TV Subscriber Numbers Remain High in Hungary

The average time spent by Hungarians in front of the television screen exceeding four hours per day is among the top in Europe, as is the fact that 91% of households have a traditional TV subscription, according to a survey by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH).

Providing the details to the state news agency MTI on Tuesday, NMHH's communications directorate said that while 24.5% of households were receiving TV programs via satellite or terrestrial distribution at the end of 2018, this figure had fallen to 19.5% in just under three years, according to the 20 largest fixed operators. This means that one in five of their subscribers had switched to some form of fixed TV service (cable or internet), they said.

Terrestrial subscribers are much more dissatisfied than satellite subscribers, with only around 50-60 channels available on Antenna Hungária's terrestrial service even with additional options. The reason for switching to fixed services is that operators are now offering internet, landline phone and TV subscriptions at significantly lower prices if a household subscribes to two or three of these, they said. This favorable bundle pricing cannot be offered by satellite or terrestrial broadcasters.

According to NMHH, the survey results show that households subscribing to broadcast transmission have much more modest telecoms needs than those subscribing to fixed services. For example, only 63% of this group had a fixed Internet subscription, compared with 83% of households with a fixed TV subscription. Similarly, the use of fixed telephone or flat screen TV was lower among those choosing broadcast services, they added.

NMHH does not expect the service of terrestrial broadcasting to disappear completely. This is because, in many cases, there is no alternative. In small villages or poor rural areas, building a cable TV or internet network without state support is an investment that will never pay off," the study said.