As part of the digital transition, the transmission of traditional, free-to-air analogue signals will be terminated by the end of 2011, to be replaced with digitally broadcast terrestrial television that offers better picture and sound quality and a wider range of additional services, while also allowing for a more efficient utilisation of the country's limited spectrum. This means that those currently watching analogue free-to-air television will have switch to another broadcasting platform by the end of 2011.

Television Platforms and Subscriptions

The majority of Hungarians watch television via cable - representing 2,392,000 of the country's 4,000,000 households. Similarly to individual satellite dishes, the popularity of both indoor and rooftop antennas has shown a steady decrease over the past few years, whereas subscriptions for satellite and IPTV services continued to grow. The share of households completely shunning television remains at 1.4 percent, and cross-platform use, i.e. when more than one platform is used, has dropped below 6 percent. Of the different platforms, terrestrial digital broadcast (that is, transmission via DVB-T) has yet to reach 1 percent; therefore, due to the study's statistical margin of error, no usage statistics can be concluded.

Indoor or rooftop antennas represent the primary reception method for terrestrial signals in 820,000 households. Since this is their only option for accessing currently available Hungarian free-to-air television channels, including the public-service broadcaster m1, they are the group primarily affected by the digital transition.

In particular, the success of satellite subscriptions is primarily the "achievement” of residents of smaller settlements, as cable TV coverage in these areas lags far behind that of larger cities. In their case, this platform had a penetration rate of 28 percent, as opposed to 42 percent for cable and IPTV combined. By contrast, cable and IPTV are largely predominant (84 percent) in Budapest, while the share of satellite subscriptions is nearly negligible (6 percent). Terrestrial (free-to-air) reception is also more widespread among small settlements, where 30 out of every 100 households use this standard. However, it is worth noting that this figure still stood at 52 in 2005.

Transition to Digital

As far as reception methods are concerned, the share of digital television is experiencing continuous growth, with a quarter (26 percent) of all households having switched over to digital by the end of 2009.

Approximately 4,600,000 people (56 percent of the population) are aware that analogue broadcasting is scheduled to cease in late 2011, and 3,400,000 million (42 percent of the population) have heard that digital broadcasting is already available in some parts of the country.

Public opinion about the digital switchover has improved: by last autumn 49 percent of the population approved the process, as opposed to the earlier figure of 44 percent. The number of neutral replies was high, and only one in every ten people (12 percent) saw the transition as negative.

Not surprisingly, those primarily affected by the switchover - people who currently watch television over analogue, terrestrial antennas (indoor or outdoor alike) and are therefore required to take action - hold a less positive view.

It is important to highlight that every second adult (representing 52 percent of the population) is already aware that old television sets require a separate decoder for the reception of digital terrestrial broadcasts; however, the same number of people and three-fourths of those primarily affected do not know how to tell if a television set has a built-in decoder. Every third adult (34 percent of the population) mistakenly believes that following the switchover, they will have to pay for channels that are currently available free of charge.

The effect of Antenna Hungária's infomercial campaign can be gauged among others by the familiarity of the MinDig TV logo: the number of those familiar with the label has grown from 20 to 39 percent. Most of them claimed to have seen the symbol for digital terrestrial broadcasting on television (in commercials). It is most likely the result of these infomercials that improved picture quality is the primary expectation regarding the switchover, with nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of those surveyed expecting this positive change.

Radio use

The study concluded that 82 percent of Hungary's adult population (6,715,000 people) listens to the radio. Only one in every ten people (a total of 620,000) listens to radio online, of whom 69 percent stay loyal to their terrestrial stations of choice and only 14 percent tune in to foreign stations. A little more than one in every six people (17 percent) has heard of digital radio, and their number has stagnated recently.

Mobile Television

Although nearly half of the adult population (46 percent) has heard of mobile TV, the "youngest” of television platforms, only 95,000 considered subscribing likely.

Among those open to the idea of mobile TV, there is an almost equal proportion of those preferring traditional, linear service ("I watch whatever is on”) and those preferring nonlinear, internet-type service ("I'll watch it whenever I have the time").

'Figures exceeding 100 percent can be explained by the fact that some households watch television simultaneously on different platforms (e.g. having kept their indoor or rooftop antenna in addition to a subscription).