ASTRA IN 80% OF POLISH SATELLITE AND CABLE HOMES More than 70 million ASTRA households in Europe

In Poland programmes distributed via ASTRA are received by 4.7 million (80%) of all satellite and cable households. 1.67 million are direct-receiving satellite homes (DTH/SMATV), 3.07 million receive ASTRA programme choice via cable networks. In the run-up to the launch of digital TV on ASTRA with Wizja TV, the potential satellite market in Poland is promising. According to the Satellite Monitor realised by GfK-Polonia, purchase intentions for satellite equipment are up from 500,000 at year end 1996 to almost 1 million at year end 1997. At the same time, 14 million (48%) of the Polish adult population are already aware of digital TV.

ASTRA is the first satellite system in the world to exceed 70 million connected households. ASTRA continues to lead the market in Europe, reaching 93% of all satellite and cable homes representing 43% of all TV households. 24.8 million are direct-receiving satellite homes (DTH/SMATV). Year on year, this represents an increase of 1.8 million (8%) in satellite homes, clearly illustrating continued strong demand in ASTRA’s analogue and digital programme offers. At the same time, ASTRA reception in cable increased by 1.7 million or 4%, now reaching 45.7 million households.

At year end 1997, ASTRA digital households in Europe totalled 1.2 million, reflecting the success of digital packages particularly in France and Spain. On top of that, overall growth in the ASTRA penetration figures was notably driven by the UK, Germany and Poland.

These are key findings of the Year End 1997 Satellite Monitor commissioned by Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), operator of the ASTRA Satellite System. The above results are based on the latest wave of the ASTRA Satellite Monitors which are produced by leading market research institutes. SES regularly commissions wide-scale market research in 22 European countries. The ASTRA Satellite Monitors apply widely accepted research standards of the TV industry and use harmonised research methodologies.

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