3 Million Receivers Of Satellite In UK
Research conducted by GfK Marketing Services shows that for the first three months of 1995 the installed base of satellite receivers in Great Britain has now passed 3 million.
Growth for the first quarter of 1995 was 96,000 and the total installed at the end of March was 3,027,000. This increase is slightly down on the same period in 1994 which saw growth of 99,000 dishes, and well down on 1993 when growth was 135,000. Growth is currently at about 1 percent per month.
Newspaper Readership Link With Sat TV
GfK also conducted research into the correlation between satellite television and newspaper reading habits. The survey was conducted in December 1994. 10,000 householders throughout the UK were asked which daily and Sunday newspapers were most regularly read in their homes, and also whether they owned a satellite dish or subscribed to cable TV.
John Binks, GfK’s commercial director, said, “As one might expect, we found that people with satellite TV subscriptions tend to read mass market papers. 11.7% of readers of broadsheet newspapers subscribe. The middle market tabloids are in between, with an average of 15.1% of readers with satellite TV.”
The tabloid percentages were as follows: Daily Star(35.7%), Today(27.6%), and The Sun (26.4%); these were the most likely to have either cable or satellite. Express readers were the least likely: only 11.2% have either cable or satellite subscriptions. The broadsheet newspapers were lead by the Financial Times with 25.4%; the Times(12.9%) was followed by the Daily Telegraph (10.9%) and then the Guardian with only 10.1% receiving satellite or cable TV. The complete analysis of newspaper readership and cable/satellite TV ownership in the UK, scaled up from Gfk’s sample of 10,000 households is as follows:
| TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS | CABLE/SATELLITE TV | PERCENTAGE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MASS MARKET DAILIES | |||
| DAILY STAR | 459,000 | 164,000 | 35.70% |
| THE SUN | 3,612,000 | 955,000 | 26.40% |
| DAILY MIRROR | 2,470,000 | 511,000 | 20.70% |
| DAILY RECORD | 850,000 | 154,000 | 18.10% |
| MIDDLE MARKET DAILIES | |||
| TODAY | 504,000 | 139,000 | 27.60% |
| DAILY MAIL | 2,196,000 | 324,000 | 14.80% |
| DAILY EXPRESS | 1,462,000 | 164,000 | 11.20% |
| TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS | CABLE/SATELLITE TV | PERCENTAGE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BROADSHEET DAILIES | |||
| FINANCIAL TIMES | 126,000 | 32,000 | 25.40% |
| THE TIMES | 727,000 | 94,000 | 12.90% |
| THE DAILY TELEGRAPH | 1,390,000 | 152,000 | 10.90% |
| THE INDEPENDENT | 421,000 | 46,000 | 10.90% |
| THE GUARDIAN | 602,000 | 61,000 | 10.10% |
| MASS MARKET SUNDAYS | |||
| NEWS OF THE WORLD | 3,933,000 | 1,119,000 | 28.50% |
| THE PEOPLE | 1,584,000 | 426,000 | 26.90% |
| SUNDAY MIRROR | 2,193,000 | 525,000 | 23.90% |
| MIDDLE MARKET SUNDAYS | |||
| MAIL ON SUNDAY | 2,121,000 | 416,000 | 19.60% |
| SCOTTISH SUNDAY MAIL | 928,000 | 176,000 | 19.00% |
| SUNDAY EXPRESS | 1,545,000 | 225,000 | 14.60% |
| TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS | CABLE/SATELLITE TV | PERCENTAGE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BROADSHEET SUNDAYS | |||
| THE SUNDAY TIMES | 1,441,000 | 231,000 | 16.00% |
| INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY | 319,000 | 48,000 | 15.00% |
| THE OBSERVER | 577,000 | 67,000 | 11.60% |
| THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH | 898,000 | 97,000 | 10.80% |
Note: The household readership’ figures in this table are derived from responses to the question “which daily and Sunday newspapers are most regularly read in your household?”. They should not be compared ABC or NRS figures.