Digital television and its advanced features are a success with Belgian cable operator Telenet. At the end of 2011, 64% of all Telenet subscribers took digital TV. And they are also using the features, according to CEO Duco Sickinghe, who told Broadband TV News that PVR penetration is 50% higher than in the US, while VOD revenue is two times higher than with comparable UK households.
Telenet’s VOD offer consists of free, transactional and subscription models. Local content is very relevant, with 19 out of the 20 most requested programmes produced locally. VOD generated 68 million transactions during 2011, with a record 4.7 transactions per month per digital TV user in Q4 2011. According to Sickinghe, the average transaction per user is considerably higher since the launch of a new GUI in Q3 2010.
The VOD library contains titles from all major studios, over 600 movies, with many channels offering channel branded broadcast-on-demand, many titles available in HD and Telenet’s own premium channels Prime and Sporting Telenet also offering programming.