SES reaches 351MN TV homes, more than 1BN viewers worldwide
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 04 April 2018

It may have just experienced a rather challenging year, but satellite operator SES has revealed that its reach has increased measurably over the last 12 months.

According to SES’s annual market research, Satellite Monitor, the number of video households served by the company has continued to increase, reaching 351 million TV homes in 2017, up 8% annually, and means that is now delivering video content to more than a billion global viewers.

SES says that its increased technical reach reflects the expansion of the survey with the addition of new countries such as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Turkey, plus the wider reach of Yahlive, namely in the Maghreb countries. Together these account for 17 million more SES TV homes. On a like-for-like basis, the technical reach grew by nine million SES TV homes, mainly in Nigeria, Ghana and the Middle East.

The study also shows that in 2017 SES directly reached 145 million TV homes, and indirectly served another 147 million cable homes, 40 million IPTV homes and 18 million terrestrial homes.

Europe was revealed as continuing to be a strong and resilient market where satellite broadcasting is a highly attractive platform for reliable and cost-effective video delivery to large audiences. SES now reaches 167 million TV homes in Europe, up from 156 million in 2016. Again this growth was mainly driven by the addition of Turkey and the additional reach of Yahlive in the Maghreb countries, which together represent an increase of ten million TV homes. Technical reach across the core markets in Europe was stable.

The company was also showing success in the HDTV arena. SES currently delivers HD content to 107 million homes, which represents two-thirds of all European TV homes enjoying HD. SES now carries 2,602 out of 7,709 global channels HD channels. In Europe, SES delivers 2,670 TV channels, including 798 in HD.

“The Satellite Monitor shows that our strategy to invest in growth markets is successful and results in a significantly larger geographical reach,” said Ferdinand Kayser, CEO of SES Video. “We continue to leverage our growing, unique technical reach worldwide to help our customers build their businesses and expand their audiences. In Africa, our infrastructure will continue to play a key role in the digital switch-over, while in developed countries, namely Europe, our satellites remain the leading platform to deliver HD and drive Ultra HD to millions of households. We are also strongly supporting the development and roll-out of HD and Ultra HD in the Americas and Asia Pacific.”