UK Cable TV Subs Drop As NTL Struggles With Debt

In Q2 2001 the number of homes taking cable TV stood at 3.6 million; in Q1 2002 the figure was also 3.6 million. The drop in Q2 was experienced by NTL, which scaled back its sales activities in order to reduce costs during its recapitalisation process (see NTL Rescue Plans Revealed). This resulted in fewer new subscribers, which, when combined with the typical churn rates, produced a fall in overall subscriptions. Churn is the proportion of subscribers leaving a service in any one period, given as a percentage of overall subscribers.

Digital growth slows According to the ITC, the digital pay-TV market is showing signs of slowing growth, although the switch from analogue to digital on the cable platforms continues.

Of the 3.5 million cable TV subscribers, more than two million are receiving a digital service; this is a 61.8% year on year increase and a 2.3% growth quarter on quarter.

Cable’s share of the digital pay-TV market was up 5.5% percentage points year on year, at 22% for the first quarter of 2002.

The figures show that the number of satellite subscribers has grown 13.6% year on year, to 5.9 million. By contrast, cable subscriptions saw a decrease of 1.9%.

Cable now accounts for one third of the pay-TV market in the UK, with satellite taking the 55% lion’s share and the latest figures before ITV Digital’s closure giving digital terrestrial (DTT) a 12% share.

UK Pay-TV Trends, By Platform
	Q1 2000	Q2 2000	Q3 2000	Q4 2000	Q1 2001	Q2 2001	Q3 2001	Q4 2001	Q1 2002
Pay TV Penetration – % TV Households
Cable	13.7%	13.9%	14.2%	14.8%	14.9%	15.0%	14.9%	14.8%	14.5%
Satellite	16.8%	18.3%	19.1%	20.4%	21.3%	21.9%	22.5%	23.3%	24.1%
DTT	2.8%	3.2%	3.6%	4.2%	4.5%	4.7%	5.0%	5.2%	5.2%
Total	33.3%	35.4%	37.0%	39.4%	40.7%	41.5%	42.4%	43.4%	43.8%
Digital Penetration – % TV Households
Cable	1.0%	1.7%	2.2%	3.7%	5.0%	6.2%	7.3%	8.1%	8.3%
Satellite	11.5%	14.9%	17.0%	19.4%	20.8%	21.8%	22.5%	23.3%	24.1%
DTT	2.8%	3.2%	3.6%	4.2%	4.5%	4.7%	5.0%	5.2%	5.2%
Total	15.3%	19.8%	22.8%	27.3%	30.3%	32.7%	34.7%	36.7%	37.6%
Share of Pay TV Market – %
Cable	41.1%	39.3%	38.5%	37.5%	36.5%	36.0%	35.2%	34.1%	33.1%
Satellite	50.5%	51.6%	51.6%	51.9%	52.5%	52.7%	53.0%	53.8%	54.9%
DTT	8.4%	9.1%	9.9%	10.6%	11.0%	11.2%	11.7%	11.9%	11.8%
Share of Digital TV Market – %
Cable	6.5%	8.5%	9.7%	13.7%	16.6%	19.1%	21.0%	22.1%	22.0%
Satellite	75.1%	75.3%	74.4%	70.9%	68.7%	66.7%	64.7%	63.6%	64.0%
DTT	18.4%	16.3%	16.0%	15.4%	14.7%	14.3%	14.3%	14.1%	13.7%
Share of Net Additions – %
Cable	10.4%	12.6%	21.1%	22.1%	13.1%	13.5%	4.2%	-13.9%	-75.7%*
Satellite	54.6%	68.1%	52.8%	55.3%	67.0%	65.5%	64.0%	86.6%	175.4%
DTT	35.0%	19.3%	26.1%	22.6%	19.9%	21.0%	31.8%	18.3%	0.0%
* Reflects net fall in cable subscribers
Source: ITC, June 2002