New research from Strategy Analytics forecasts that by the end of this year, 40% of UK homes will have interactive digital TV making the UK the most advanced market in the world. According to their study “Interactive Digital Television: Worldwide Market Forecasts” published recently, 625 million homes worlwide will have access to online services via their TV sets by 2005.
The study predicts that by 38 million homes worldwide will have digital interactive television by the end of 2001, a huge increase from the current figure of 20 million. Currently, Western Europe accounts for 62% of Digital TV audiences, North America 18%, Asia-Pacific 10% and Latin America 1%. Satellite systems are currently most popular with 74% of homes, cable is second with 21% and terrestrial services such as onDigital trail with only 5% of homes accessing digital services in this way.
Other than the UK, leading European markets will include Denmark where household penetration will reach 25% by the end of 2001, Spain (23%) and Sweden (22%). Services currently available include games, email and interactive sports coverage.
