Digital TV Now Welcome In More Homes

The research claims that there will be 96.7 million DTV homes by the end of 2003, an increase of 15.5 million year on year. Just over half of these subscribers are in North America where digital TV penetration now exceeds 40%. Informa examined the market in fifty countries and concluded that the US is the clear leader with a projected 45 million DTV homes by the close of 2003.

The growing popularity of the terrestrial service Freeview is driving digital uptake in the UK (see Freeview Boosts Digital TV Sector) while the Asia-Pacific region is set to undergo the most rapid short term growth (see Asia-Pacific Digital Television Forecasts From Informa Media).

Digital TV Households, By Region
	End-2002		End-2003		YoY Change
	DTV Homes (000s)	% Of Total	DTV Homes (000s)	% Of Total	%
Asia Pacific	7,851	9.7	12,306	12.7	56.7
Europe	26,921	33.2	30,721	31.8	14.1
Latin America	3,590	4.4	4,020	4.2	12.0
North America	42,840	52.8	49,685	51.4	16.0
Total	81,202	100.0	96,732	100.0	19.1
Source: Informa Media Group, March 2003

Top 10 Digital TV Households, By Country
Country	Households (000s)
USA	45,041
UK	10,824
Japan	5,572
Canada	4,834
France	4,717
Germany	3,916
Italy	2,768
South Korea	2,302
Spain	1,769
Poland	1,433
Source: Informa Media Group, March 2003

Top 10 Digital TV Penetration, By Country
Country	Penetration (%)
UK	44
USA	42
Canada	40
Ireland	35
New Zealand	33
Sweden	27
Malaysia	26
France	21
Finland	17
South Korea	16
Source: Informa Media Group, March 2003

Informa claims that digital satellite platforms such as DirecTV in the US and Sky in the UK will continue to represent the majority of DTV households. However, digital cable is gaining ground and will see a 30% growth in subscriptions this year. The profile of DTT is also on the rise despite the failure of broadcasters in the UK and Spain. Freeview, which only launched last October, has already surpassed the achievements of its predecessor ITV Digital (see Freeview Customers Surpass ITV Digital’s Total).

Digital TV Households, By Delivery Platform
	End-2002		End-2003		YoY Change
Platform	Households (000s)	% Of Total	Households (000s)	% Of Total	%
Digital Terrestrial (DTT)	1,566	1.9	3,237	3.3	106.7
Digital Cable	28,647	35.3	37,305	38.6	30.2
Digital Satellite (DTH/DBS)	50,470	62.2	55,088	56.9	9.1
DSL Entertainment	519	0.6	1,102	1.1	112.3
Total	81,202	100.0	96,732	100.0	19.1
Source: Informa Media Group, March 2003