Satellite Dish Ownership Grew By 50,000 In September

According to GfK Marketing Services the number of installed bases of satellite TV dishes in Great Britain grew by 50,000 in September to a total of 3.179m households, the largest monthly increase this year.

Growth during the first three quarters of 1995 was down by 13% year on year, with homes with a satellite dish growing by 258,000 this year compared to 297,000 growth last year. However, better news for the satellite industry is that there has been a reduction in the rate of ‘churn’, (the number of people who return or stop using their satellite dishes) down to 3%. This is the lowest recorded figure since June 1991.

This decrease is due to the higher number of people these days who buy rather than rent their dishes; over the years a proportion of churned dishes were due to homes returning their rented satellite dish to the rental company. GfK’s spokesperson, John Binks, said, “Back in 1991, as many as one in four satellite homes were renting their dish. Today we estimate that only 4% do. As satellite system prices have fallen, people are more inclined to buy rather than rent, and therefore will keep their equipment.”

Rented Satellite Equipment

Source: GfK Marketing Services