19 million homes in Turkey prefer satellite broadcast

By Handan Gunes

ISTANBUL

Satellite connection is Turkey's first choice for TV reception mode as 19 million homes receive TV channels via satellite, according to leading global satellite company SES on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference, Ricardo Topham, senior market and business analyst at SES, said that Turkey was covered in the company's annual market research for the first time.

"According to our 'Satellite Monitor 2017' report, 87 percent of the Turkish TV audience meet broadcasts directly via satellite," Topham said.

"Approximately one-third of households in Turkey, 6.7 million homes, benefit from the HD quality broadcasts," he said, adding: "Turkish TV series and other contents made in Turkey are quite popular in other countries, especially in Eastern Europe, Middle East North Africa."

Nejla Bilge Atila, business development manager at SES Turkey, also noted that there is an interest in Turkish content abroad.

"However, Turkish publishers and TV channels have some difficulties in entering the European market," she said. "Hopefully, there is an excellent content and workforce in Turkey, and we are here to transfer all our knowledge to Turkish publishers."

"Our primary objective is to reduce satellite costs in Turkey and offer broadcasters and platforms alternative services," Atila added.

SES, headquartered in Luxembourg, is currently operating more than 60 satellites to offer its customers -- broadcasters, operators, service providers, private companies, public organizations -- communication services. The company has nearly 2,000 employees in over 20 regional offices around the world.

According to SES's annual market research, the number of video households served by the company reached 351 million TV homes last year, marking over 1 billion global receiving video content. The company carries more than 2,500 HD channels a global scale -- out of some 7,700 channels in total.

* Muhammed Ali Gurtas in Ankara contributed to this story