Freeview Fails To Market Itself As Commercial Platform

Freeview is now available in as many as 1.6 million households, but new research suggests the digital terrestrial service is failing to market itself as a commercial platform.

A recent poll carried out by digital TV agency, Guerillascope, has found that while the majority of people are aware of Freeview, more than half think it is the name for the BBC’s new channels and services.

Just 11% of respondents correctly identified Freeview as a new free to air digital terrestrial broadcast platform and 42% thought the service could only be received via a BBC digital set top box.

Awareness of commercial channels on the platform was also low and only 17% of those surveyed were aware that MTV’s recently launched The Music Factory (see MTV To Launch The Music Factory On New DTT Platform) and Emap’s The Hits were available via Freeview.

The BBC has been heavily promoting the availability of its new digital channels on Freeview, with its high-profile Changing Face Of TV campaign spanning television, radio, outdoor and the internet (see BBC Pushes Digital Portfolio With Extended Ad Campaign).

However, there has been a distinct lack of promotion for the platform as a whole and commercial broadcasters have done little to raise awareness of their channels. Set top box manufacturers such as Pace, Nokia and Grundig have also been lax in promoting their reception equipment.

David Yorath, managing director of Guerillascope, believes this needs to change. He said: “In my opinion it is high time for Freeview to advertise, they shouldn’t leave it to the BBC to promote their digital services. It’s like McDonald’s relying solely on the Government’s eat British beef campaign.”

Earlier this week the BBC and Dixons released research showing that the one-off payment and lack of contract is driving the uptake of Freeview, with 65% of customers citing this as the single most important reason for purchasing a £99 set top receiver (see Freeview Convinces Sceptics To Join Digital Revolution).

Guerillascope: 020 7404 3233 www.guerillascope.co.uk

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