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Key themes

Significant rises in broadband take-up across England – rural catches up with urban

Since our last survey in 2006, broadband take-up in England has risen by 13 percentage points to 58% of homes in January 2008. Broadband take-up in England is higher than in Scotland (53%), Wales (45%) and Northern Ireland (52%). The increase in take-up has been driven largely by consumers upgrading from narrowband dial-up connections. The largest increases are in the East of England, where take-up has grown by 20 percentage points to two-thirds of the population (67%). The pattern is reflected across England, with the exception of the East Midlands and North West, where take-up remains similar to 2006. Growth in take-up of broadband has been particularly noticeable in rural areas, which, at 60% take-up, now matches urban areas (58%).

Non-ownership of telecommunications services is due to cost and lack of interest

Consumers who do not have fixed-line phones, mobile phones or broadband typically say that this is because they don’t want them or that the cost is too high. Less than 1% of survey respondents said that lack of service availability was a reason for not having a mobile phone or broadband connection.

England’s northern cities rely heavily on mobile telephony

The proportion of homes in the UK relying on mobile telephony has increased by three percentage points to 84%, mirroring the fall in fixed-line penetration from 90% to 87%. A growing number (12%) of adults in the UK live in a home with a mobile phone but with no fixed-line. This development is particularly noticeable in some of England’s cities and urban areas, where income is lower than average, for example: Birmingham (22%), urban areas in Yorkshire and Humber (18%), Greater Manchester (28%), the City of Manchester (19%) and Liverpool (21%). However, in London the proportion relying on mobile telephony is lower than average (7%). Across England 12% rely on mobile telephony, similar to the figure in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but lower than in Wales (19%).

Digital television grows across England – especially in London

Since our last survey, digital television take-up in England has increased by 10 percentage points, to 86%. The rise was particularly high in London, where an increase of 20 percentage points; 89% of London homes now have digital television. Take-up is highest in Sunderland (96%) and Plymouth (92%), and lowest in the urban areas of Yorkshire and Humber (75%), and Birmingham (70%).

Digital television take-up in England’s urban areas (86%) is similar to rural areas (83%) and overall, at 86%, is similar to Scotland (85%) and Wales (84%) and higher than in Northern Ireland (79%).

Over 100 community radio stations are now licensed in England

The number of community radio stations in England continued to grow during 2007/08. The total number of community licences awarded in England now stands at 124 and, of these, over 80 stations are already broadcasting to local communities across the country.

Key points: converged communications

• Three in ten adults in England have watched video content online
  Broadcasters operating in England are repackaging regional content for distribution over the internet; the BBC and ITV as well as some local TV channels, offer regional programmes, and many regional radio stations offer listen live functionality over the internet. Thirty per cent of adults in England have watched TV or video content over the internet, particularly in regions with higher broadband ownership.
• Adults in England most likely to listen to the radio online
  One in ten (13%) adults in England have used the internet to listen to radio; more than in any of the other nations. Consumers living in rural areas (16%) were more likely than those living in urban areas to listen to internet radio (13%), despite the older age profile of these regions
• 21% of adults in England have accessed mobile internet
  A fifth (21%) of adults in England have used a mobile phone to access the internet, compared to 15% in Scotland, 17% in Wales and 23% in Northern Ireland. The figure is higher in urban areas (22%) than in rural areas (15%); this is probably due to the higher take-up of 3G services in urban areas.
• More people use their mobile for audio than for TV or video content
  While only a few adults in England (4%) have used their mobile handset to watch TV or video content, a fifth (17%) have listened to audio content on their mobile phone. Audio content includes both radio and MP3 files – either uploaded from a PC or downloaded from the internet.
• Social networking most popular in cities in England
  The use of social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook or MySpace is at a similar level in England (21%) to Northern Ireland (22%) and higher than both Scotland and Wales (each at 15%). It is higher than average in areas with younger populations such as London (26%), Birmingham (27%) and Newcastle (27%).
• One in ten adults in England have made VoIP telephone calls
  Just over one in ten (13%) adults in England reported that someone in their household had made a voice call over the internet (VoIP) - more than in Northern Ireland (9%), but broadly similar to the other nations. VoIP use was highest in London (20%), the South East (20%) and rural East England (18%), and lowest in Manchester and Liverpool (4%-5%). Use of VoIP tended to correlate with broadband use.

Key points: television

• Digital TV take-up in London catches up
  DTV take-up in England rose 11 percentage points to reach 86% in 2008, slightly ahead of the UK-wide increase of 10 percentage points. Homes in Sunderland are the most likely to have digital television (according to 2008 figures) at 96%. The fastest growth has been in London, to 89%.
• TV viewing differs widely by region
  Viewers in the English regions watched the most, and the least, television in the UK during 2007. In the North East they watched TV for an average of 4.0 hours a day (on a par with Scotland and significantly higher than the UK-wide average of 3.6 hours), while in the ITV West region they watched the least amount of television in the UK, at 3.0 hours per day.
• Viewers in London least likely to watch early evening news
  Across the UK, the BBC early evening news bulletin has a 28% viewing share, while the ITV1 bulletin has 20%. Londoners are the least likely to watch these bulletins; here the BBC attracted 24%, and ITV1 an 11% share. Viewers in the East watched early evening news the most, with the BBC taking 33% and ITV1 25% audience share. Londoners also spent the least amount of time watching regional news bulletins - an average of 10 hours per person in 2006 (down 3 hours since 2003). Viewers in the South West watched these bulletins most, 22 hours in 2007.
• The BBC and ITV1 spent £199m on originated output for England in 2007
  ITV1 and the BBC invested a total of £199m in originated hours of output for viewers in England in 2007 - accounting for 61% of their UK-wide spend on national and regional output. This represents a real-terms reduction of 4% on 2006, compared to the UK-wide reduction of 3%; the fall was driven mainly by ITV1’s declining spend on English regional news.
• Per-capita spend on originated output lowest in England…
  While England attracted the largest total budget for originated programming in 2007, its large population dilutes the per-capita spend; at £3.92 this is the lowest in the UK, compared to £16.84 in Northern Ireland, £12.70 in Scotland and £11.63 in Wales.
• …with 7,854 hours of regionally originated output in 2007
  In 2007, the BBC and ITV1 broadcast more nations and regions’ output in England (7,854 hours) than in Scotland (1,699 hours), Wales (1,249) or Northern Ireland (1,150). Per head of population, this works out at just 3.0 hours a week per million, compared to 13.0 hours in Northern Ireland, 8.0 in Wales and 6.4 in Scotland.
• Out-of-London production quotas met by the BBC, Channel 4 and five but shortfall by ITV
  The BBC, Channel 4 and five each met their out-of London production quotas by value and by volume in 2007. While ITV1 met its 50% volume quota, achieving 53%, the proportion of ITV1 spend outside London in 2007 was 44% - significantly below the 50% minimum. ITV’s failure to meet the value element of its out-of-London quota is a serious matter, and one which is the subject of further consideration by Ofcom with a view to regulatory action.

