Instrumento de análisis de los contenidos

This section discusses the changes to the number of subscriptions for

traditional, linear pay-TV that follows a set schedule. Television channels such as SVT1, TV3 and Eurosport are packaged to be offered to end-users in the form of different subscriptions. In order for the channels' content to reach the end-user, it is necessary to have a programme broadcast service that is

distributed by a network operator. Traditional television is distributed to the consumer via different distribution platforms such as cable, satellite, terrestrial network or broadband. TV via broadband in this context is referred to as IPTV, i.e., via fibre, fibre LAN or xDSL. Fibre and fibre LAN are indicated in the figures as “Fibre” and “Fibre and LAN”.

In 2015, the average viewing time for traditional television increased to 155 minutes per day, compared with 153 minutes the previous year, according to the survey company MMS.19 The viewing time has previously declined steadily

from 2010 to 2014. The daily range, i.e., the proportion of the population that has watched television for at least 5 consecutive minutes, continued to decline from 66.1 per cent to 65.2 per cent. An increasing number of consumers use other ways to watch television or moving images. Viewed over a longer period, the viewing time for traditional television has fallen as a result of more and more people using streaming services.

In addition to traditional television, there are also other ways to watch television or moving images and these have increased significantly in the past year, partly at the expense of traditional television viewing. A number of new television services have been launched onto the Swedish market in the past few years, both OTT services20 _{and services that bring together TV programming} from different broadcasting companies in one place. Most viewers are turning to international OTT providers such as YouTube, Facebook and HBO Nordic. PTS collects statistics on the number of pay-TV subscriptions for traditional television. On 31 December 2015, the total number of television subscriptions amounted to 5.2 million, which is the same amount as at the same time the previous year.

The number of subscriptions for television services is greater than the number of households as some households have more than one subscription, either on

19 _{MMS Annual Report 2015}

20 _{OTT: Over-the-top. OTT services for call services such as Skype, for moving images such as Netflix.}

Consumers are offered the delivery of and access to video, moving images and other media or calls via the internet without involving a network owner or telecom operator in the control or distribution of the content.

one or a number of different distribution platforms.21 For example, a

household with a cable television connection can frequently have an analogue basic subscription via the property owner and may also have taken out an individual digital subscription. Consequently, to estimate the number of households that use cable television, the number of analogue and digital cable television subscriptions should not be added together. PTS estimates that the number of households that have one or more subscriptions for cable television services is about 2.3 million, which is 1 per cent fewer than the previous year.22

There are also cases of the same household having subscriptions from several different platforms, e.g. the terrestrial network and satellite.

Figure 11 Number of television services subscriptions by method of distribution

The figure above shows the number of subscriptions for television services by distribution method; all subscriptions are included. The figure shows that only

21 _{Distribution platforms in this context refer to broadcasting technologies such as xDSL, cable}

television, fibre, terrestrial network and satellite.

22 _{Calculating the number of households that have cable television: The sum of analogue cable television}

subscriptions and digital basic subscriptions, but this does not include subscriptions signed directly with households that also have an analogue or digital basic subscription via the property owner to avoid double counting. 0 500 1 000 1 500 2 000 2 500 3 000 Analogue

cable Digitalcable terrestrialDigital television

Satellite IPTV via

fibre IPTV viaxDSL

Th o u san d s u b scr ip tio n s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

subscriptions via IPTV (fibre and fibre LAN, xDSL) are increasing. All other distribution platforms are decreasing.

More than half (54 per cent) of the television subscriptions are distributed via digital technologies, such as the terrestrial network, digital cable television, satellite and IPTV (fibre, fibre LAN or xDSL), and the remainder (46 per cent) via analogue cable television. This distribution has remained relatively

unchanged since 2009.

Figure 12 shows the proportion of subscriptions by distribution method, with households with two or more subscriptions for television services only counted once.

Figure 12 Proportion of television subscriptions per distribution method

Television via broadband

TV via broadband, so-called IPTV, is provided using the access technologies fibre, fibre LAN and xDSL. IPTV continued to increase in 2015, and this was the only platform that saw growth between the end of December 2014 and the end of December 2015. The number of subscriptions for IPTV amounted to

54% 53% 53% 52% _{50% 49%} 7% 6% 6% 5% _{5% 4%} 14% _{14% 13%} 13% _12% 12% 15% _{15% 14%} 14% _14% 13% 4% _{6% 8% 10%} 13% 16% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Cable television SMATV

Digital terrestrial television Satellite IPTV via fibre IPTV via xDSL

952,000 on 31 December 2015, which is an increase of 10 per cent compared with the same time one year before.

The increase in the number of subscriptions via IPTV is a result of a greater number of subscriptions via fibre and fibre LAN, see figure above. The number of subscriptions for television via fibre and fibre LAN was 714,000 at the end of December 2015, which represents an increase of 20 per cent compared with one year before. In 2013 and 2014, the increase was even greater, 41 and 28 per cent respectively. The number of television

subscriptions via fibre and fibre LAN increased by 28 per cent in 2014 and 41 per cent in 2012. Television via fibre LAN has in 2015 taken over digital cable television as the biggest of the digital television distribution platforms.

The number of subscriptions for television via xDSL decreased by 12 per cent to 238,000 subscriptions. xDSL has decreased since 2012.

Cable television

There were 734,000 digital cable television subscriptions on 31 December 2015, which is a decrease of 2 per cent from the same date in 2014. Digital cable television subscriptions have been constantly decreasing since 2012. Part of the reduction in digital cable television subscriptions between 2013 and 2014 can be attributed to a change in accounting in connection with Telenor acquiring Tele2's customer base for cable television subscriptions.23

The total number of analogue cable television subscriptions, including SMATV24, has decreased by around 1 per cent annually since 2013. The

analogue cable television platform is not increasing, as there is hardly any expansion of the cable television network taking place. The majority of analogue cable television subscriptions are subscriptions via large television operators (Com Hem, Telenor, Sappa and Telia). This type of subscription amounted to 2.18 million, which is the same number as in 2014. Of the analogue cable television subscriptions, all were entered into indirectly via contracts with property owners, which has remained unchanged since

measurements commenced in 2009. The remaining 204,000 subscriptions have been estimated based on the number of households with subscriptions via a SMATV network. These fell by 7 per cent in 2015.

23 _{After the acquisition of Tele2’s cable television subscriptions, Telenor reported fewer digital cable}

television subscriptions in the first half of 2014, but more analogue cable television subscriptions than Tele2 were reported.

24 _{Satellite Master Antenna Television (SMATV) is a stand-alone cable television network in which several}

Television via satellite and terrestrial networks

The number of subscriptions for television via satellite continues to decline somewhat, amounting to 607,000 at the end of December 2014. This corresponds to a decrease of 3 per cent in one year. The number of

subscriptions in the digital terrestrial network also decreased. On 31 December 2015 there were 538,000 subscriptions for television services, which is a

reduction of 5 per cent compared with the previous year.

The households that receive only free television25 via the digital terrestrial

network are not included in the statistics. As free television viewers do not take out a subscription contract in order to gain access to the service, it is uncertain exactly how many households receive free television. According to a survey commissioned by PTS26, close to 7 per cent of households have free television

as the sole method for receiving television in their permanent home, which corresponds to about 290,000 households. Compared to surveys conducted in 2012, 2013 and 2014, this is a decrease of about one percentage point.27