Cable television does not yet feel Bluewin TV
Bluewin TV has so far only been able to win very few customers from the cable TV companies. According to the Swisscable association, digitization is still below expectations, but is set to take off soon. However, this means that more analog channels will be removed from the offering.
The launch of Bluewin TV gave the cable TV companies a stomach ache. So far, however, they do not seem to have much to fear from the competition from Swisscom. According to a survey commissioned by Swisscable, the association of cable TV companies, only 0.5 percent of the 1,000 people questioned have so far switched to Bluewin TV. This corresponds to around 14,400 subscribers, according to a press release from Swisscable. Bluewin TV is mainly used where no cable TV connection is available, or it is subscribed to in addition to cable TV. A further survey has shown that around 13 percent of Swiss TV households use digital television. A year ago, this figure was just under ten percent. Nevertheless, according to the survey conducted by Demoscope in May 2007, around 40% intend to switch to digital TV in the next 12 to 36 months. In the previous year, this figure was 34%. The main reasons given were the larger range of programs and the better picture and sound quality. As in the previous year, around a quarter of respondents said that they were not interested in digital TV.
According to Swisscable President Hajo Leutenegger, the use of digital TV is clearly below expectations. However, there are signs that demand will soon increase massively. For this reason, many cable TV companies are designing their services in such a way that they will continue to broadcast analog and digital television in parallel for the time being. However, it is to be expected that analogue channels will continue to be shifted to the digital offering. However, such decisions have caused displeasure among cablecom customers (see
). According to Leutenegger, there will be an analog offering on cable until well after 2010, although this will be reduced compared to today. Triple play, i.e. radio/TV, Internet and telephony from a single source, will continue to be important for cable TV providers. This year's Demoscope survey revealed that 53% of respondents consider it important to be able to obtain these services from a single company.
According to Swisscable President Hajo Leutenegger, the use of digital TV is clearly below expectations. However, there are signs that demand will soon increase massively. For this reason, many cable TV companies are designing their services in such a way that they will continue to broadcast analog and digital television in parallel for the time being. However, it is to be expected that analogue channels will continue to be shifted to the digital offering. However, such decisions have caused displeasure among cablecom customers (see
). According to Leutenegger, there will be an analog offering on cable until well after 2010, although this will be reduced compared to today. Triple play, i.e. radio/TV, Internet and telephony from a single source, will continue to be important for cable TV providers. This year's Demoscope survey revealed that 53% of respondents consider it important to be able to obtain these services from a single company.
