ITC Releases Cable Statistics For Q4 2001
The ITC has released cable TV statistics for the fourth quarter of 2001, which shows that the rate of growth in cable TV uptake was slower, at 1.5% year on year, compared to the previous quarter, when it was 6.5%. The subscriber base had reached 3.62 million by December 2001, representing 15% of all households.
| ITC Cable Statistics – Comparison By Quarter | |||
| 1 Jan 2001 | 01 Oct 2001 | 1 Jan 2002 | |
| Homes Passed* | 12,664,335 | 12,542,893 | 12,118,315 |
| Homes Connected (TV and/or Phone) | 4,539,344 | 4,627,905 | 4,093,457 |
| Cable Service Penetration** | 36% | 37% | 34% |
| Homes Connected (TV) | 3,562,197 | 3,652,740 | 3,617,781 |
| Digital Homes Connected (TV) | 869,697 | 1,784,550 | 1,982,993 |
| TV Penetration** | 28% | 29% | 30% |
| Cable TV Subs as a % of TV Homes | 15% | 15% | 15% |
*There has been a drop in the number of homes passed and marketed in some Telewest and NTL franchises, following an ongoing review to determine whether or not homes are currently serviceable (A home may not be serviceable if it requires wayleave permission before connection)
**”Cable Service Penetration” records the penetration of homes passed and marketed taking services offered by a cable operator, of whatever nature. “TV Penetration” records the percentage of homes passed and marketed that take TV.
It is thought that around 2 million cable TV subscribers are receiving a digital service. Although growth in the digital pay-TV market is showing signs of slowing down, the switch over from analogue to digital cable continues. Cable’s share of the digital TV market was a little over 22% by the end of the quarter, an increase of 8.4% in terms of market share year on year.
Cable’s share of the overall TV market is decreasing, however, and it went into 2002 with a share of 34.1%. During 2001 cable TV added a total of 0.19 million subscribers, compared with satellite’s 1.11 million additions and digital terrestrial television’s 0.39 million.
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