Subscriptions to Premiere HD have reached 80,000, according to the German pay-TV platform. It has been slow going for the two-channel package that comprises Premiere’s own HD premium channel and Discovery HD. At the end of March 2007, subscribers stood at 70,000, while at the end of December 2006 the figure was 60,000. Premiere itself has 3.5 million subscribers.
It is hoped that additional HD channels will launch over the next few months. “We can’t develop HD on our own,” said Hans Seger, Premiere’s head of HDTV. Figures from GfK show that over six million HD Ready sets have been sold in the German market. “The technical infrastructure is there, we now need further channels to come forward and invest in HDTV,” said Seger. “There’s a mass market for HD in Germany that the whole industry can participate in.
