Digitalisation in Germany has taken a major step with the analogue switch-off on satellite, according to the latest report from the German media authorities.
In 2011, 32.2% of all German homes were still dependent on analogue signals, this dropped to 22.2%, or 8.45 million homes. Last year, 86.4% of satellite homes watched digital, with the remaining 2.3 million watching analogue.
This year, 70.6 % of all German homes watch solely digital (26.78 million homes), while 7.2% (2.75 million homes) watch both analogue and digital.
Cable in Germany is the only distribution medium for TV channels that still offers analogue, but digital is winning ground with 48.7% of all cable homes (8.8 million). Of these, 3.7 million (42%) have a smart card for premium services.
While cable is slowly losing ground, it is still the most used medium for watching television with a 47.9% share, followed by satellite DTH with 45.6%, digital terrestrial with 12.5% and IPTV with 4.3% (1.6 million homes).