Freeview Overtakes Sky

Freeview now claims to be the most popular way to watch multichannel television in the UK, having overtaken Sky.

According to Freeview, it has sold about 1.7 million set-top boxes and integrated TV sets in the first quarter of 2007, with about 500,000 of those going to houses switching to digital for the first time.

These figures mean that Freeview is now the main method of watching television in 8.2 million homes in the UK, up from 7.7 million at the end of 2006, taking it past Sky for the first time.

Over 11 million UK homes now have the Freeview service, with its Christmas 2006 sales its best ever (see Freeview Has Best Christmas Ever).

At the end of 2006, Sky said that it had 8.4 million subscribers, however this figure also took into account subscribers in Ireland.

Freeview has also announced that next month it will launch a hard disk recorder which it claims will be in 12 million homes by 2012.

The device will include a Freeview tuner and is intended to replace VCRs, as they will not work properly following the digital switchover which commences next year.

Once the switchover has happened, VCRs will not be able to record one channel whilst viewers watch another.

The new Freeview Playback machines will allow viewers to record programmes, pause, fast-forward and rewind live TV, in much the same way as Sky+ (see Freeview Playback To Be Widely Available By Next Summer).

Sky recently announced that it is to remove its basic channels, such as Sky Sports News, from the Freeview platform and relaunch them in a paid for offering requiring a new type of set-top box (see New Sky Service To Lure Consumers From Free TV).

Earlier today, NewsLine reported that the BBC has just finished a trial involving the automatic downloading of 50 hours of its programmes on to Freeview digital video recorders, with the service being seen as an entry-point for audiences new to on-demand content (see BBC Trials Downloading To Freeview Recorders).

Freeview: 08708 80 99 80 www.freeview.co.uk