YouTube A Set-Top Hit For UPC Hungary

UPC Hungary’s decision to use ActiveVideo's cloud-based platform to bring YouTube content to set-tops that don’t speak IP has proven popular in the early going.

The MSO announced Thursday that customers have been watching more than 1 million minutes per day of YouTube content in the first three months after the MSO introduced a set of apps for the set-top box. Of the more than 20 apps on offer (others include Google Maps, Picasa and Flickr), YouTube has been the most popular so far, with 75% of them being repeat visitors and spending 45 minutes per YouTube session on average.

But, as indicated by UPC Hungary data illustrated in the chart above, YouTube usage falls off a cliff during prime time hours.

Following the initial phase of the rollout, the MSO plans to offer UPC TV Apps to all 1.5 million homes in its footprint by the end of 2014. More than half of UPC customers with HD boxes have started to tap into the apps so far.