One In Ten UK Homes Takes Cable TV

Latest data from the ITC shows that one in ten UK households now takes its television service through a broadband cable supplier. As of 1 January 1998, 2,374,000 homes were connected to cable TV.

The ITC says that 1997 was a record breaking construction year for the broadband cable industry: on 1 January 1997 8.3 million homes were passed (capable of receiving cable services); by 1 January 1998 there were 10.7 million cable homes passed, an increase of 2.3 million homes year on year.

The 2.4 million homes that have actually connected represent a TV penetration at 22.2% of the 10.7 million homes passed. Although the number of homes connected has risen 26.7% year on year (from 1.9 million to 2.4 million homes), the overall penetration is down 0.2% from 22.4%. This is due to the rate of cable construction being faster than the rate of subscriptions.

Aggregate TV figures for the Multiple Service Operators (MSOs) show that Cable & Wireless Communications currently has the highest number of homes passed (3.8 million) and homes connected (752,544) out of all the MSOs. However, CWC’s TV penetration stands at 20.1% which is below the highest TV penetration of 35.9% achieved by NTL.

TV penetration rate differs from homes connected because households may use the cable service solely for the use of a telephone line.

Subscribers can access the Cable/Satellite Database by selecting “Cable & Satellite” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.

Independent Television Commission: 0171 306 7743