Satellite TV Increases its Reach in Germany after Analogue Switch-off

LUXEMBOURG — SES S.A. (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) announced today that satellite TV continued to increase its reach in Germany after the analogue switch-off in April. In the first half of 2012, satellite TV gained 100,000 households to reach 17.6 million.

Cable TV reception declined further, to 17 million households in the first half of 2012 (December 2011: 17.3 million). By contrast, digital terrestrial TV (DVB-T) benefited from the analogue switch-off and reached 2 million households by June 30th (December 2011: 1.8 million). Internet Protocol television (IPTV) increased its reach to 1.4 million households (December 2011: 1.3 million). The overall number of TV households in Germany increased slightly to 38 million (December 2011: 37.9 million). High definition TV (HDTV) continues on its growth path, with 7.2 million or 41 percent of all satellite households in Germany watching HD content (December 2011: 5.9 million / 34 percent).

The figures are based on the latest Satellite Monitor. The research was conducted by market research company TNS Infratest on behalf of SES and in cooperation with the broadcasting institutions in Germany’s federal states. TNS conducted 8,000 interviews across Germany in May 2012.

Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer of SES, said: “These are outstanding results, especially for the transition of the analogue switch-off. Satellite is more popular than ever in Germany. The reason for our growth is simply that consumers value the benefits of linear satellite TV, combining unique picture quality with a large variety of channels. With new product initiatives like Sat>IP, we will enable the reception of satellite TV on IP-based devices and thereby contribute to developing even further the capabilities of satellite, the most popular reception mode, for the benefit of all its current and future users.”