During the past four years, DTH satellite service providers have enjoyed a 22 percent subscriber growth rate, according to SES’ year-end Satellite Monitor report. Satellite’s competitors lost subscribers during the same period. Terrestrial TV service providers lost nearly 16 million homes, while cable lost more than 2 million households. IPTV services, however, grew from a very low level in 2008 to about 16 million households.

   The main growth markets for satellite in 2011 were the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine, Poland and Italy. SES noted that the region’s main growth drivers were the development of digital reception and HD services. Satellite is currently Europe’s leading digital infrastructure; reaching nearly 44 percent of all 186 million digital TV homes in Europe. The digitalization rate of satellite is 97 percent, compared with 70 percent in terrestrial reception and 48 percent in cable.

   “This success confirms our view that satellite reception is the most attractive and future-proof mode for households to watch TV”, SES Senior Vice President of European Commercial Services Norbert Hölzle said in a statement. “The trend in Germany, where satellite overtook cable for the first time in history, is confirmed in the United Kingdom, as well as in Europe overall, where satellite outgrew the other reception modes.”

   SES’ annual Satellite Monitor report is based on more than 62,000 interviews, conducted by various research institutes in 35 European and North African countries under the lead of Germany’s TNS Infratest. The report also tracked SES’ progress in Europe, with results showing approximately 142 million TV households now served by the operator — 7 million more than in 2011 and 25 million more than in 2008. More than half of European TV homes, or 57 percent, receive their signals from SES’ Astra service.

   “The factual growth of satellite and Astra in the digital world confirms their leading role,” said Hölzle. “It puts us in a strong position to compete with other networks and combine our strengths with DSL and broadband reception. The combination of both in the connected TV will be the best of all possible worlds for the TV viewer.”