The number of pay-TV subscribers in Romania was up 2.5 percent year-on-year to 7.3 million subscribers in H1, according to data from telecommunications authority Ancom. Most of these, 4.9 million, are cable subscribers, and there were 2.4 million on satellite (DTH) subscribers, and 106,000 using IPTV, according Telecompaper. A large majority of the urban TV subscribers, 82 percent, received TV via cable networks, while the majority of TV subscribers in rural areas, 56 percent, used DTH satellite networks.
Overall, cable networks are the main channel for receiving audio-visual programmes, used by 66 percent of all TV subscribers in Romania. Out of the 4.9 million cable subscribers, 3.6 million live in urban areas, up 3 percent year-on-year and 1.3 million in rural areas, up 12 percent year-on-year.
The number of subscribers to digital audio-visual services also kept growing, up 3 year-on-year to 4.6 million by mid-2017. Among those receiving digital TV, approximately 2.4 million were subscribed to DTH services, down 3 percent year-on-year; about 2.2 million were subscribed to services provided on cable networks, up 10 percent year-on-year; and approximately 106,000 used IPTV technology, up 20 percent year-on-year.
