the Colonius transmitter site in Cologne (Media Broadcast) as a single frequency network with 20kW each.

The trial is set up to test the whole signal chain from the transmitter to the reception device. It will enable manufacturers of broadcast technology and manufacturers and importers of reception devices to develop and test suitable devices.

All standard usage forms will be tested from stationary reception to portable and mobile reception. Hybrid reception devices for DVB-T2 and internet offerings will also be tested. Compatible receivers carry the logo DVB-T2 HD; current DVB-T receivers are not suitable.

Technical trials for the new DVB-T2/HEVC network which will enable HD channels on DTT in Germany for the first time are also carried out in Munich and Berlin. The first regular TV channels in the new standard will be broadcast from June 2016 in large urban areas – in time for the European Football Championship.

Rapid growth for OTT TV in Germany and Austria

Connected television in Germany and Austria has now passed the threshold into rapid and sustained growth, qaccording to a new report by Deadline Media.

The total number of sVoD subscriber grew by 46% in the first six months of 2015. This is without any noticeable cord cutting.

“The primary challenge of OTT TV is to advertising-funded broadcasters as the market becomes increasingly dominated by big US internet platforms, notably Google,” said Roger Stanyard, author of the report Connected TV in Germany and Austria.

“We believe that the advertising-funded broadcasters are now living on borrowed time, despite an expected increase in advertising revenues of 1.9-2.8% in 2015.”

Conventional linear scheduled low and premium pay television will continue to grow in importance, not least because Sky Deutschland has hedged its bets against online delivery of content. Germans are now rapidly taking pay television. Subscriptions to pay-TV are currently growing at 12% a year.

Neither German nor Austrian broadcasters can, any longer, rely on the peculiarities of their domestic markets to protect them from the winds of change. That is the internationalisation of television led by immensely powerful global players. It is a matter of deep political concern at the highest political levels in Germany and the European Union.

Connected Television in Germany and Austria shows that Amazon Prime Instant Video is currently market leader in the sVoD market place with 1,234,000 subscribers as at end of June 2015. Maxdome and Netflix were level pegging, each with 600,000 subscribers and Watchever with around 100,000.

The total number of sVoD subscriber grew by a very healthy 46% in the first six months of 2015.

Catchup TV (using HbbTV) has undoubtedly been a big success in Germany and Austria but its use by the average consumer is generally below that seen in other Western countries.
Some 16% of consumers used it within the last week compared to 26% in the USA, 36% in France and 48% in the UK.

The OTT TV environment in Germany and Austria is now very benign. By year-end 2015 58% of households are expected to own a smart TV by the end of 2015. At least 75% of these are expected to be connected to broadband, cheap streaming media dongles and boxes also make physical connection an irrelevant issue.

More information about the report Connected TV in Germany and Austria. can be downloaded from our website; the report can also be ordered from the Broadband TV News webshop.

German pay-TV market on the rise

The turnover of pay-TV and video-on-demand operators in Germany has grown by 8% to €2.22 billion in 2014 compared with last year (2013: €2.05 billion).

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the turnover reached a total of €2.4 billion. The figures were released by VPRT, the German commercial broadcasters’ industry association, in its new study Pay-TV in Deutschland 2015.

In 2015, VPRT expects turnover to grow by 7% to €2.4 billion in Germany and to €2.6 billion in the German-speaking markets.

The increase is mainly based on considerably risen subscriber figures. The number of pay-TV customers climbed by 10% to 7 million in Germany and 7.7 million in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2014. VPRT expects further subscriber growth in 2015: For the first time, more than 20% of German households will then have a pay-TV subscription.

The average viewer market share of pay-TV channels in German households rose to 2.7% in the first half of 2015 (1st half of 2014: 2.2%).

90 pay-TV channels can currently be subscribed to in Germany: 40 in the entertainment genre followed by sports (15), documentaries (15), music (10) and children (10).

The pay-TV channels invested a total of more than €1 billion into their programming in 2014 with an increasing amount spent on original productions.

Germany approves HbbTV removal by platform operators

German platform operators don’t have to distribute TV channels’ HbbTV services on their networks as they are not considered to be part of the programme content. This decision was made by the German media authorities’ licencing and supervision commission ZAK at its latest assembly in Saarbrücken.

In a formal process lodged at the media authorities, public broadcaster ARD complained that cable operator Kabel Deutschland filters out the HbbTV signal ahead of cable carriage of several ARD channels. This would infringe the signal integrity stipulated in the German broadcast law.

