Freesat passes one million customer mark
Freesat has claimed its millionth customer after winning over customers from BSkyB.
The digital TV service claims to have gained almost 400,000 customers from Sky’s service to date and is expecting another surge in new customers after Ofcom’s pay-TV review concludes.
The BBC and ITV-owned venture, which provides a free-to-air service similar to Sky’s paid-for satellite service, said around 40% of its customers have defected from BSkyB.
Emma Scott, managing director of Freesat, said: “Freesat is a great opportunity for the millions of homes with existing satellite dishes who are used to quality TV but no longer want to pay a monthly subscription for it and we continue to see an increasing number of viewers moving across from pay TV.”
The company hopes Ofcom’s pay-TV review, which is expected to force Sky to cut the price it charges rivals for premium sport and film channels later this month, will lead to another boost in Freesat take-up.
“We are watching [the pay-TV review] with great interest as we are very interested in [third-party retailers] offering pay TV services,” Scott said. “The review is an opportunity for all TV platforms in the UK to offer unbundled sports and movies. It is also an opportunity for BSkyB in the process, this could be another market for their channels.”
At the end of 2009, 9.7 million households received digital television via Freeview, while Sky boasts a total of 9.7 million subscribers in the UK.
Freesat will launch a full ITV HD channel at the beginning of next month and plans to launch ITV’s video-on-demand service, ITV Player, in the summer.
“Much of what we’re now working on is paving the way for next generation free TV with innovations like BBC iPlayer and ITV Player,” Scott added. “We will continue to add value to the service by integrating Canvas if approved by the BBC Trust and we are following Ofcom’s pay TV review with interest.
“From our customer panel survey we know that 40% of Freesat homes had Sky before getting Freesat. The majority tell us they have replaced Sky with Freesat. 30% of Freesat customers claim they were paying Sky subscribers and 10% claim to have been Freesat from Sky viewers.”