The Astra satellite system (19.2 degrees East) has reached the milestone of 2 million households in Austria for the first time and stays the leading TV reception method in the Alpine republic.
At the end of 2013, the number of DTH satellite households amounted to 2.00 million (2012: 1.90 million). The number of cable customers declined from 1.34 to 1.25 million. The number of DTT households (180,000) and IPTV customers (160,000) stayed unchanged.
The total number of TV households in Austria remains at 3.59 million. As not only DTH satellite households, but also cable operators and IPTV providers receive the Astra channels for distribution on their networks, Astra directly and indirectly serves a total of 95% (3.41 million) Austrian TV households.
The figures are taken from the current Astra TV-Monitor 2013, for which market research institute GfK Austria conducted 2,000 interviews at the end of 2013. The results refer to the main TV reception method, usually the large TV set in the living room.
1.95 million TV households (54% of all TV households in Austria) received their TV channels in high-definition (HDTV) at the end of 2013. This corresponds to a growth of 20% compared with the previous year in which 1.63 million households had HD reception (45%).
60% of DTH satellite households use HDTV, corresponding to 1.2 million households – an increase by 25% compared with 2012 (960,000). Around half of cable households (620,000) have HD reception (2012: 570,000).
81 German-language HD channels are currently available on Astra to DTH satellite households in Austria, 20 more than one year ago. In October 2014, ORF III, ORF Sport+ and ORF 2’s regional programmes Bundesland heute will launch HD simulcasts.
