Market Trends

The Society of Satellite Professionals International released December 17, 2009 the results of its first member survey. The report, "The Satellite Industry Workforce 2009," reveals some surprising and a few not so surprising results based on responses from SSPI members around the world.

According to a new study from Parks Associates, the number of US broadband households watching online content doubled in the last year. The study, entitled Broadband Communications, and Entertainment Bundles, says that over 25 million U.S. households regularly watch full-length TV shows online.

 by B.H. Schneidermann

Latin America has a vibrant Direct-to-Home (DTH) market with services recently launched or rolling out in several countries in the next few months. The largest and most mature DTH market in the region is that of Brazil, which has the largest population and most extensive land area in South America.

When discussing the Ku-band commercial airline broadband access market, the image that comes to mind is that of a famous animation movie where a donkey travels to a faraway land constantly asking the ogre driving the carriage: "Are we there yet?" Today, the answer would be, "Just about there," to which the donkey’s reply would be, "Ahhh! Finally."

By 2014, 84 percent of all pay-TV net additions will come from emerging markets, however a successful pay-TV VoD service in these markets will depend on a variety of factors, according to a new report by Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

While 3DTV has its skeptics, the giants in the consumer electronics industry see huge potential, according to a new report from GigaOM Pro. As HDTV manufacturers face shrinking margins and a maturing market, big players like Sony and Panasonic see 3DTV as the way to rejuvenate their TV business. While the market is only in its infancy today, by 2013 up to 46 million 3DTV capable flat-panel HDTVs will head to consumer homes.

According to NSR’s new report, Global Direct-to-Home (DTH) Markets, 2nd Edition, satellite television has proven its resilience in tough economic climates, driven primarily by a larger section of viewers choosing television as a cost effective means of entertainment. A total of 99 DTH operators beam over 13,800 channels to 114 million subscribers generating over $65 billion in subscription revenue as of the end of 2008 – and the collective pie continues to grow.

According to NSR’s new report, Global Assessment of Satellite Supply & Demand (GASD), 6th Edition, commercial satellite operators saw a very good year in 2008 with revenues up substantially. More importantly, most satellite operators have yet to report any substantial damage from the global economic crisis and, assuming recovery is solidly in place by the end of 2009, it appears that they will largely escape unscathed. There is still some risk because satellite capacity leasing is historically a trailing indicator of economic strength, yet the majority of the business is built on TV watching, and this market has only increased in the last year.

Strategy Analytics and D. I. S. Consulting announced at the IBC 2009 show in Amsterdam that their latest prediction for the global broadcast and professional media production market heralds a return to growth in 2010. After a severe downturn in most industry segments during 2009, the analysts expect global revenues to increase by 4.8% next year. The results was presented at Strategy Analytics’ annual Analyst Breakfast during this year’s IBC in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday 13th September.

ABI Research expects Location Based Services revenues to grow at 156% from $1.7 billion in 2008 to $2.6 billion in 2009. By 2014 global LBS revenues will have surpassed $14 billion.