Multichannel Passes ITV1 In Q2 Share Of Viewing

The figures show that multichannel stations took a 23.9% share of all viewing across Q2, whilst ITV1 dipped to 23.6% – its lowest figure on the IPA survey. The performance of the multichannel stations has been boosted by the ongoing success of the Freeview digital terrestrial service (see One In Five UK Digital Homes Receives Free-To-Air Services).

BBC1’s share dipped a little, down by 1.7% points year on year to 25.5%, but it remains higher than ITV1 and the multichannel stations. Five’s share continues to rise, hitting a new high of 6.5% in Q2, whilst Channel 4’s dropped by 0.4% points year on year to 9.8%.

UK TV Stations Share Of Viewing Trends
	ITV1	C4	Five	Non-terrestrial	Total (ITV1, C4, Five + Non-terrestrial)	BBC1	BBC2	TOTAL
Q1 2001	28.9	9.8	5.5	17.8	62.0	26.5	11.5	100.0
Q2 2001	27.5	10.4	5.7	19.4	63.0	26.2	10.7	100.0
Q3 2001	25.2	10.1	5.9	20.9	62.2	26.8	11.0	100.0
Q4 2001	25.2	9.6	5.8	20.4	61.1	27.8	11.2	100.0
Q1 2002	25.1	10.1	6.4	21.4	63.0	25.3	11.7	100.0
Q2 2002	24.2	10.2	6.4	21.3	62.1	27.2	10.7	100.0
Q3 2002	23.6	10.4	6.3	22.6	62.9	25.7	11.3	100.0
Q4 2002	23.9	9.5	6.2	22.2	61.8	26.6	11.6	100.0
Q1 2003	24.0	9.2	6.4	22.8	62.3	26.4	11.2	100.0
Q2 2003	23.6	9.8	6.5	23.9	63.8	25.5	10.7	100.0
*old panel in italics
Source: IPA, July 2003

The survey also shows that digital- and cable-only channels (such as Sky One, ITV2 and E4) took the largest peaktime share of the lucrative 16 to 34 year-old audience. These stations reached more than a quarter of this key demographic, ahead of ITV1 with just under 24% and BBC1 with 23.5%.

To see an analysis of the Q1 Trends In Television survey click Non-Terrestrial Viewing Hits Record 22.8% In Q1, Finds IPA.