In the past there were several claims about HD capacity, but a new study shows a different insight. International market research and consulting firm NSR states that around 900 HD channels and 9500 standard channels will be accessible via satellite by 2012.
The study covers the entire commercial satellite transponder leasing sector. NSR notes some areas that need to be closely monitored by the industry. The launch of DTH platforms in the last years was incredible, but some countries are showing a lot of competing DTH services plus cable and other new Pay-TV offerings.
NSR's study also tracks the migration from analog channels to digital. Most of the analog capacity gets repurposed by the client, yet there are occasions when contracts are cancelled or not renewed, and this will impact the transponder demand in the USA.
