What’s the biggest change that has taken place in Central and Eastern Europe’s TV industry in the last five years?
Aside from all the technological advances – HD channels, for instance, are today commonplace throughout the region – it is probably that most viewers are now comfortable with the idea of paying for their TV services. What is more, they are more willing to ’upgrade’ and receive additional services, such as VOD, as and when they become available.
Pay-TV services are in fact now received in the majority of homes – typically between two thirds and three quarters of the total– in the more developed markets in Central and Eastern Europe, among them Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Romania. While the vast majority are via cable, DTH or IPTV, a small though growing number are through pay-DTT.
The latter is in fact something of a game changer, as it is introducing the concept of affordable pay-TV to viewers who had previously been resistant to the idea, either for ideological or more realistically financial reasons. Just as importantly, it is starting to pose a threat to providers of cable, DTH and IPTV services: their low-end customers, in particular, may be increasingly tempted by the idea of switching to a cheaper, less comprehensive but still more than adequate TV offer.
Pay-DTT services were slow to get off the ground in the region, with the Baltic Republics, and in particular Estonia, having played a leading role in their introduction. Now, however, they are well established in some markets and becoming important players in their own right. One of the best examples is probably Hungary’s MinDig TV Extra, which already has over 100,000 subscribers and seems to go from strength to strength.
Elsewhere, pay-DTT has most recently been introduced in Slovakia and Belarus, with the Czech Republic probably soon to follow. In due course, they will also probably become available in Russia and Poland, two of the region’s largest markets.
Pay-DTT is certainly here to stay and will undoubtedly become an increasingly important element of Central and Eastern Europe’s TV industry in the years to come.
