Astra’s German HD+ platform has continued to grow throughout the first two years of its market presence. The service currently reaches 1.9 million German TV households, according to GfK research.
Of the 482,000 customers who started the one-year free trial period with HD+ between November 1, 2009 and October 31, 2010, 305,000 have decided to continue their use of the offering for an annual service fee of €50.
The conversion rate therefore stands at 63%. As of today, an additional 1.56 million households are currently using HD+ in the free trial period and will have the opportunity to extend their use of the service on a paying basis in the next 12 months.
Based on the development of HD+, SES expects to surpass the mark of one million paying customers by the end of next year.
The HD+ channel offer includes RTL HD, Sat.1 HD, ProSieben HD, Vox HD, kabel eins HD, N24 HD, Tele 5 HD, Sport1 HD, RTL II HD, Sixx HD, Nickelodeon HD and Comedy Central HD. Following a one year trial period free of charge, customers pay a fixed ‘technical service fee’ of €50 per year.
Wilfried Urner, CEO of the SES affiliate HD+, said in a statement: “The German viewers have accepted HD+. The conversion rate of 63% from the free trial period into a paying mode remains as high as in the starting period and thus significantly exceeds our expectations. The high rate of acceptance began as a result of early adopters, and now indicates that HD+ passes the test as a product for the mass market.”
Some key figures HD+ as per October 31, 2011. Total number of HD+ receivers: 2,042,252 (this includes dedicated HD+ receivers, CI modules and CI+ modules for HD+, Sky Sat-HD receivers and MR 500 Sat for Entertain Sat from Deutsche Telekom). Active HD+ households: 1,865,620, of which 1,560,139 use the free trial and 305,481 paid the subscription fee. There are 176,632 inactive HD+ households. There are currently 66 HD+ receiver models available in Germany.
