Eutelsat 9B being loaded into the container to make its way to Baïkonur Cosmodrome launch site . Photo: Airbus Defence and Space

[Via Satellite 10-31-2016] Eutelsat Communications has released fresh data on trends shaping Italy’s TV landscape where average viewing of linear content is the highest in Western Europe, at four hours and 40 minutes per person per day. Using research commissioned from TNS, the Eutelsat TV Observatory shows that satellite reception in Italy’s TV market reaches into 8.4 million homes, up 3 percent since Eutelsat’s 2013 survey.

Eutelsat’s Hot Bird satellites carry 345 Italian channels and account for 7.4 million homes, according to the company. The Sky Italia platform has a subscriber base of 4.76 million homes at the Hot Bird position and is driving HD take-up, with three out of four subscribers benefiting from its HD offer that today comprises 65 channels. A total of 2.8 million homes are equipped for DTH reception of the Tivusat free-to-view platform that now offers viewers 14 HD channels and RAI 4K, Italy’s first Ultra-HD channel.

A further 763,000 homes are equipped to watch foreign-language channels from other Eutelsat neighborhoods, led by Eutelsat 16A, Eutelsat 9B and Eutelsat 7 West A. Ninety-five percent of satellite homes in Italy are served by a Eutelsat satellite, according to the company.

Overall, Italy’s satellite TV universe continues to expand and is the second most popular route to multi-channel viewing. Of a nationwide base of 25 million TV homes one in three has opted for satellite reception. Sixteen million homes watching TV only via the terrestrial network have a reduced offer of 50 channels, of which five in HD, while the IP base in highly urban districts has inched up to 430,000 homes from 240,000 in 2013.