Media
61.9% of UK households now take some form of digital television according to the communications regulator Ofcom.
The regulator's latest report on the takeup of digital television indicates that 643,517 households began taking digital TV in the first quarter of 2005, bringing the total number of digital TV households in the UK to 15.42m.
Accelerating the growth is continuing strong take-up of Freeview, with 5.06m homes now receiving Freeview on at least one television set. The first quarter of 2005 is the first quarter in which Freeview has topped the 5m homes figure; it added 466,430 homes in the quarter. Ofcom estimates that 25% of Freeview set-top-boxes are used on secondary TV sets.
A further 445,000 homes receive free-to-air satellite television, taking the total number of homes with free digital TV to over 5.5m.
7.35m homes subscribe to Sky's digital satellite service, while 2.5m subscribe to digital cable from NTL and Telewest. Around 800,000 homes still have analogue cable, athough cable operators are beginning to focus on converting those customers to digital. One cable operator, Telewest, has announced plans to switch off its analogue cable TV service by the end of 2006.
The regulator's latest report on the takeup of digital television indicates that 643,517 households began taking digital TV in the first quarter of 2005, bringing the total number of digital TV households in the UK to 15.42m.
Accelerating the growth is continuing strong take-up of Freeview, with 5.06m homes now receiving Freeview on at least one television set. The first quarter of 2005 is the first quarter in which Freeview has topped the 5m homes figure; it added 466,430 homes in the quarter. Ofcom estimates that 25% of Freeview set-top-boxes are used on secondary TV sets.
A further 445,000 homes receive free-to-air satellite television, taking the total number of homes with free digital TV to over 5.5m.
7.35m homes subscribe to Sky's digital satellite service, while 2.5m subscribe to digital cable from NTL and Telewest. Around 800,000 homes still have analogue cable, athough cable operators are beginning to focus on converting those customers to digital. One cable operator, Telewest, has announced plans to switch off its analogue cable TV service by the end of 2006.
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