The HbbTV signal activates the red button on the corresponding TV channel. This enables viewers, for example, to access add-on services through the remote control such as the channel’s catch-up service.

According to ZAK, the HbbTV signal is, however, neither technically nor with regards to content part of the transport stream of the broadcast signal. The term “programme” in the broadcast law only covers the actual broadcast content – video and sound -, but not further services just accompanying the programmes, argue the media regulators.

ZAK also didn’t agree with ARD’s position that the stipulation of signal integrity would resemble a complete disapproval of technical modifications of the signals. In the view of the media authorities, modifications of the broadcast signals performed to achieve compliance with the corresponding platform standard must be possible.

The media authorities also didn’t agree with ARD’s accusation that there has been an unjustified breach of equal treatment regarding the data rate provided to TV channels on cable. The data rates correspond with the platform standard, argues ZAK. If commercial channels are distributed in higher picture quality, then this would be based on contractual agreements, thus, ARD would not be able to refer to this.

The background of the conflict is the long-standing dispute between the public broadcasters and the large cable operators regarding cable carriage conditions.

Local TV in decline in Germany

The number of commercial local and regional TV channels has considerably decreased in Germany last year.

In total, there have been only 232 such services throughout Germany at the beginning of 2014 while one year ago the figure amounted to 264 channels. The development is reported by the media authorities in their yearbook 2013/2014published today.

The exceptions are larger broadcasters serving not just specific regions, but whole federal states which maintained their variety with a total of 19 channels.

Jürgen Brautmeier, head of the media authorities’ commission, called for stronger efforts to improve the situation on the local front: “Local television is an important factor of local variety, therefore public funds are required. Only then, it can survive the competition in the digital world.”

55.9% of German cable homes now digital

For the first time, the number of German cable homes with digital subscriptions has passed the halfway mark.

The total number of digital homes now stands at 9.9 million, or 55.9% of the total of 17.7 million cable homes, according to ANGA, the German cable association.

The new figure represents a growth of 16% since the spring, compared with 13.4% growth in the same period last year.

The research also shows that the total number of satellite DTH homes is 17.6 million.

Germany launches HbbTV awareness campaign

The TV set’s Red Button is the central theme of a new, nationwide campaign in Germany to raise awareness of the HbbTV services.

In a combined effort, all German private and public broadcasters will launch the Auf ROT geht´s los! (It all starts with RED) campaign on September 5. The campaign will comprise TV spots, information leaflets and more to inform viewers of the possibilities of their smart TV sets.

The campaign will show how HbbTV offers on-demand programming, EPGs, extended information with programmes, high quality teletext pages, live streams, special events and more.

According to research by GfK Retail and Technology there are now five million HbbTV sets in the German homes and an installed base of a total of seven million is expected by year’s end.

The following German broadcaster are now offering HbbTV services: Das Erste and all TV and radio stations that are part of ARD, Channel 21 (shopping), HSE24 (shopping), Kabel eins, n-tv, ProSieben, RTL Television, RTL II, RTL Nitro, SAT.1, sixx, Sonnenklar.TV, Super RTL, Vox, QVC (shopping), ZDF and all partners of ARD and ZDF.

Connected TV becoming the norm in Germany

So far, 58% of all TV sets sold in Germany this year are connected devices.

The percentage is expected to rise to 70% of all new TV sets sold before the end of the year. This compares with an average of 47% during 2012.

According to research, carried out on behalf of high-tech association BITKOM by market research institute GfK, in three households (30%) in Germany is equipped with a smart TV.

“For the majority of the buyers network connectivity on the TV is now just as important as is is for the computer,” said Michael Schidlack, BITKOM expert on consumer electronics.

“Smart TVs make the audience independent of the programme broadcast because they offer push-button access to various online services such as the libraries of TV channels.”

Many Germans now also use stand-alone devices to connected their TV set to the web, one in ten viewers connect to the internet via such a device. 8% use an internet-capable Blu-ray player, 5% use their game console.

