LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SES S.A. (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) announced today that its HD offering HD+ has continued to grow successfully throughout the first two years of its market presence. The service currently reaches 1.9 million German TV households. These are the results of a market analysis conducted by the GfK Group in Germany.
Of the 482,000 customers who started the one-year free trial period with HD+ between 1st November 2009 and 31st October 2010, 305,000 have decided to continue their use of the offering for an annual service fee of EUR 50. The conversion rate therefore stands at 63 percent. As of today, an additional 1.56 million households are currently using HD+ in the free trial period and will have the opportunity to extend their use of the service on a paying basis in the next twelve months. Based on the very positive development of HD+, SES expects to surpass the mark of one million paying customers by the end of next year.
HD+ is a technical platform operated by SES for encrypted broadcasting and reception of commercial free TV programmes in HD quality. The HD+ offering includes RTL HD, SAT.1 HD, ProSieben HD, VOX HD, kabel eins HD, N24 HD, TELE 5 HD, SPORT1 HD, RTL II HD, sixx HD, Nickelodeon HD and Comedy Central HD. Following a one year trial period free of charge, customers pay a fixed technical service fee of EUR 50 per year.
Wilfried Urner, CEO of the SES affiliate HD PLUS, says: “The German viewers have accepted HD+. The conversion rate of 63 percent from the free trial period into a paying mode remains as high as in the starting period and thus significantly exceeds our expectations. The high rate of acceptance began as a result of early-adopters, and now indicates that HD+ passes the test as a product for the mass market.”
Key figures HD+
| 31/10/2011 | ||
| HD+ receivers1 | 2,042,252 | |
| Active HD+ households2 | 1,865,620 | |
| out of which HD+ users in free trial 3 | 1,560,139 | |
| out of which HD+ customers4 | 305,481 | |
| Inactive HD+ households5 | 176,632 | |
| HD+ receiver models | 66 |
1 HD+ receivers, CI modules and CI+ modules for
HD+. The technical reach includes Sky Sat-HD receivers and the ordered
media receivers MR 500 Sat (only September) for Entertain Sat from
Deutsche Telekom.
2 Households currently
receiving the HD+ programmes.
3 Households
using the 12-months free trial period.
4 Households
in which customers have paid the annual service fee of EUR 50.
5
Households which have not extended the free trial period
but dispose of an HD+ receiver.
Source: GfK, reporting HD PLUS and partners
About SES
SES is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 49 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.
SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the broadcasting industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.
SES (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) holds participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico, as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. Further information under: www.ses.com.