Dutch TV market growth driven by IPTV

Ziggo and UPC have a combined market share of 54%

The Dutch TV market added 20,000 net additions during the fourth quarter of 2014, driven by mainly by growth in IPTV delivered via DSL or fibre, according to new research by Telecompaper. 

The research said that there was a 0.6% increase in digital TV subscribers, which more than offset a 4.6% decline in analogue-only TV subscribers, with the total Dutch TV subscriber numbers reaching 7.76 million at the end of the year.

Almost 90% of the market now uses digital TV, according to the report, with cable accounting for 54% of digital TV subscribers, despite losing market share to IPTV over DSL and fibre networks. DSL now accounts for 17% of digital TV connections and fibre 11%, said Telecompaper.

The recently merged Ziggo and UPC had a combined market share of almost 54% at the end of 2014. Second place KPN had a market share of almost 27%.

“The new Ziggo will face a challenge halting the steady decline in cable’s TV market share,” said Telecompaper analyst and report author Kamiel Albrecht.

“We expect zero growth in the TV subscription market in the period to 2019. Almost all households already have a TV connection and fewer are taking subscriptions for second TVs, in favour of watching video on tablets, computers and other devices.”