Sky Shifts Almost 60,000 Digital Boxes In First Month

According to figures just released by GfK Marketing Services, BSKyB sold an estimated 58,300 of its Sky Digital set-top boxes during October, the first month of its launch. During the same period only 3,100 units for Sky’s analogue service were sold.

Sky Digital is hoping to have around 200,000 subscribers by the end of this year. Brokers, Merrill Lynch, however, are more optimistic, predicting a take-up of 320,000 before the beginning of 1999 (see Digital Launch Update).

GfK is contracted to both BSkyB and ONdigital to supply them with weekly information which is based on point-of-sale recorded data. The company’s Omnibus research also shows that awareness of digital TV (DTV) is on the increase with 90% of people having heard of DTV. This compares with 82% in September.

GfK Marketing Services: 0870 603 8125