The satellite TV platform is definitely making a transition from standard definition to high definition in the Middle East and Africa, a top industry executive told Gulf News on Tuesday.
“2014 is heading to be a promising year for the regional industry. About 70 per cent of households in the Gulf own high-definition (HD) TVs, which reflects a clear demand for HD content at reasonable prices,” said Cliff Nelson, CEO at My-HD, a Dubai-based direct-to-home (DTH) platform.
He said the trend is moving towards HD. There are 10 million receivers sold in the Gulf every year, out of which less than 50 per cent are SD and the remaining are HD. The best way to provide HD channels is through satellite rather than internet protocol TV like eLife.
“It is the same case whether it is in the US or in Europe. Each HD channel takes 6-12 Megabits per second of bandwidth. So in order to accommodate this, consumers need to have a high broadband speed to deliver HD quality. Apart from this, many in the region watch channels on multiple screens — TVs, laptops and tablets — at home. So there will be a massive bottleneck issues,” Nelson said.
Major networks are already moving to HD and it will take at least “five years for all the channels to be on HD”.
However, he said that when all the channels move to HD there is an issue of satellite capacity. Present satellite capacity cannot accommodate all the channels on HD.
Today My-HD has 51 channels in the Middle East of which 44 are HD. The company has added 68 channels last year to take the total to 75 channels in the Middle East and North Africa region.
He said that BeIN Sports have announced recently that they will be discontinuing their SD channels, probably in May, and moving to HD channels. There is a “growing demand” for HD content in the region.
On whether free-to-air (FTA) channels are still the king in the region, he said that FTA channels have large viewership. “Our main aim is to offer ultra-low pay DTH platform to the entire region with an HD receiver and My-HD smart card, powered by their HD TVs,” Nelson said.
When asked about 4K or ultra high-definition content delivery, he said it will take its own time. There are 4K TVs available in the market but no 4K content.
“It is the same case as HD TV when launched seven years ago. The TV manufacturers are always five to six years ahead of the curve. Some of the premium sports channels will be broadcasted in 4K and it is always better to watch sports on ultra high-definition TV,” he said.
Source: http://www.zawya.com/story/Growing_demand_for_HD_channels_in_the_region-GN_11032014_120353/
