55% of UK households
receive digital television
17 September 2004
Ofcom today publishes its Digital Television Update for the second quarter
of 2004. The report examines the latest subscriber figures provided by
the main platform operators.
The update shows that by 30 June 2004, digital television penetration
had increased to 55% of UK households, up from 53% from the previous quarter.
A further 4% of households subscribed to analogue cable during the quarter,
bringing the total number of households receiving some form of multi-channel
television to over 59%.
Key trends include:
* By 30 June 2004, digital television penetration increased to 13,704,459.
This represents an increase in overall penetration of 2.4%, with an additional
630,000 households adopting digital television during the quarter.
* Freeview (Digital Terrestrial Television) uptake increased by 12.1%,
with the total number of households receiving Freeview at the end of June
estimated to be nearly four million (3,889,000) households.
[Source: Freeview Q2 sales figures]
* Sky's UK subscriber base continued to grow, adding 76,000 subscribers
during the quarter, bringing its total number of subscribers to over seven
million (7,032,000).
[Source: Sky results, Q2 2004]
* The total number of subscribers to cable television (both digital and
analogue) has increased by 24,000 and is now around 3.36 million, of which
digital cable accounts for almost 2.47 million.
[Source: ntl and Telewest Broadband Q2 results]
* The total number of free-to-view digital homes is now almost 4.2 million,
an increase of 13.4% from the previous quarter. This figure comprises
the number of viewers using Freeview, those using satellite 'Solus' cards
and ex-Sky subscribers, who continue to use their satellite box for viewing
free-to-view channels.
[Source:Freeview Q2 sales figures, Sky Q2 results, Channel
4 data, and Ofcom market estimates]
The full Ofcom Digital Television Update - Q2 2004 is available here:
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