Satellite Monitor Annual Research Shows SES Increase Reach to 366 Million TV Homes Worldwide

The increase of TV households served by SES can be attributed to the growing reach in Africa (+9.1 million), APAC (+1 million) and Latin America (+1.7 million), where direct-to-home satellite platforms and IPTV continue to gain traction as leading TV reception methods. In SES’s key European market via 19.2 degrees East, SES continues to reach 117 million homes, delivering content to half of all TV homes in the market via satellite, cable or IPTV. SES’s reach to TV homes in North America is down by 6 million as American audiences turn toward online streaming alternatives.

In Africa, SES continues to expand its satellite reach due to the growth of Ethiopian free-to-air offering, including the country’s first dedicated TV platform Ethiosat. SES has also led an intensive programme to get TV viewers in Ethiopia to repoint their dishes at the satellite positioned at 57 degrees East for the past two years, and is currently serving a predominant number of satellite TV homes in Ethiopia.

Additionally, key trends have been identified in African and European markets:

• TV home evolution in Africa – TV penetration across markets in Africa, such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana, has soared by 27% since 2017 as satellite gains popularity as the leading means of TV reception
• Free-to-air in Europe – As more turn to over-the-top TV (OTT) packages, free-to-air satellite TV remains stable in Europe over the last five years, underscoring the value proposition of satellite TV and the complementary nature of OTT
• IPTV growth – Internet protocol television (IPTV) continues to grow across Europe as an emerging distribution method, whereas terrestrial television (DTT) declined.

"For almost three decades we have been publishing the Satellite Monitor market research on a yearly basis, enabling our video customers from all over the world to leverage the impartial data to make informed decisions about their business. These additional insights, combined with our premium fleet of satellites’ ability to deliver content in the most cost-effective way to the widest possible audiences, demonstrate why leading broadcasters continue to extend and expand their partnerships with us. This underscores the solidity of our video business for the years to come,” said Deepak Mathur, Executive Vice President of Global Video Sales at SES.

For 28 years, SES’s Satellite Monitor has been a key industry benchmark report conducted by leading market research institutes to analyse the market dynamics (TV reception, resolution, devices, etc.), reach (by country, orbital position and reception mode) and social demographics.