The question
Cable and IPTV operators pick up hundreds of linear TV channels and pass them to their customers. Satellite has long been a simple, low-cost way to deliver those feeds, but fibre and internet delivery are growing. The client needed to understand how operators actually receive channels now, how that's changing, and where satellite still wins. The project updated an earlier study for the same client.
Approach
- Primary research: in-depth interviews with 20 cable and IPTV operators in 13 European markets between July and November 2021, plus about a dozen more operators by email.
- Desk research and market data on channel brands, operator consolidation and households by platform.
- Quantifying the interviews: how operators split their channel feeds between satellite, fibre and internet delivery, how they feel about satellite, and what they expect over the next five years.
- Mapping distribution paths: simplified schematics of satellite, fibre and internet delivery from broadcaster to operator headend, plus more complex real-world feed scenarios.
- Economics: a worked comparison of satellite and internet delivery costs, showing when each makes sense.
- Reach model: an estimate of the households each satellite position reaches indirectly through cable, IPTV and terrestrial operators across European markets, ranked against competitors.
What we found
At a high level: satellite still plays an important part, especially for distributing a single version of a channel widely and as a backup, but most operators now prefer IP over fibre for new channels. The choice of feed is mostly driven by channel owners and by commercial factors, not technology. That pointed the client towards economic arguments rather than technical ones.
Recommendations
- Promote satellite feeds on economics: cost, simplicity and reach.
- Consider a hybrid satellite-plus-internet delivery service, giving operators a smooth path rather than a hard switch.
- Consider a channel aggregation service that delivers commonly used channels to operators in one package.
- Reduce operators' pain with conditional access card management, a recurring complaint in the interviews.
What I did
I'm co-author of the final report. I conducted research interviews, worked on the analysis and data, and put together the slides and deliverables.
What it shows
- Designing and running an interview programme across many markets.
- Turning qualitative interviews into numbers a client can use.
- Building a reach model from market data.
- Making commercial recommendations from evidence.
The client is described anonymously and findings are summarised without confidential figures.