By Dipo Olowookere
A study has shown that satellite TV reception was the choice for 11.8 million households in Nigeria in 2019, a 23 percent increase compared to 2017.
The survey, conducted by SES, the leader in global content connectivity solutions, in its annual Satellite Monitor, further revealed that in Ghana, Nigeria’s West African neighbour, 4.7 million households received the signal. 19 percent higher than in 2017.
Across the African continent, according to the report, satellite TV reception reached 35 million TV households last year in contrast to 33 million African households in 2018.
Furthermore, the study also highlighted that High Definition (HD) TV sets are becoming increasingly popular, already present in approximately 50 percent of Ghanaian and Nigerian TV homes.
Other TV reception modes in Nigeria and Ghana currently include terrestrial, cable and IPTV.
According to the latest survey results, satellite TV is steadily gaining popularity as the TV reception mode of choice in both markets, with 70 percent of TV homes in Ghana and 33 percent of those in Nigeria, with a population estimated to be 200 million, opting for satellite in 2019 – an increase from 64 percent and 27 percent, respectively, compared to 2017.
The Satellite Monitor results show that SES also increased its reach across the broader African continent. In addition to the growth of homes reached in Nigeria and Ghana, the study showed that SES’s satellites reach 11.6 million homes (satellite and terrestrial) in anglophone West Africa; 6.2 million satellite homes in francophone West Africa; 17.7 million homes (satellite and terrestrial) in sub-Saharan Africa; and 0.9 million satellite homes in East Africa.
“The results of our annual Satellite Monitor market research demonstrate that satellite continues to be the optimal infrastructure to deliver hundreds of TV channels and in high picture quality too while offering an affordable solution in the transition from analogue to digital TV,” said Clint Brown, Vice President of Sales and Market Development for SES Video in Africa. “With the deadline for the analogue switch-off looming in both countries – 2020 in Ghana and 2021 in Nigeria – the 2019 Satellite Monitor findings confirm that end consumers in regions going through digital migration are satisfied with satellite TV and choosing it for its better value proposition and variety of free-to-air offerings, rather than purchasing new hardware and switching to digital terrestrial TV.”
This SES annual market research offers a comprehensive and in-depth analysis into the TV market in each country it surveys and is designed to assess the development of TV reception modes and SES’s total reach in the market, as well as to serve as a benchmark for the TV and satellite industry.
In 2019, Ghana and Nigeria were the main surveyed African countries as they stand as the most dynamic and highly penetrated TV markets in sub-Saharan Africa and have been surveyed by SES since 2015.
