NewsLine Column- Reader Response

This week, our columnist, Denise Turner of Media Planning Group, looked at the future prospects for digital TV in the UK (see Fulfilling The Digital Vision). Looking into recent research showing a sizeable portion of the population is reluctant to join the digital revolution, she concluded: “Digital television has had success but it has yet to find the hook or hooks that will draw in the rest of the population and make switch-off a possibility. It must find a way to grab the attention of the nation.”

Reader Rick Jenner, research executive at Flextech, had this to say in response:

“According to the latest figures from the platforms themselves, there are almost 9 million homes in the UK with digital television – a momentous feat given that digital TV was only launched just over 3 years ago in the UK. It is a shame that the government has shown a distinct lack of initiative and courage in opting for a later switch-off date, when research shows that once people have been shown the advantages of digital television they are far more likely to take it up. The solution to full digital penetration is making people aware of the huge advantages of digital television and providing a cheap alternative to the current options.

E4 may not be the runaway success many people hoped and thought it might be, but for a new channel it has performed well in its first year. The more established cable/satellite channels (such as Sky One and UK Gold) and newer additions continue to take viewers from the terrestrial channels, with viewing to cable/satellite channels up 15% on last year to 18.8% of adult viewing in all homes. Although viewing was down year-on-year in digital homes in December, for the whole year viewing was slightly up, and people in digital homes are spending more time watching cable/satellite channels than BBC1 and ITV1 combined. Rather than being disappointed that ONLY 45.1% of viewing in digital homes is to cable/satellite channels, I would argue that this is a huge proportion, which reflects the quality of programming available to digital subscribers.

Digital television is already proving to be a great success and will be an even greater one in the future.”

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