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20|12|06

Three out of four households now watch digital television

Ofcom today published its Communications Market: Digital Television Progress Report for the third quarter of 2006 (July-September).

The report shows that by the end of September 2006 almost three out of every four UK television households, or 73.3%, viewed digital television on their main set. This represents growth of around 800,000 households over the three month period to September, around 600,000 of which were households watching digital terrestrial television (DTT or Freeview) for the first time.

The report shows that an increasing number of households are watching digital television on second or third TV sets (for example, in a spare bedroom or the kitchen) in addition to their main set. As of September 2006 there were almost eight million second sets connected to some form of digital reception device (either a set-top-box or an integrated digital tuner), up from four million in the same period last year.

Key trends for the third quarter of 2006 include:

DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION – Freeview services

• 9.3 million UK households now have DTT on at least one set in the home (up from 6.8 million in Q3, 2005).
• Sales of DTT equipment during the quarter approached 1.4 million (835,000 set-top-boxes and 556,000 televisions with integrated digital tuners), marking the fifth consecutive quarter with sales over the million mark. Sales in the three months to September 2006 were up 36% on the same period last year.
• More households watch DTT services than watch traditional analogue services on their main television set (7 million versus 6.4 million).

DIGITAL SATELLITE TELEVISION – BSkyB and free-to-view satellite services

• Digital satellite television remains the most popular digital television platform on primary television sets in UK households. As of September 2006, 33.9% of UK television homes (8.5m) either subscribed to BSkyB’s television services or received free-to-view satellite services, up 128,000 since June 2006.
• During the third quarter the total number of satellite subscriptions increased by 68,000 which was 20,000 higher than the same period in 2005.
• By September 2006, 1.7 million satellite subscribers had signed up to BSkyB’s Personal Video Recorder service, Sky+, up from 1.55 million in June 2006. One in five BSkyB customers now subscribe to Sky+.

CABLE TELEVISION – NTL:Telewest services plus others

• Cable providers gained 22,000 additional television households over the three months to September 2006. This was the highest number of quarterly cable additions for over two years.
• The cable networks continue to upgrade from analogue to digital. As of September 2006, 88% of all cable television households were digital, up from 80% in September 2005.
• There are now over 3.3 million cable television households (13.1% of all television households). In addition, 6% of the UK’s 60 million television sets are now connected to a cable television service.

The full report is available from the Related Items.

Ends.

Notes for Editors and CSEs

1. The term ‘digital television household’ is defined by the kind of digital service viewed on the household’s primary television set. Therefore, a household with satellite or cable on the primary television set but DTT on a second set would be defined as a satellite or cable digital household. A household with DTT services on the primary television set and other analogue sets in the home would be counted as a DTT household.

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

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