Over two thirds of all UK TVs now digital, says Ofcom

July 11, 2008 - UK communications watchdog Ofcom has reported that 68% of the 60mn television sets in the UK are now digitally linked via cable, satellite, DTT or IPTV.

The Digital Progress Report for the first quarter of this year indicates that the total number of digitally-linked sets has grown from 33.5mn to 40.5mn over the past 12 months as householders focus on converting secondary TV sets to digital.  The survey also revealed that the total number of households which have converted their main television set to digital in the first three months of this year was up slightly on the previous quarter from 86.5% to 87.2%.

Ofcom reports that the total number of DTT sets in the UK now stands at over 23mn, with over 3mn sales of DTT equipment in the first quarter of this year, and around 400,000 homes receiving DTT pay-TV services.  Dominant satellite TV provider Sky grew its subscriber base by 43,000 during the period to reach 8.3mn, and ahead of the May launch of the Freesat initiative by the BBC and ITV, there were 720,000 homes receiving free satellite TV services at the end of March 2008.

The total number of cable TV subscribers in the UK now stands at over 3.5mn, up by 36,800 in the first quarter of this year, and nearly half of Virgin's customers are using its video on demand service, with viewing up 10% on the previous quarter.