European DTT channel universe expands

The number of digital-terrestrial TV channels in the EU plus Croatia and Turkey now stands at almost 1,500, according to the latest report from the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The total includes a large number of the local and regional channels, with the number of national and international channels standing at about 760 (up from 500 in April last year). There are about 40 international channels available on DTT platforms, including Euronews, Discovery, Eurosport, CNN and BBC World. Of the 760 national and international channels, 345 are on free-to-air platforms and 415 are on pay platforms. Pay-DTT services are currently available in 14 EU countries as well as a number of non-EU European countries.

In total, 25% of channels on DTT are public services, with the remainder being commercial channels. On pay-DTT platforms the largest group of channels by genre is entertainment and fiction (19%), followed by sport (18%), film and documentary (10% each) and kids (9%). On free-to-air platforms, the largest group of services by genre is generalist channels (36%), with entertainment and fiction accounting for 15%, business and news taking 9% and cultural, educational and international channels accounting for 8%.