UK Enjoys Highest Worldwide Digital TV Penetration

The UK has the highest digital television penetration rate of any country in the world, with the latest figures from Ofcom revealing that just under 70% of UK households use the technology.

Digital satellite is now the UK’s most popular television platform, with Ofcom showing that for the first time there are more digital satellite subscribers in the UK than there are homes watching analogue terrestrial-only TV, as a result of continued growth in BSkyB’s subscriber base and large numbers of households switching from analogue terrestrial television to digital services.

Over 2005 as a whole, more than 2.7 million additional households began viewing digital TV for the first time, with the total number of households viewing digital TV services on at least one TV set in the home standing at 17.5 million by 31 December 2005.

Looking at key trends, Ofcom reveal that by the end of 2005 more households were watching BSkyB subscription services on their principal TV set than were watching any other form of television service.

BSkyB added 194,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, bringing its total number of UK subscribers to 7,666,000, resulting in the broadcasters’ pay-TV services now present in just under a third of all homes.

Over 10.5 million Freeview boxes had been sold by the end of 2005. The last quarter of 2005 saw more than 1.9 million Freeview set-top boxes and integrated digital televisions sold, equating to almost 500,000 more than the corresponding period in 2004 (see Freeview Announces Record Penetration).

The final quarter of 2005 saw Freeview account for seven out of every ten households watching digital television services for the first time in 2005.

Turning to cable television, the total number of subscribers rose slightly during the quarter to just over 3.3 million, with digital cable now accounting for 2.7 million of the total cable subscriber base.

Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk