Over One In Four Choose Cable Television

Over 25% of all homes passed and marketed by broadband cable operators take cable television, according to the latest figures released by the Independent Television Commission (ITC). This marks the eighth successive quarter in which the cable penetration rate has risen.

A total 12.9% of all TV homes now take cable television, compared to 12.6% in the previous report (see Cable Television Growth Continues). Cable networks now cover 51% of the population or 12.3 million homes; 35.6% of these homes now take either telephony, TV services or both. This is growing at a rate of 55,000 homes per month, with 43,000 new telephone lines and 25,000 new cable TV connections being installed each month.

Of the main players in the UK cable industry NTL still has the highest penetration rate; 29.5% of the 3.7 million homes passed for its services subscribe to cable TV. Telewest however has the greatest number of homes passed; its figure remains static at 4.2 million, but its penetration rate has risen to 25%. Cable & Wireless Communications currently trails in third place with 21.4% of its 3.9 million homes passed connected to cable TV.

The line-up should change dramatically within the next year, however, as Telewest plans to merge with pay-TV group Flextech (see Telewest/Flextech Merger Plans Revealed) and the merger between CWC and NTL is investigated by the Competition Commission (see Cable & Wireless Communications “Disappointed” By Stephen Byers Move).

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