More homes in the UK took up digital TV in the fourth quarter of 2005 than in any previous quarter, according to Ofcom.

The media regulator revealed on Friday that 1.1m households began receiving some form of digital TV service during the period. 2.7m households took up digital during 2005, more than in any previous year. At the end of 2005, digital TV penetration in the UK reached just shy of 70%.

Most of the increase during 2005 was attributable to continued strong take-up of digital terrestrial TV; during 2005, 1.9m DTT set-top-boxes and integrated DTT TV sets were sold.

As of December 31, 2005, 6.5m homes used DTT as their only digital terrestrial service, 7.67m subscribed to Sky Digital, and 2.72m homes subscribed to digital cable. Homes receiving free-to-view satellite services numbered 595,000, and 580,000 homes subscribed to analogue cable.

Sky Digital became in 2005 the most popular way of receiving TV in the UK even including analogue terrestrial television. At the end of last year, Sky had a 30.5% market share compared to analogue's 28.2% share. DTT is catching up quickly with a 25.7% share, cable stood at 13.2%, with free-to-view satellite and DSL TV services accounting for the remaining 2.6% (Ofcom did not specify, but it is probable that the 100.2% total is attributable to rounding).

Ofcom also reported that penetration of digital TV varies from region to region. In those regions that will be first to experience analogue shutdown, Border and Westcountry, digital TV penetration now stands at 71% and 67% - not the highest in the UK, but those regions did experience the largest increases in digital takeup during 2005 (17 and 15 percentage points respectively). Wales and the Tyne Tees ITV region lead digital takeup with 80% and 77% take-up respectively, while the Ulster ITV region comes in last with only 56% of homes having digital television.

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