Schidlack: “Devices with online access are increasingly in demand. This way people with older televisions can also access online services. Moreover, many of these devices can be connected to a smartphone or tablet and can play media from these wirelessly. “--- from BroadbandTVnews.com 

Sky Deutschland adds 47,900 customers in 2Q 2013

• Total customers: up 47,900 to 3,453,000
• Sky premium HD customers: up 83,600 to 1,697,000
• Sky+ customers: up 105,800 to 1,170,600
• Second smartcard customers: up 18,400 to 393,000
• Sky Go customer sessions: 16.7m

UNTERFÖHRING — Sky Deutschland AG continued to deliver strong operational results in the second quarter 2013. Net customer growth was 47,900 (Q2 2012: 47,100), bringing the total number of customers to 3,453,000 (Q2 2012: 3,132,000). Gross additions for the second quarter amounted to 131,400 (Q2 2012: 124,000). Quarterly annualized churn improved to 9.7% (Q2 2012: 9.9%) and the 12-month rolling churn rate came in at 12.0% (Q2 2012: 11.5%).

Sky premium HD continued its success as the number of customers rose by 83,600 in the quarter to 1,697,000 (Q2 2012: 1,171,800), meaning that almost half of Sky subscribers (49.1%) now take Sky premium HD (Q2 2012: 37.4%).

Sky+ also experienced strong demand, with the number of customers growing by 105,800 in the quarter to 1,170,600 (Q2 2012: 584,000). One in three Sky subscribers (33.9%; Q2 2012: 18.6%) now enjoys the freedom and convenience the device offers, including Sky Anytime, Sky’s free video-on-demand service. Since May 2013, Sky+ has also been available to all cable households served by Unitymedia – and thus to virtually all customers in Germany and Austria. This also includes the 2-Terabyte version of Sky+ which offers unrivaled entertainment by substantially increasing both personal recording capacity and on-demand choice from Sky Anytime.

Sky Go, Germany and Austria’s largest over-the-top pay-TV platform, continued to resonate strongly with customers who benefit from the flexibility of being able to access a wide selection of Sky’s content on various platforms. In Q2 2013, Sky Go recorded almost 16.7 million customer logins (Q2 2012: 6.9 million).

Sky Zweitkarte (second smartcard) customers have increased by 18,400 to 393,000 (Q2 2012: 248,300), as more and more families are looking to enjoy Sky’s great channels in different rooms at the same time.

Sky’s offering now on IPTV and mobile

Since July 2013, Deutsche Telekom’s IPTV and mobile customers have had access to the full depth and breadth of Sky packages and leading premium HD offering, as well as the flexibility of Sky Go. In addition, starting in August – just in time for the new Bundesliga season – Vodafone’s IPTV and mobile customers will be able to subscribe to a great range of Sky packages. The offering starts with a wide selection of Sky’s top quality, exclusive channels, including those from Sky’s market-leading HD line-up, and will be extended to the full Sky offering in the near future. These agreements mark the completion of marketing and distribution partnerships with all major cable and IPTV network providers.

Subscriber development (’000):

                                   Q2 13  Q1 13  Q4 12  Q3 12  Q2 12  Q1 12  Q4 11
                                   -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
Direct subscribers at beginning    3,405  3,363  3,212  3,132  3,085  3,012  2,857
Gross additions*                     131    137    260    188    124    155    246
Churn                                -84    -95   -109   -108    -77    -82    -91
Net growth                            48     42    151     80     47     73    155
Direct subscribers at end          3,453  3,405  3,363  3,212  3,132  3,085  3,012

Premium HD subscribers
 at end of period                  1,697  1,613  1,514  1,337  1,172  1,071    974
 penetration rate (in %)            49.1   47.4   45.0   41.6   37.4   34.7   32.3

Sky+
 subscribers at end of period      1,171  1,065    929    730    584    508    411
 penetration rate (in %)            33.9   31.3   27.6   22.7   18.6   16.5   13.6

* Q4 2012 gross additions include the technical migration of 5k UPC wholesale customers

6.1 million Pay TV subscribers in Germany in 2012

The Working Group Digital Pay TV Association of Commercial Broadcasters (VPRT) first proposed the study "Pay TV in Germany 2013", an overview of the pay-TV market in Germany and in German-speaking countries. Besides an overview of providers, each with its own organizer and transmitter portraits, the study documents the economic development of pay TV with selected market data: According to the pay-TV and paid video-on-demand (VoD) market reached over the past year sales of approximately 1.84 billion Euros in Germany or about 2 billion euros in the German-speaking. The number of pay-TV subscribers increased to 6.1 million in Germany and about 6.8 million in German-speaking and the use reached with over 9 million daily viewers alone in the German pay-TV new record levels. The number of registered in Germany pay-TV programs has increased from 26 programs in 2003 to currently 89 programs.The number of pay-TV programs in high-resolution HD quality has risen from 36 in 2011 to 57 today HD programming.