DTT is very much on China’s TV menu
Chris Forrester
02-12-2009

China's digital TV market has grown rapidly since 2003, says a new report from Screen Digest. Today it is Asia's largest TV market, and Screen Digest forecasts that by 2013 there will be an 18% growth in DTT viewing homes.

China has 390m TV homes, of which 180m are cable TV subscribers, says Screen Digest. The number that are viewing DTT transmissions are modest today (at just 3.9m). A further 2m are viewing over IPTV connections, and a modest 60,000 watching from DTH. Everyone else watches analogue terrestrial, says the analysts.

China's State-body for programming in film and TV (SARFT) is investing $366m in DTT over the next 3 years, while another of China's ministerial bodies is forcing TV set manufacturers to ship all their sets with DTT tuners.

Screen Digest says that DTT subscriber growth will double next year, "followed by rapid growth in 2011 and 2013. By 2013 there will probably be more than 74m DTT homes."