There were at least 696 video-on-demand services from 366 different providers operational in Europe at the end of December 2008, according to a new report from The European Audiovisual Observatory and the Direction du développement des médias (France).

According to the report, the UK had the most VOD services with 145, followed by France with 106, then Italy with 93. More than half of these services were delivered via the open Internet, 30% were delivered over a managed DSL network, 7% on cable and less than 3% by satellite. At the moment, the only video-on-demand services delivered by DTT are available on the Top Up TV platform in the UK.

The study does not take into account services distributed on mobile phones, which have proliferated thanks to the success of the Apple iPhone, or websites devoted solely to the provision of information, trailers or adult programmes. Nor does it consider channels set up by commercial undertakings in the context of video sharing websites such as YouTube or Dailymotion.

Despite some significant service closures, such as Italy’s Tiscali TV last December, the number of new services has not stopped growing in 2009, according to the report, so it is “justified to assume” that there are currently more than 700 VOD services operating in Europe.