Cable And Satellite Round-Up 1995

1995 saw a steady growth in the number of homes which could receive both cable and satellite. By October 1995 the penetration of satellite had grown to 3.24 million homes from 2.962 million in January. In terms of cable however, while the number of homes passed grew from 4.489 million in October 1994 to 6.171 million in October 1995, the actual penetration rate only grew by 0.2%, from 20.8% to 21.0%: 931,719 homes were connected in 1994 and 1,293,320 in 1995.

The number of homes receiving both cable and satellite increased from3.650 million in June 1994 to 4.338 million in June 1995. The largest category of household receiving cable and satellite was C2, although there was a slight increase of 1% to 18% of AB1 households. The age group which received most cable and satellite was 25-34 year olds, a change from 1994 when it was mostly 35-44 year olds (though the change is only 1%).

The region which received the most satellite and cable was London (997,000), though the North West had a higher penetration percentage (22% compared with London’s 21%). Border had the fewest homes receiving (43,000), though Ulster had the lowest percentage with 12%. Comparing 1994’s figures with 1995’s, the East region saw a decline in penetration from 22% to 21%. Overall however the cable and satellite penetration increased from 16% to 19%.

February and August both saw a drop in cable penetration (down 40,000 and 55,000 respectively), though these were glitches in an otherwise steady increase from 973,000 in January to 1.306 million in December. Satellite penetration continued to increase from 2.970 million in January to 3.319 million in December.

According to BARB Astra panel figures, among ABC1 adults the highest percentage share of viewing was in September and December (29.7%). For Sky channels only the highest was also in September (20.3%). The lowest percentage viewing for the year was in February (26.1%).

In terms of individual channels, Sky One and Sky News reach the most homes(both over 1.2 million); Sky Movies and the Movie Channel both reach almost 600,000; and the Adult Channel has one of the lowest reaches with 74,532. Generally, Sky One takes the highest percentage of viewers (around 4% per month), although some months it is overtaken by Sky Sport (varying from 2.4% per month to 6.8% per month); both the movie channels achieve roughly the same percentage of viewers (around 3% per month); MTV only achieves roughly 0.6% and Bravo approximately 0.5% per month.

1995 saw many new channels launched on both satellite and sky. In February VH-1, MTV’s sister music channel already on satellite, became available on cable in the London area; in June L!ve TV launched on cable as a live entertainment and lifestyle channel; SelecTV launched in the same month on cable, featuring shows such as Lovejoy and Birds of a Feather; in October the Disney Channel began broadcasting and a month later BSkyB launched a range of new channels: EBN (European Business News), Paramount (light entertainment), the Playboy Channel, Sky Sports Gold, the Sci-Fi Channel and the History Channel. Interactive television also began last year with the introduction of Eurosport Interactive, where viewers can enter competitions such as the Dream Team and select a driver, a team, and an engine by pressing buttons on their handsets.

1996 promises to be another year of new channels, with speculation that Carlton and Granada will both launch ‘gold’ channels, and a new teenage station called Rapture will launch in Spring ’96.