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Digital television UK household penetration reaches just
under 60%
Ofcom has published its Digital Television Update for the fourth quarter
of 2004. The report examines the latest data provided by the main digital
television platform providers.
The update shows that by 31 December 2004 a total of 59.4% of UK households
received digital television; an increase of 3.5% points from 55.9% at
30 September 2004.
Key trends include:
• By 31 December 2004, the total number of digital television households
grew by 914,980 to 14,773,881, representing growth over the quarter of
6.6%.
• BSkyB added 177,000 subscribers bringing its total number of UK subscribers
to 7,262,000 at the end of Q4 2004. [Source: BSkyB results, Q4 2004]
• The number of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) only households at
the end of December 2004 is estimated to be around 4,592,920. This is
an increase of 678,000, from 3,914,920 at the end of September 2004. [Source:
Freeview Q4 2004 sales figures, GfK market research, Ofcom market estimates]
• There are now almost 5 million free-to-view digital households. This
figure consists of Freeview viewers plus free-to-view digital satellite
homes. The total number of homes using the latter is estimated at around
385,000 including viewers who are no longer Sky subscribers but still
receive the public service channels through their set-top box, as well
as "Solus" viewers. [Source: Ofcom market estimates]
• The total number of subscribers to cable television remained around
3.3 million.
Digital cable accounts for just over 2.5 million of the total number of
UK digital households (17% of digital homes), with 11,500 additions in
Q4 2004. [Source: ntl and Telewest Broadband Q4 results]
• 3.2% of households continued to subscribe to analogue cable during the
fourth quarter, bringing the total proportion of households receiving
some form of multi-channel television to just over 63.0%. [Source: ntl
and Telewest Broadband Q4 results]
• An adjustment has been made to account for the number of households
which have more than one television receiving digital broadcasts. Latest
estimates suggest that 25% of sales of Freeview set-top boxes in the last
quarter of 2004 were bought for use with second televisions by households
which already receive digital broadcasts (either Freeview, BSkyB or cable)
on their main television. Data supplied by BSkyB and cable operators already
include multi-set households within their subscriber figures.
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