March saw digital TV penetration continue to rise, with Freeview announcing that sales of set top boxes and integrated televisions have passed the 10 million mark, resulting in the service currently present in 6.4 million UK homes (see Freeview Sales Pass 10 Million).
Total digital reception in UK households is currently at 64.2%, according to the IPA’s latest Trends in Television Report, with non-terrestrial viewing remaining at 30% for the second successive quarter (see
Local Search Adspend To Reach $4 Billion By 2010).
The impressive sales of Freeview, combined with the strong digital adoption rate has resulted in the UK having the highest digital television penetration rate of any country in the world,
Figures from Ofcom reveal that just under 70% of UK households now use the technology, with digital satellite now the UK’s most popular television platform (see Popularity Of E-Shopping Continues To Grow).
Looking at the rest of Europe, figures released during the month from Informa Telecoms and Media claim that the number of European Homes with digital television access will quadruple over the next four years, with 44.9 million European countries expected to have access to digital signals on their main TV set by 2011 (see Digital TV To Reach 45 Million Europeans By 2011).
Elsewhere, the internet continued to make its mark on the advertising industry. According to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), US online advertising revenues exceeded $12.5 billion in 2005, up by 30% over the previous revenue record of $9.6 billion in 2004 (see US Online Adspend Passes $12.5 Billion In 2005).
Online adspend in the UK also enjoyed a substantial increase in 2005, with the IAB revealing growth of 65.6% in 2005, reaching £1.4 billion and enjoying a market share of 7.8% (see UK Online Adspend Up By 65.6% In 2005).
Local search engine advertising in the US is predicted to reach nearly $4 billion by 2010, up from just $420 million in 2005, according to a new report from Borrell Associates (see Local Search Adspend To Reach $4 Billion By 2010).
The report estimates that local advertisers will push almost $1 billion into the advertising channel in 2006, almost doubling spend from 2005’s figure.
According to a new report from Leichtman Research Group, the top broadband providers in the US accounted for over 42.8 million high-speed internet subscribers in 2005, with cable broadband providers having a 57% share of the overall market (see Broadband Accounts For Over 42 Million US Internet Connections).
The continued growth of broadband is confirmed by new figures from Nielsen/NetRatings, showing that penetration in the US grew by 13% last year, reaching 95.5 million homes, meaning that 68% of active internet households use broadband to connect to the internet (see 68% Of US Homes Go Online Via Broadband).
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