The launch of pay services on Spain’s digital terrestrial system has got off to a shaky start after receiver shortages led to just 1,473 units being sold in October. But the lack of suitable set-tops has failed to dent the sole pay-TV channel, Gol TV, which is already closing in on one million subscribers.
The Mediapro-owned station has been boosted by distribution over cable and IPTV, not to mention IDTVs that have been outselling standalone receivers by almost 2:1. Set-tops accounted for 268,971 of the 696,000 tuners sold in the month to take the installed base to 22.5 million tuners.
According to data from TNS, released by the digital TV association Impulsa, DTT penetration in Spain has reached 72.1%. The figure represents an increase of 2.1 percentage points in the months and 28.4 pp so far this year.
The average cost of a DTT set-top box has fallen below €34 for the first time.
