SES (NYSE Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) announced today that satellite continued to increase its household reach in Ukraine in 2012, with 22 percent of all TV households (or 3.7 million homes) receiving TV directly from satellites. Satellite Monitor, the SES annual market research study "´ which is carried out in conjunction with the Establishment Survey and conducted by GfK Ukraine "´ also indicated that 98 percent of all satellite households (or 3.6 million homes) receive TV directly from SES satellites, primarily from its orbital position 5 degrees East and also from 31.5 degrees East. Terrestrial and cable reception both slightly decreased, from 8 million in 2011 to 7.6 million in 2012 for terrestrial homes and from 5.8 million to 5.2 million for cable homes.
The survey also showed that satellite is the leading infrastructure of choice for digital TV reception in Ukraine, with 86 percent of 4.3 million digital households being satellite homes. Likewise, satellite is the preferred infrastructure for high-definition (HD) reception in Ukraine, with 84 percent of HD homes being satellite homes. All of these satellite HD homes receive transmissions via SES´ ASTRA satellites.
In Europe, 85 million TV homes receive their signals from satellites, up from 84 million in 2011. Over the last four years, satellite has increased its reach in Europe by 17 percent. Among the 249 million TV homes in Europe, satellite is the most popular reception mode. With 43 percent of all digital homes, satellite continues to be the digital leader in Europe. The number of households watching satellite TV in HD quality continued to increase and reached 41 percent of all satellite households.
SES continues to extend its technical reach across all continents, and serves 276 million TV homes around the globe via its satellite fleet. In Europe, SES serves 143 million TV households (including indirect cable and IPTV reach), 73 percent of all European satellite homes and 80 percent of all European satellite HD homes.
"Ukraine reflects the European trend, with the number of terrestrial and cable homes decreasing and the number of satellite households growing. Satellite remains the leader in digital across most of our markets, including Ukraine. Another important trend is that satellite is the primary platform for HD distribution, and we are proud to confirm that all satellite HD homes in Ukraine are on SES satellites," said Norbert Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Commercial Europe at SES. "Currently Ukraine is being served by two satellites -- ASTRA 4A at 5 degrees East and ASTRA 1G at 31.5 degrees East -- offering DTH, cable and terrestrial feeds for SD and HD channels. With the launch of ASTRA 5B at 31.5 degrees East in Q3 2013, we will be able to offer more capacity for HD and other digital services for the Ukrainian market."
SES Monitor figures for Ukraine at a glance:
Number of TV households: 16.56 million
Number of satellite households: 3.72 million
Number of SES satellite households: 3.64 million
Number of cable households: 5.19 million
Number of terrestrial households: 7.64 million
Number of digital households: 4.3 million
Number of SES households including cable and IPTV feed: 8.85 million
Number of satellite HD households: 0.51 million
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About SES
SES is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 52 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.
SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the broadcasting industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.
SES (NYSE Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) holds participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico, as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. Further information under: www.ses.com.
