november-2010

IMAGE PHOTOLIBRARY.COM
Businesstrends
Boyd Farrow rounds up what’s happening in the business world across Europe
Eyeing the future: there
will be over a thousand
3D TV channels by 2019
Square-eyed consumers
New TV technology set to keep Europe glued to the goggle box
Data from Eutelsat indicates that the number of satellite channels available to consumers across Europe will rise from 27,000 in
2009 to 40,000 in 2019 – including more than 7,600 high-definition (HD) channels (which currently make up just 3% of the European
market). The recent innovation of 3D TV will also gain popularity, with 1,800 channels expected by 2019.
Unsurprisingly, broadcasters’ enthusiasm for new technology comes at a time when their ad revenues are under pressure. Charging
for premium HD and 3D services could provide an alternative source of income for the firms in the long term, even though content isn’t
evolving as fast as the technology and there aren’t yet 3D glasses that can be used with all TV sets.
And there’s more good news for Europe’s broadcasters: according to a report by research firm Eurodata, consumers in some of
Europe’s biggest markets are spending more time watching television. The survey suggested people in the UK dedicated three hours
57 minutes a day to TV during the first eight months of 2010 – a 15-minute increase on 2009. Similarly, the average Spaniard spends
three hours 49 minutes sitting in front of the box, a six-minute improvement. It also seems that despite the rise of the internet, young
adults refuse to kick the TV habit. British teenagers devoted 12 more minutes each day to regular broadcast content than in 2009
– two hours 45 minutes – and Spanish teenagers two hours 26 minutes, which is four minutes more than in the previous year.
62 Brussels Airlines b.there! magazine November 2010