Kanal 5 and Kanal 9 are two of the biggest commercial FTA TV channels in Sweden.
Kanal 5, broadcast out of the United Kingdom, targets an audience between 15-44 years of age and reaches 87 percent of the Swedish population via satellite distribution. Kanal 9, also broadcast out of the United Kingdom and distributed primarily via satellite, targets viewers between the ages of 30 and 59 and reaches 58 percent in Sweden.
Sweden, with a a population of around 9 million people, is one of the few markets in Europe where there has been strong DTH competition throughout the last few years, and one of the big challenges facing Kanal 5 and Kanal 9 managing director Jonas Sjögren is when to launch the channels in HD.
Via Satellite caught up with Sjögren in French Guiana at the recent NSS-12 and Thor 6 launch to talk about the growth plans for Kanal 5 and Kanal 9.
Via Satellite: When do you expect to launch HD channels in Sweden?
Sjögren: The main parts of our program schedule could be shot in HD today. It is technically possible. We are a commercial broadcaster, so the challenge for us is to deliver high profits. So there needs to be a commercial incentive for us to build this. There are extra costs involving capacity as well as extra costs involving materials. We need to have commercial as well as technical reasons to move to HD. Today, the number of HD channels in Sweden is not very high. I think the demand will pick-up once there are more HD-ready TV sets in TV households. It is up to the retailers to really push this.
Via Satellite: How far are we away from a comprehensive HD offer from Kanal in Sweden?
Sjögren: I think within a year we will be launching HD channels. In 12 months time, I expect to have around two HD channels, and these will be existing brands. We have already had discussions with Telenor, and we have secured a lot of content in HD already. We need to find that commercial reason. The consumers still need HD-ready set-top boxes, but there is also a need to produce channels in both SD and HD.
Via Satellite: What are Kanal 5 and Kanal 9’s demands for satellite capacity?
Sjögren: 1 degree West is our main spot, and we will continue to remain at the spot at the future. We will have a need in the future for more capacity just for SD broadcasts. Our capacity needs will also go up when we start to launch HD channels.
Via Satellite: Will you have to cooperate more with other broadcasters, even traditional rivals, in order to push HD in Sweden?
Sjögren: In the beginning, when Sweden transformed from analog to digital, customers were reluctant to make the initial move to digital. After a while, they saw the difference on screen, and secondly, you almost need to force people gently to move to digital. But yes, the broadcast industry definitely needs to work together in an intelligent way to push HD. Sofor example, if you are running an SD channel also in HD, you could have a ticker at the bottom of the SD channel to make people aware that the channel is also running in HD.
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