"Content gap" remains for European high-def

June 25, 2008 - High-definition technology has reached a tipping point in Europe, with take-up of HD screens accelerating across the region, but a significant "content gap" remains, according to a new report from analyst firm Screen Digest.

By the end of last year, 18% of the 165mn European TV households were equipped with HD displays, according to the report, however less than 1% of these (or approximately 1mn) were fully "HD enabled" - that is to say equipped with an HD set-top box and an HD subscription, enabling them to watch HD broadcasts. Part of the "content gap" is attributed to a lack of HD content on free to air platforms across the region, although initiatives such as the UK's Freesat platform should help change this.

The report projects that by 2012 the situation will have improved slightly, with 20% of European households with HD displays (accounting for a predicted 85% of the region's total TV households) expected to be watching content in high-definition. Vincent Létang, Senior Analyst for Screen Digest and author of the report, commented: “In the next five years, HDTV will remain little more than a pay-TV product in Europe – primarily on satellite. Analogue switch-off, which will happen between 2010 and 2012 will free-up bandwidth capacity on the digital terrestrial platform and will kick-start the next phase of growth in HD TV. HD TV will become the mainstream and ultimately the standard form of free television around the middle of the next decade. In ten years time, nobody will ever refer to ‘high definition’ because HD will be everywhere.”

Screen Digest believes that three factors will be critical to the successful expansion of HDTV in Europe - the penetration of HD displays, supply of HD content and the availability of HD broadcast platforms. “HD has not been pushed hard enough by many of Europe’s pay TV operators," says Mr. Létang. "Paradoxically, it has been used heavily as a marketing tool, but has not been followed through with the delivery of HD channels – for example, Premiere in Germany still only offers two HD channels. There is a direct connection between the depth of the HD offering and the take up of HD by subscribers. BSkyB has 17 HD channels and on the back of this has signed up almost 500,000 subscribers in less than two years.”