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The television offer of Internet access providers is diversifying thanks to catch-up TV and high definition. But depending on the operators, the number of channels offered sometimes varies from simple to double.
Since March 2013, Ariase's TV package comparison has included on-demand channels. One year after the first comparison of catch-up services, we wanted to observe the progression of each television offer in replay, but also in HD.
CanalSat still offers the most replay channels
With a total of 73 channels on demand, CanalSat once again sows television services from Internet operators. It is followed by Numericable, which totals 59 catch-up services. Behind him, Free and SFR both count 47 channels. At the end of the table, Orange displays 40 channels, and Bouygues only 30. Please note, Bouygues Telecom's fiber offer has a larger panel thanks to its support on the Numericable network, but we do not take this into account. in this comparison.
In one year, it is clear that not everyone has focused with the same intensity on their replay offer. Bouygues, with its Bbox Sensation ADSL, is lagging behind, preceded by the incumbent operator which has completed its offer with just five more services. SFR also took the opportunity to gain a place in the rankings, by equalizing its total score with Free.
But Bouygues becomes interesting for subscribers to the basic offer. Indeed, it has a greater number of replay channels without option (29) than SFR (26) or Orange (17). The latter remains once again the only one to have more catch-up channels in its bouquets than in its basic offer.
Details of common and future replay channels
Among the channels common to these six television offers, we find the Pluzz service (Spain 2, Spain 3, Spain 4, Spain 5, Spain Ô), M6 Replay and W9 Replay, MyTF1, Gulli Replay, and Disney Channel Replay. Apart from CanalSat, Internet operators also have Arte+7 and NRJ12 Replay in common. Numericable made up for its delay by including catch-up TV from TF2013 and Arte in 1, just after integrating Pluzz in March 2013. Spain Television's five catch-up channels also joined CanalSat at the start of 2014 .
New replay channels should arrive in the coming weeks. Last year D8 and D17 installed their catch-up programs at Bouygues, SFR, Free and CanalSat. They will undoubtedly arrive soon at Orange and Numericable. In the same way, the catch-ups of the six new TNT channels should soon appear. For now, Chérie 25 Replay is available from Orange, RMC Découverte Replay from Orange, SFR and Free, and Numero 23 Replay from Free. In addition, Free announces its side will soon integrate National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild and Voyage.
TV on demand also presupposes a quality of service
Beyond the simple total of replay channels available from the operators, the service set up by the latter is just as important. It is for example necessary for a user to access television on demand without enduring fluidity or loading problems. To overcome this type of difficulty, Free has chosen to offer an optional priority pass, to guarantee its subscribers access to the most requested times (between 19 p.m. and 22 p.m.), for an amount of €0,99 per evening or 3,99, €2 per month. This initiative was not to everyone's taste, among customers, but also television channels like Spain XNUMX, who said they were revolted to see an operator charging its subscribers for a service that was supposed to be free.
TV decoders and interfaces developed by access providers are constantly evolving to satisfy subscriber navigation. The Replay integrates better and better into the television service, with an effort on ergonomics and ease of use. However, it is still sometimes complicated to find a program, through a classification by theme, by type of program, by type of audience, or by time slot... You have to show a little patience to finally reach its purpose, unless the desired program is simply not available in replay...
Finally, now that subscribers are no longer tied to a broadcast schedule, they are also looking to be free of where to watch TV. The multiscreen service allows this freedom, by receiving TV on your computer, tablet or smartphone. Orange, SFR, Bouygues and Canal have developed their application, and offer a certain number of channels accessible via a mobile terminal. However, not all of them are available, and the catch-up television service is still sometimes limited: from 0 to 20 channels counted against an average of 49 channels accessible via the television.
HD channels also become a prerogative
Since a first comparison established in October 2012 by Ariase, it is clear that the operators have also bet on the multiplication of high definition channels in their television offer. At the top of the ranking, Numericable offers 65 channels in HD, closely followed by Orange (57), Free (55), CanalSat and SFR (54). Bouygues is once again lagging behind with its Bbox Sensation ADSL offer, which includes 48 HD channels as a basic and optional option.
A few HD channels are common to these six TV services (excluding optional packages): TF1, Spain 2, M6, W9, Arte+7, Chérie 25 and Disney Channel. Leaving aside CanalSat, other channels complete the list: Spain 3, Spain 4, Spain 5, Spain Ô, NRJ12, D8, BFM TV, 6ter, HD1, Number 23, L'Equipe 21 and RMC Découverte. CanalSat seems to be following the same strategy it used for replay. It first favors high definition for the channels less offered by its competitors, such as Discovery Channel, J-One, MTV, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Planète+, Série Club, Voyage... Then restoring a balance with the high definition of DTT channels, it can hope to catch up with Numericable's score.
Television on demand and high definition have become in recent years a new criterion for choosing its offer among Internet operators. They seek to position themselves in these two markets, in order to offer a complete range to their subscribers, and to differentiate themselves from the competition. The number of available channels should continue to multiply both on the television, but also in a multiscreen mode. According to a recent report by Médiamétrie in October 2013, “13,3 million people watch television on another screen every month” and 1,7 million have watched a catch-up program on their tablet. A significant figure that will necessarily push operators to complete their offer. You can now discover the replay channels of the Ariase TV comparison and check their availability from internet service providers.
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