Over 1,460 channels, including approximately 700 local services, are now available on DTT in 19 European countries.

New data from the MAVISE TV database, developed for the DG Communication of the European Commission by the European Audiovisual Observatory, shows analogue switch-off to have taken place in 12 European countries (Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden). By the end of 2010 (or January 2011) switch-off will also have taken place in Austria, Iceland, Malta, Slovenia and Croatia.

The number of national and intenational channels available has grown considerably over the past 12 months. Compared to 500 in April 2009 there are now more than 760 such channels available. Almost 40 channels are available to viewers in more than one country, among them the international brands of Discovery, Eurosport, CNN and BBC World News. A number of Italian channels are on the DTT system in Malta and TV4 Sweden can be found in the line-up of neighbouring Denmark.

Of the 760 channels (in all the packages) 345 are on FTA platforms and 415 are on pay DTT platforms.

HD channels are available on DTT platforms in France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Norway, Hungary, Estonia, and Lithuania. HD services are due to be launched in Sweden and Finland by the end of 2010 or early in 2011.



Source: BroadbandTVNews