Digital Round-Up: Channel 5 Failing To Capitalise On Digital Advantage

BARB has released viewing figures for digital television during December 2000. They show that the approximate 50/50 split between viewing of terrestrial and non-terrestrial channels in digital homes continues to hold true, with ITV just staying ahead of BBC1 in commanding the largest share of the terrestrial channel audience in digital homes.

The digital platform gives Channel 5 a greater potential audience, by bypassing some of its coverage problems. Competing on a level playing field may have been expected to give the channel a better chance against its terrestrial rivals in digital homes. So far, this has not been the case. While all five channels are fighting over a smaller slice of the viewing ‘pie’ in digital households, Channel 5, with 2.8%, still manages to command only half the viewing of Channel 4 (5.6%) or BBC 2 (5.5%), the same ratio found in terrestrial homes.

Here Channel 5’s 6.2% share is five and a half times smaller than ITV’s 34.5% and five times smaller than BBC1’s 32.4%. In digital homes the gap is larger: ITV, with a 19.5% share, gains seven times the share of Channel 5, and BBC1, with 18.7%, six and a half times. It is thought that the greater choice provided by digital television could mean that more specialist channels, such as 5, 4 and BBC 2 have the advantage, but there seems to be little evidence of this so far.

Comparing viewing in Sky Digital and ONdigital homes shows that, increasingly, non-terrestrial channels command a larger share of viewing in Sky Digital homes (47.3% compared to 36.7% for ONdigital homes). ITV, which has still not brokered a carriage deal on Sky, attracts 17.7% of viewing in homes with this digital platform, compared to 24.5% in ONdigital homes. A similar pattern can be seen across the other terrestrial channels.

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