UK Digital Market Stands Still For Now

A new study from Ipsos-RSL has revealed a lack of growth in the UK digital TV sector although conditions are ripe for further expansion in the coming year.

The quarterly DART (Digital Audience Research Tracker) survey shows that, as in October 2001, 35% of UK homes have access to digital TV services. Stagnation has been blamed on the collapse of ITV Digital and the negative publicity arising from this. However, digital TV products are becoming more accessible in price and 5% of respondents said they planned to invest in the technology in the next twelve months.

On the downside, the research indicated that 16 million adults have no intention of switching to digital in the near future and 17 million have no interest in extra channels for no extra cost. This will come as little encouragement to the government which is aiming for 95% dTV penetration by 2010. A recent report by Continental Research implied that set-top boxes would have to be provided for next to nothing if this target is to be met.

The BBC and BSkyB have announced that Freeview, a free-to-air digital terrestrial TV service will launch later this year. They plan to sell set-top boxes for £99 and will offer thirty-one television channels plus digital radio and interactive options. According to Ipsos-RSL, some 40% of dTV subscribers claim to have interacted with TV programmes and Big Brother (18%) and World Cup programming (11%) have proved to be particularly popular in 2002.

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