Digital Penetration Increases As Deadline Looms
The total number of UK households with access to digital television increased to 55% in the second quarter of this year, up from just 53% in the previous quarter, according to official figures from communications regulator Ofcom.
The latest Digital Television Update will provide a much needed boost to the Government’s plans to switch-off the analogue signal and convert the majority of the nation’s television sets to digital by the current 2012 deadline.
The report shows that the total number of British households with access to digital television rose to just over 13.7 million in the three months to June 2004, representing an impressive increase of around 630,000 homes since the first quarter of this year.
Growth continues to be driven by the runaway success of Freeview, which saw uptake increase by 12% in the second quarter to nearly four million households. The BBC-backed service has been boosted by a wide-spread public awareness campaign promoting the benefits of digital terrestrial television (see BBC Pushes Digital With Biggest Ever Marketing Campaign).
Sky’s subscriber base continued to grow during the second quarter with an additional 76,000 new customers bringing its total to just over 7 million. The total number of cable subscribers also increased to around 3.4 million following an impressive performance from NTL and Telewest.
The figures show that a further 4% of British households subscribed to analogue cable television in the three months to June, bringing the total number of homes receiving some kind of multi-channel service to more than 59%.
This latest data adds weight to recent reports that the digital switchover date could be brought forward to 2007. However, Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, wants to wait until 95% of the country has digital television before switching off the analogue signal, and research suggests the Government still has a long way to go in persuading the hardcore of digital refuseniks to make the change (see Government Faces Backlash Against Analogue Switch-Off).
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk
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