Momentum is picking up, as we have always said it would, for the free to air satellite service which is following in the footsteps of the UK’s Freeview terrestrial TV service.
Last month it reached 200,000 subscribers, just as we predicted, leaping from around 60,000 signups in a quarter to over 100,000 on the back of its first advertising spend, launched in September.
The service has been described as amateurish and badly run, and poorly thought out by rivals, but currently it’s the fastest growing TV service in Europe. France and Italy also have similar free to air satellite services.
Freesat was launched by the BBC, with the co-operation of the leading UK independent TV platform ITV, and this is pretty much the formula that guaranteed the success of the DVB-T based Freeview which now reaches almost 50% of UK homes, as a digital terrestrial service. OK, to some extent that was just a replacement of the analog system, but since analog is not supposed to be switched off until 2012, its popularity is more likely due to squeezing 6 TV channels into the spectrum space that previously only had room for one and the number of UK multiplexes are being added to all the time.
It is this formula that has been copied throughout Europe and which is spreading DVB-T through almost 40 countries. If the same communities look to the BBC lead on Freesat, and they will if the subscriber numbers continue to rise, then instead of a 40 channel system replacing a 6 channel analog set up, Freesat will become a 200 channel system, many of them HD, replacing the DVB-T service.
And as we have said in the past, if that happens in big numbers, it will spread as a concept throughout Europe, parts of Asia Pacific and South America, compromising all forms of pay TV.
The big question mark over it, is that the initial expense is somewhat higher than DVB-T (a $50 set top versus a $100 set top and a $100 dish plus installations fees), but so far that has not slowed it down. We would now expect it to continue to accelerate, rather than remain static at 100,000 a quarter, if that is to happen.
One thing that was holding it back was the low number of choices available in TV sets and set tops when it started in September, and Freesat has continually, if slowly, convinced Consumer Electronics companies to add devices. This week LG said it would integrate a Freesat tuner into two of its new TVs, the LG the LH5000 and the LH7700. More devices are still expected any day from Sony, Samsung and Toshiba and a second wave of products are expected from Humax, Alba and Panasonic.