SES nears one million paying HD Plus homes

Satellite operator SES ended September with three quarters of a million paying customers for its HD platform HD Plus.

The operator launched HD Plus in the German market three years ago. After adding 127,000 new paying customers during the third quarter, it ended September with a total of 761,456.

HD Plus customers receive the service, which includes 14 HD channels, free of charge for a 12-month period.  SES said there were a total of 2,039,175 households receiving the service for free, up 23% year-on-year. With many of these households coming to the end of the free period, SES said is was confident it would have over one million paying subscribers by the end of the year.

Wilfried Urner, CEO of HD Plus, said: “Just three years after its launch, HD Plus is an immovable force in the German TV market and an important growth driver. The record levels in Q3 underline this development. HD TV will remain an important growth driver for the entire television industry for many years.”