Key points: radio

• Over half of radio listening in England is to the BBC
  BBC stations accounted for over half (55%) of all radio listening in England in 2007 - higher than in Scotland (44%) and Northern Ireland (52%), but lower than in Wales (62%). Listening to the BBC network stations was also higher than average in England, at 45%, just behind Wales at 47% but higher than in Scotland (35%) and Northern Ireland (27%). Commercial radio stations held a 43% share of listening in England in 2007, lower than in Scotland (54%) but higher than in Wales (37%) and Northern Ireland (38%).
• Most popular local stations in England are in more remote areas
  The most popular stations in England, in terms of percentage of local population reached, tend to be located off the mainland or in remote areas, where the choice of stations is often lower. Manx radio, on the Isle of Man, has the highest reach of all stations in England, with 53% of the local population tuning in on a weekly basis. Channel 103 FM on Jersey and Island FM 104.7 on Guernsey reach 52% and 51% of the local population respectively, while BBC Radio Jersey reaches 39% of the local population. Other stations with a high weekly reach in England include Lantern FM, covering the North Devon area (43% reach), Isle of Wight Radio (42%) and Spire FM in Salisbury (40%).
• Digital radio listening increasing in England
  According to latest research, just over one in five (22%) of individuals in England now own a DAB digital radio set. This was slightly higher than ownership in Scotland (21%) and also higher than in Northern Ireland (13%) and Wales (14%). Listening to radio via digital television was also increasing in England, with over a third (34%) having used this feature by 2007. Listening to radio via the internet had been tried by over one in five, with 22% having listened online.
• Digital radio availability set to increase in English regions
  Over the past year digital radio rollout in England received a boost with the award of ten new local digital multiplex licences. A further local multiplex licence for the Somerset region is also due to be awarded during 2008. Meanwhile national DAB digital radio coverage was estimated to have reached around 93% of the population in England by 2008, with the BBC and Digital One installing a further 17 transmitters in England over the past year.
• Commercial radio revenue per head in England below the UK average
  Commercial stations in England generated revenue of almost £382m in 2007 (up from £378m in 2006) - equivalent to about 81% of the UK total of £526m. However, adjusting for population size gives a per-capita figure of £7.82 in 2007 - lower than in Scotland (£11.46 per head) and Northern Ireland (£8.03), but higher than in Wales (£7.41). The lower than average commercial revenue in England is partly a feature of the larger populations served and also the wider choice of stations in England.
• Community radio growing across England
  A key development to the radio landscape over the past two years has been the increasing provision of local area not-for-profit community radio stations. The number of community stations in England has continued to grow over 2007/08 - with the number of stations awarded now reaching 128 in total. Of these, over 80 stations are already broadcasting to local communities across the country.

Key points: telecoms

• Telecoms take-up highest in England...
  England has the highest overall level of telecoms ownership across the UK: 87% of households have a fixed-line phone, 85% have a mobile phone, 66% have access to the internet and 57% have a broadband connection, according to the 2008 survey.
• …but fixed-line ownership lower in urban areas
  The lowest levels of landline ownership are in large urban areas such as Greater Manchester (72%), Birmingham (78%) and Liverpool (78%), where adults are more likely than average to rely solely on a mobile phone. Mobile phone penetration varies across England, and is below 80% in the Midlands, Northumberland and Cumbria.
• Broadband take-up continues to increase
  As in Scotland and Northern Ireland, broadband take-up in England rose by more than 10 percentage points between 2006 and 2008. It increased across most of the English regions, particularly in London, the South East, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. Growth in broadband has been particularly noticeable in rural areas, which, at 60% take-up, now matches urban areas (58%).
• Satisfaction levels similar to rest of the UK…
  Overall satisfaction with landline services stood at 88% in England, broadly similar to the other nations and unchanged since 2006. Satisfaction with mobile reception in England was 87%, comparable to Wales, lower than in Scotland (93%) and higher than in Northern Ireland (78%).
• …but satisfaction with broadband lower in rural areas
  The large majority of broadband customers are satisfied with the speed of their connection, but broadband customers in rural areas are less satisfied with their broadband speeds (80%) than those in urban areas (84%).
• Local loop unbundling now up to 80% in England
  At the end of 2007 80% of UK households were connected to an unbundled local exchange - an increase from 67% at the end of 2006.

• The Communications Market 2008: Nations and Regions - English Regions [pdf]
  Full Print Version

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