Romania ended the first half of this year with 6.6 million subscribers to pay-TV services, a 5.4% increase on the same period in 2013, according to data published by the regulator ANCOM.
As a result, the penetration of pay-TV services was 89%, a figure Broadband TV News believes to be one of the highest in Central and Eastern Europe.
Cable remains the most popular method of watching pay-TV services in Romania, with the number of homes at the end of June being 4.21 million, up almost 6% on a year. It was followed by DTH (2.37 million, +4%) and IPTV (65,000, +42%).
Most subscribers were in urban areas (61%, with almost 80% of these being cable).
In rural areas, DTH accounted for 62.3% of all pay-TV subscribers.
Most pay-TV subscribers (over 4 million, up 9% year-on-year) opted for digital services, with the breakdown of digital reception being 59% DTH, 39% cable and 2% IPTV.
Although the number of cable homes receiving digital services increased by 16% in the year to June 30, they still accounted for less than half (1.6 million) of the cable total.
