Smart TVs accounted for less than 1% of on demand viewing on RTL Group’s services last year, according to Rhys Noelke, VP, business development.
Speaking in a session entitled HBB comes of age, he added that the company’s on demand products are driven by catch-up and short-form viewing and in 2012 had a total of 7 billion views, a 131% increase on the figure two years earlier.
Mobile on demand viewing is showing strong signs of growth, with RTL Now and M6 Replay usage increasing by 26% and 35% year-on-year in the first quarter.
Looking at apps, Noelke said that in Germany RTL Inside was both the most popular TV and social TV app, while in France M6’s Devant ma TV was the country’s first synchronized second screen app.
In the Netherlands, it has RTL XL, with the focus being on the T-VOD offer.
Noelke also said that “delivery on demand to the big screen is the big opportunity for the RTL family via HD+ devices.” HD+ is Astra Deutschland’s satellite DTH platform, which now also comes with hyrbid devices in order to make on-demand services possible.
It will be moving into linear TV OTT in June, with the service being available in Zattoo’s ‘HiQ’ package on multiple devices.
Noelke also said it is crucial to define common standards in the fragmented world of connected devices. Although RTL Group is actively supporting HbbTV, cross-industry support is needed.
