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20|02|04

More than half of UK households now switched to digital TV

Ofcom today publishes its first Digital Television Update report which covers the fourth quarter of 2003. The report estimates that by the end of December 2003, digital TV penetration had reached more than 50% of all UK households for the first time. In addition, Freeview uptake had increased by 41% during the quarter, with an increase of 866,500 households receiving the service.

A further 4% of households subscribe to analogue cable, bringing the total number of households receiving some form of multi-channel television to 54.4%.

Key developments set out in the report include:

• The total number of digital television households has grown to 12,357,753 (50.2%). This represents an increase of 2.2%, with an additional 423,000 households 'going digital' during the quarter.
• Freeview uptake has increased by 41%, with the addition of over 866,000 households during the quarter. The total number of households receiving Freeview at the end of December 2003 was estimated to be 2,996,700. [Source: Freeview]
• There are around 211,000 free-to-air digital satellite homes, in addition to Freeview. This figure has fallen during the year as a result of the BBC's decision to stop encrypting its signal on satellite and the withdrawal of the 'Solus' card scheme.
• The total number of free-to-air digital households in the UK has increased by 8.4% to more than 3.2 million. This figure comprises the number of viewers using Freeview adapters, ITV Digital set-top boxes, IDTV sets, 'Solus'cards, and ex-Sky subscribers who continue to use their set-top boxes for viewing free-to-view channels. [Source: Freeview, Channel 4, Sky, and Ofcom market estimates.]
• There has been a 2.6% increase in the number of Sky subscribers, with Sky reaching 7,208,000 homes in the UK and Ireland at the end of the quarter. [Source: Sky]

The total number of subscribers to cable television (both digital and analogue) is estimated to have remained stable at around 3.2 million, with digital cable subscribers making up around 70% of the total – as more analogue subscribers switch to digital.

At the end of March, Ofcom will be submitting a full report to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the progress towards digital switchover. The report will be published on the Ofcom website.

The Digital Television Update will be published quarterly on Ofcom's website (see Related Items). The Digital Television Update replaces the former ITC's Multichannel Quarterly reports. Ends

NOTES FOR EDITORS AND CSEs

Ofcom is the independent regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

Our duties include:

The promotion of choice, quality and value in electronic communications services, where appropriate by encouraging competition between the providers of those services

• Ensuring the most efficient use of the radiocommunications spectrum – the airwaves used for the transmission of all non-military wireless communications services
• Ensuring a wide range of electronic communications services, including broadband, is available across the UK
• Ensuring a wide range of TV and radio programmes of high quality and wide appeal
• Maintaining plurality in the media by ensuring a sufficiently broad range of ownership
• The protection of audiences against offensive or harmful material, unfairness or the infringement of privacy on TV and radio

For further details please visit www.ofcom.org.uk.

CONTACT

Ofcom Media Office
mediaoffice@ofcom.org.uk
(+44) (0)20 7981 3033

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